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This Week In Pac-10 Women's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
LET THE GAMES BEGIN...
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Fri., Nov. 16
Sat., Nov. 17
Sun., Nov. 18
Tournament Sites All times are local to site.
RECENT RESULTS
Fri., Nov. 2
Sun., Nov. 4
Mon., Nov. 5
Tue., Nov. 6
Wed., Nov. 7
Thu., Nov. 8
Fri., Nov. 9
Sat., Nov. 10
Sun., Nov. 11
Mon., Nov. 12
2002 PAC-10 TOURNAMENT
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE. . . ARIZONA: The Wildcats received votes in both preseason women's basketball polls last week, garnering 17 votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and four votes in the AP Poll. The `Cats return seven letterwinners, including three starters, from last season's 20-12 squad. Fueled by an 11-for-13 performance from the free throw line, senior forward Elizabeth Pickney led UA with a game-high 29 points in an 88-65 exhibition win over NWBL USA Elite Nov. 11. Pickney nailed a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left in the game to lift the `Cats to an 83-81 win over Team Concept on Nov. 5. Arizona opens the regular season at home against Pepperdine on Sun., Nov. 18. ARIZONA STATE: The Sun Devils, who have been picked to finish second and fourth by the Pac-10 media and coaches, respectively, return four starters and seven letterwinners from the 2001 Pac-10 Co-Champion squad. ASU started the season ranked 22nd in the preseason AP Poll, its first preseason ranking in 18 years. Four Sun Devils scored in double figures as ASU opened with an exhibition win over Team Concept on Nov. 4. Senior center Melody Johnson paced the Sun Devils with 22 points in a second exhibition win, over Slovakia on Nov. 11. ASU tips off the year with three home games, starting with St. Peter's on Sat., Nov. 17. ASU is 19-7 all-time in season openers. CALIFORNIA: California fell to Hungary Nov. 12 in its second exhibition game. Freshman point guard Kristin Iwanaga, one of nine Cal newcomers this season, led the Bears with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Senior forward/center Ami Forney, the Bears' lone returning starter, added nine points and eight rebounds. Forney paced Cal with 14 points and 11 rebounds in an exhibition win over Bay Area Pro-Am Nov. 4. Sophomore guard LaTasha O'Keith added 11 points and six rebounds against the Pro-Am squad. Iwanaga played a team-high 37 minutes, contributing nine points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists. The Bears open the regular season at home against San Diego State on Sun., Nov. 18. OREGON: Under the direction of first-year coach Bev Smith, Oregon cruised to a pair of exhibition wins last week and will open the regular season Sat., Nov. 17 at Wisconsin-Green Bay, a postseason WNIT participant in 2001. Early on, the Ducks have been spurred by guards Shaquala Williams and Edniesha Curry. Williams led UO with 23 points in an exhibition win over Western Oregon Nov. 8, scoring 16 in the first half. Curry, who added 15 points and three assists, applied relentless defensive pressure, which helped force 34 turnovers. Behind 21 points from Williams, Oregon downed Hungary 83-77 in a Nov. 2 exhibition game. OREGON STATE: The Beavers defeated Loyola Marymount 65-58 in opening-round preseason WNIT action, before falling 81-55 to third-ranked Vanderbilt in round 2. The victory over the Lions marked OSU's fourth straight season-opening win under Judy Spoelstra. The returning Pac-10 Player of the Year, Felicia Ragland notched a double-double (14 pts/10 reb) against LMU. Sophomore guard Leilani Estavan added a career-high 18 points in the loss to the Commodores. Oregon State, which received four votes in the preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, returns seven letterwinnners from last season's 16-13 squad. Four starters return to the lineup that made OSU's first postseason appearance since 1996, with a trip to the postseason WNIT. STANFORD: Tabbed in the preseason by the Pac-10 coaches and media to win the league title, Stanford opens the regular season Fri., Nov. 16 at home with Indiana. The Cardinal averaged 102 points in two exhibition victories, winning both contests by a combined 96 points. Senior Lindsey Yamasaki paced Stanford in its first exhibition win, with 22 points, while senior center Cori Enghusen added a double-double (14 pts/15 reb)to go along with five blocks. Yamasaki notched a game-high 19 points in the Nov. 11 exhibition. Head Coach Tara VanDerveer was recently named to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame induction Class of 2002. The Class of eight honorees will be recognized April 26-27, 2002, at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2002 Induction Ceremony in Knoxville, Tenn. Sophomore forward/center Chelsea Trotter will redshirt the 2001-02 season due to chronic pain in both knees. UCLA: The Bruins travel to East Lansing, Mich., to open up the 2001-02 season against Liberty University in the first round of the Chevrolet Classic, hosted by Michigan State. UCLA notched 83 and 96 points, respectively, in a pair of exhibition wins. Senior forward Shalada Allen led all players on Nov. 11, with 22 points off the bench. Senior guard Michelle Greco, a member of the preseason All-Pac-10 Team, posted a triple-double (11 pts/12 reb/10 ast). Greco and senior center Malika Leatham each scored more than 20 points in UCLA's Nov. 6 exhibition win. Head Coach Kathy Olivier welcomes back all 12 players and adds three newcomers for the 2001-02 season. USC: The Women of Troy open the 2001-02 season on the road at St. Joseph's Fri., Nov. 16 and No. 2 Tennessee Sun., Nov. 18. Sophomores Ebony Hoffman and Aisha Hollans combined for 47 points to lead USC to an exhibition win on Nov. 10. Hollans hit 10-of-19 from the field to finish with 24 points, while Hoffman added 23 points, nine assists and three blocked shots. Behind 22 points from freshman center Kim Gipson, USC defeated Love & Basketball in its first exhibition Nov. 7. Gipson finished 10-of-13 from the field. The Women of Troy were picked to finish third and fourth in the league by the Pac-10 coaches and media, respectively. USC garnered one first-place vote in the coaches' poll, the lone vote not awarded to Stanford. Hoffman, a 2001 Pac-10 All-Freshman selection, was named to the preseason All-Conference Team, as selected by the media. WASHINGTON: Picked to finish second in the Pac-10 by league coaches and third by the media, Washington opens its season on the road for the third straight year, traveling to Montana State for a Fri., Nov. 16 matchup. The Huskies are 0-2 in openers the previous two seasons and 17-10 all-time in opening games. UW defeated P&P Lady Express in its final exhibition on Nov. 12. Washington was led by juniors Emily Autrey and Loree Payne in its first exhibition, an 81-57 victory. The two juniors added 12 points apiece. The Huskies lost six seniors from the 2001 squad that capped a 22-10 season with a Pac-10 Co-Championship and a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight. Three starters return as well as five additional letterwinners who have seen extensive playing time. WASHINGTON STATE: The Cougars tip off the regular season at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Classic in Honolulu, where they open against host Hawaii on Sat., Nov. 17. WSU joins Portland State, Texas A&M and Hawaii in the two-day event. Third-year head coach Jenny Przekwas has the tough task of replacing eight letterwinners from 2001, and begins with a nucleus of three seniors and four additional returning letterwinners. A total of 11 players saw action in the squad's Nov. 10 exhibition victory. Freshman Francine McCurtain headed a pack of Cougars that scored in double digits, with 15 points. Sophomore Lindsey Egeland added 12 points, while senior Brittney Hawks contributed 11 points.
2001-02 PAC-10 PRESEASON Name Pos Yr Ht Hometown Michelle Greco, UCLA G Sr. 5-9 La Crescenta, Calif. Ebony Hoffman, USC F So. 6-2 Harbor City, Calif. Nicole Powell, STAN F So. 6-2 Phoenix, Ariz. Felicia Ragland, OSU G Sr. 5-9 Tulare, Calif. Shaquala Williams, ORE G Jr. 5-6 Portland, Ore.
NAISMITH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
STREET & SMITH'S PRESEASON
PRESEASON PAC-10 COACHES' POLL (first place votes in parentheses): 1. Stanford (9) 81 2. Washington 65 3. USC (1) 63 4. Arizona State 58 5t. Arizona 50 Oregon 50 7. Oregon State 39 8t. California 19 UCLA 19 10. Washington State 11 PRESEASON PAC-10 MEDIA POLL (first place votes in parentheses): 1. Stanford (19) 206 2. Arizona State (2) 164 3. Washington 153 4. USC 131 5. Oregon 129 6. Arizona 127 7. Oregon State 85 8. UCLA 83 9. California 51 10. Washington State 26
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING SCORING Avg 1. Michelle Greco, UCLA 19.9 2. Felicia Ragland, OSU 19.7 3. Elizabeth Pickney, ARIZ 16.4 7. Amanda Levens, ASU 15.2 8. Melody Johnson, ASU 14.8
PAC-10 BASKETBALL PREVIEW SHOW
Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001
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