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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Fourteen Thursday, January 16, 1992 By Colorado State at 7:30 p.m. in Moby Arena. Besides Utah and Colorado St.. the other six teams in the WAC will begin conference play this weekend. It should be an exciting season as a number of teams are playing well right now and have a chance to win the WAC title. Last season, Creighton won the Clifton Schmidt Chronicle Associate Sports Editor The University of Utah women's basketball team gets its "second season" underway tonight in warm and sunny Ft. Collins, Colorado. The Lady Utes will open their second year of Western Athletic Conference action when they meet repeat over Utah and SDSU WAC Creighton eyes regular season title, losing only one conference game along the WAC way. The Lady Utes won the WAC Tournament though, defeating the Lady Jays in the final game and to the NCAA advancing Tournament, where they lost to USC in the opening round by 11 points. Utah, Creighton. San Diego State, Wyoming and BYU all have a chance at the title this year while Colorado State and UTEP will give these teams a run for their money. New Mexico, just starting up its women's program after a five year absence, will be lucky to win a game. A few f? Sl3 - - C Is C off J, O O changes will be taking place in the WAC this season. For the first time, all eight teams will be competing in the WAC tournament instead of just the top four teams like last year. This year's tournament will be played in the Jon M. Huntsman Center and be hosted by the Lady Utes. This also will be the last year for Creighton to be an affiliate member of the WAC as they will be moving into the Missouri Valley Conference next season. In their place though, will be WAC newcomer Fresno State. Many of the conferences coaches feel that the WAC is stronger than it ever has been before, which should make for some great basketball. So without further ado, here is a brief preview of each team, listed in order of how they were picked to finish by the coaches preseason poll. Preseason records are in parentheses. CREIGHTON (10-2- ): There probably isn't hotter team in the WAC right now than the Lady Jays. After having lost their first two games on the road to open the season, CU has won 10 straight. Included in that streak is a 74-5- 1 pasting of 19th ranked Kansas last 1. week. Creighton averages a league high 81 points per game on 51 percent shooting. That last figure ranks 4th in the nation. The Lady Jays return four starters frbm last year's team, including All-WA- C guard Kathy Halligan and WAC Freshman of the Year OUtONiaiPHOTOSconSm Lady Ute Karen Alcorn tries a tough drive between two opponents in recent action. A tough drive is what Utah will have in its quest for the WAC regular season and postseason crowns this year. Shannon two The lead the team in Struby. 3 rank and the in league in scoring 2-- field goal percentage. Halligan is the WAC's best three-poishooter. nt m Tl I If I' TH' 1' The ranked USC team at home and lost to another ranked team. Hawaii, by two points. SDSU is home for five of their first seven WAC games so they could be the team everyone else plays catch-u- p to. Leading the way for SDSU is last season's WAC Player of the Year Kieishsha Games. The center paces the team averaging 19 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. The Aztecs had a top 10 recruiting class come in this season, led by guard Falisha Wright. She leads a tough defensive team that is tops in the conference in steals and scoring " shooting team. Coach Jeannie Wilson couldn't be happier with the play of freshman center Debbie Dimond. The grad of Bingham High is in the top four in the WAC in four different categories and is a top candidate for Freshman of the Year. Senior forward Lisa Rathbun is the top scorer for the Cougars at 14.5 ppg and is shooting 80 percent from the free throw line. Guards Tomika Young and Kim Talbot are experienced but BYU is missing defense. 3. UTAH ): This is a team that has had a different preseason. With four overtime games to date, they are one away from matching the five that Utah has had in the past 16 guard Nikki Eyre, who suffered and injury early in the season. This 6. COLORADO STATE ): preseason for the Rams hasn't been the best and the WAC season might not get much better. CSU scores 73 points per game but gives up 76. They are a three-poishooting team, however, averaging nearly five and are second in the 1er game, in steals at 12.8 spg. CSU does have a few very good players in JC transfer Debbie Carson good about having won nine games with a 15.2 average and is also one shooters in the of the top three-poi- (9-3- years. The Lady Utes have also played seven of their last nine games on the road and must feel despite some serious illness problems the past two weeks. Utah is led by a trio of players that account for the bulk of their scoring. Junior forward Mikki Kane (15.8), senior center Tanya Zachary (15.3), and senior guard Karen Alcorn (13.9) must be stopped for any team to beat them. Zachary is the leading rebounder in the WAC at 11.4 per game while Kane is second in blocks at 1.5 per game. The bench is young but steadily improving. The Cowgirls 4. WYOMING are happy with their record but even happier that they have a team that (9-4- ): has been healthy. Last season Wyoming had some top players end the season early with injuries but have been able to avoid them so far this season. The Cowgirls average 76 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the field. Center Marie Kaufmann is the hot shot of the conference, leading the WAC in field goal shooting at 61.4 percent for the year while scoring 14.3 points an outing. Wyoming got a big boost when Scarlet Overly Gustin transferred from BYU to scoring at 15 ppg while guard Val Harrison leads the WAC in assists at ess t I (8-4- ): Wyoming after serving an LDS mission. She leads the team in MMBk I 2. SAN DIEGO STATE Aztecs have played one of the tougher preseason schedules and have put up some good performances. They defeated a 7.5 apg. 5. BRIGHAM YOUNG (8-5- ): This (5-7- nt and freshman Amy Diesburg. Carson paces the team in scoring nt conference. Diesburg is coming off a rebound performance 29 point-1- 3 against San Diego. Junior Jodi Garbison is the WAC's leading free throw shooter at 81.1 percent. ): PASO 7. TEXAS-E- L The a Miners also have been Lady team the this season behind surprise coaching of Sandra Rushing. UTEP doesn't lead the WAC in any category but they are in the middle (7-6- of the pack which keeps them competitive. They do one thing poorly though, and that is shoot the ball. They rank dead last in the WAC in field goal percentage at 38.3 percent. Two wins over New Mexico State are the biggest of the season for the Lady Miners. While not having the greatest team in the conference, UTEP does have the top scorer in guard Holly Russ. The senior averages 21.6 ppg which ranks her up there nationally. Russ also leads the WAC in steals at 3.4 per game. 8. NEW MEXICO It has been a tough year for the Lobos and it is (2-9- ): going to get worse. Resurrecting a program that has been dead for the past five years is a tough job but former Lady Ute only player and assistant coach Maureen Eckroth decided to take on the task. UNM ranks dead last in nearly every will be the surprise team of the season. Already the Cougars have matched the total number of wins statistical category and are being outscored by an average of 80-5- 1 this season. they had last year and definitely will The Lobos have eight freshman on wreak havoc among the WAC's top teams. BYU is a great rebounding team and is scoring 79 points a game. They lead the WAC in blocked shots averaging 4.0 per game and are also the top free throw their squad which accounts for many of their problems. It will be rough going for the next year or so. Eckroth can call any NBA expansion team when she needs some empathy. mil G DOT) UOOD I l SWT 1 Q S0 GOG Look for petitions this week in the Marriott Library and Student Services Building. Students will present the petition to the State Legislature on February 4th. |
