WAC Women’s Rankings
1. Boise State Broncos
No. 2 seed (22-6 regular season, 14-2 Western Athletic Conference)
Outlook – The Broncos are the hottest team in the league right now holding a 14-game winning streak and the WAC Tournament champs from last year. They score the most points (74 per game) and have one of the best scorers in the conference in junior Tasha Harris (16 per game).
X-Factor – MomentumThe Broncos now have to adjust to the tournament atmosphere and try not to snap their win streak. Their only two losses came consecutively to Fresno State and New Mexico State before the streak started. The Bulldogs and the Aggies are their toughest teams that have the best ability to spoil the streak.
2. Fresno State Bulldogs
No. 1 seed (22-6, 14-2)
Outlook – Fresno State tied for first in the conference with Boise State but have possibly the most athletic team. It has experience and talent with senior first team All-WAC guard Tirre Wilson and newcomer of the year in Jaleesa Ross.
Fresno State has probably the best backcourt in the WAC and Adrian Wiggins, the WAC Coach of the Year, has the favorite in the tournament.
X-Factor – ReboundingFresno State out-rebounds its opponents by about six points per game and holds teams to about 35 rebounds per game. They can control the game and the score with solid rebounding and the scoring will be there to help them advance to the NCAA Tournament.
3. New Mexico State Aggies
No. 3 seed (21-8, 11-5)
Outlook – The Aggies have a lot in common with the men’s team because they have homecourt advantage and the athleticism to make a run.
Shereal Neal was likely a runner up in WAC Player of the Year because she can score (14 per game), rebound (10 per game) and defend (two steals per game).
She’s an automatic double-double and senior Anikia Jawara is also solid as she puts up 13 points per game.
X-factor – HomecourtThe Aggies beat the Wolf Pack in the semifinals last year before losing to Boise State in the title game. The Las Cruces faithful fully supported the women’s team last year and gave them the type of environment that’s conducive to upsets. If the Pan-American Center crowd can get the team hyped, the 3-point shots could fall and the Aggies could win the WAC crown.
4. Nevada Wolf Pack
No. 4 seed (18-11, 9-7)
Outlook – You can never count the Wolf Pack out.
Despite a four-game losing streak, Nevada plays defense and it plays it better than any team.
With Dellena Criner, Mikail Price and Brandi Fitzgerald on the perimeter, it’s hard for teams to get open shots and penetrate to the basket. And when teams execute, they have to get shots over Cherlanda Franklin and Sabrina Keys – no easy task.
However, offense has plagued the team down the stretch and teams are focusing on Criner, Nevada’s best scorer (17 per game).
If they get past Louisiana Tech, Nevada could face No. 1 seed Fresno State in the second round, giving Nevada the toughest road to the WAC title.
X-Factor – Sabrina KeysKeys will be the most important key if Nevada wants to make a run because of her size. Nevada needs to rebound and defend the post well against Louisiana Tech in the first round and that’s tough guarding JoKeirra Sneed. Sneed averages a double-double (16 points, 11 boards per game) and poses problems for most teams. Keys has to keep Sneed off the rebounds and contain her offensively.
5. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
No. 5 seed (15-14, 9-7)
Outlook – The Lady Techsters are down this year, but they always have talent and size, thus you can’t count them out. They match up well athletically with every team in the conference but don’t have much consistency. They played a tough non-conference schedule (three South East Conference teams in LSU, Mississippi State and Tennessee) which should help them this week.
X-Factor – TraditionLouisiana Tech is historically one of the best teams to play women’s college basketball. The Lady Techsters have three national championships and went to 25 straight NCAA Tournaments. The streak broke last year. They will try to start another streak this week.
6. Hawaii Rainbow Wahine
No. 6 seed (12-17, 6-10)
Outlook – The Wahine beat Washington and Louisiana Tech this season. Other than that, there wasn’t much to brag about. Tanya Smith is the third best rebounder in the nation with 12 per game and grabbed 25 against Hawaii on Jan. 26.
X-Factor – Road playHawaii has one of the best homecourt advantages because teams have to fly across the Pacific Ocean to get there. However, on the road Hawaii had just two conference wins. That can’t happen if they want to go to the NCAA Tournament.
7. Utah State Aggies
No. 7 seed (9-19, 5-11)
Outlook – Utah State is one of the more interesting teams. The Aggies inconsistent but have the ability to beat good teams because of its defense. They gave Fresno State one of its two conference losses, holding the Bulldogs to 40 points, and beat Nevada. They gave up more than 70 points to just five WAC teams.
X-Factor – 3-point shotUtah State’s defense is decent, so with help from 3-point shooting they can stay in the game and hope to pull off some upsets.
8. Idaho Vandals
No. 8 seed (4-24, 3-13)
Outlook – The Vandals won half of their games this season in the past two games. The upset win over Utah State last Saturday was big and it beat San Jose State also. Not sure if there’s momentum, but it’s a start.
X-Factor – Yinka OlorunnifeThe 6-foot freshman from Canada averaged nine points a game and has a legitimate post game that could help the Vandals. Also, sophomore Katie Madison could help spark a win in the play-in game against San Jose State.
9. San Jose State
No. 9 seed (2-27, 1-15)
Outlook – The Spartans lost 11 games in a row to end the season. Their only wins came against Cal State Northridge and Idaho. CS Northridge won one game this season and Idaho won four.
X-Factor – Monumental collapseThe Spartans beat Idaho this year and that’s their opponent in the play-in game. So, there’s a chance there, but Fresno State is next and the Bulldogs beat the Spartans by 36 points total in two games this season.
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on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 10:43 pm and is filed under 2008 WAC Tournament Coverage, Sports.
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