Feb. 11, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

WCC Co-Players of the Week
Amanda DeCoud, LMU & Amanda Rego, San Diego

Loyola Marymount's Amanda DeCoud and San Diego's Amanda Rego share WCC Player of the Week honors after leading their teams to wins last week. DeCoud led the Lions into second place in the conference standings after posting wins over Gonzaga and Portland last week. The senior averaged 16.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting .600 (12-for-20) from the field last week. DeCoud scored 19 points with seven boards in LMU's 75-60 over Gonzaga on Thursday, handing the Zags their first defeat in WCC play. Rego recorded her second triple-double of the season as San Diego notched a 67-48 victory over USF on Saturday. The senior had 10 points to go along with 10 assists and 10 steals as USD won its third straight conference game.

Upcoming Games

Feb. 14
Loyola Marymount at Saint Mary's* - 7:00 PM
Pepperdine at Santa Clara* - 7:00 PM
San Diego at Portland* - 7:00 PM
San Francisco at Gonzaga* - 7:00 PM

Feb. 16
Loyola Marymount at Santa Clara* - 2:00 PM
Pepperdine at Saint Mary's* - 2:00 PM
San Diego at Gonzaga* - 2:00 PM
San Francisco at Portland* - 2:00 PM

* Denotes Conference Game

Around The WCC

WCC Triple-Doubles
San Diego's Amanda Rego recorded her second triple-double of the season on Saturday, scoring 10 points to go along with 10 assists and 10 steals in a 67-48 win over San Francisco. Rego became the first Torero to ever record a triple-double in November, scoring 11 points with 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a non-conference win over Toledo. San Francisco's Heidi Heintz recorded her first career triple-double in USF's win over Saint Mary's on January 24. Heintz, who scored 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, became just the second WCC player to record a triple-double this season. Former WCC Player of the Year and current Santa Clara assistant coach Michelle Cozad is the only other league player to have posted a triple-double in the past five seasons, notching one of the rare performances against Portland on January 8, 2006.

CSTV To Broadcast WCC Championship Game
The 2008 West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament championship game will be broadcast by College Sports Television (CSTV), WCC Commissioner Michael Gilleran announced. The March 9 telecast, slated for a 1:30 PM (PST) start, will mark the second straight season that the deciding contest for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will be broadcast live to a national television audience. The WCC women's basketball tournament will run March 6-9, 2008 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the University of San Diego campus.

Six WCC Players Named Academic All-District
Six WCC women's basketball players earned ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA All-Academic District VIII honors, marking the most from a single conference in District VIII. Gonzaga's Jami Bjorklund and Santa Clara's Elizabeth Doran were named to the first team, while Portland's Rachel Warren, Saint Mary's Lauren Shaughnessy, and San Francisco's Lisa Olden were tabbed for second team honors. San Francisco's Dominique Carter rounded out the selections from the WCC on the third team.

WCC Team Notes

Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-7 / 8-1 WCC)
- Gonzaga suffered its first defeat in conference play, falling 75-60 at Loyola Marymount on Thursday, but rebounded to knock off Pepperdine on Saturday, 92-85.

- Courtney Vandersloot scored a career-high 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting in Saturday's win over the Waves. The freshman also dished out a team-high seven assists, giving her 132 assists on the season and putting her into a tie with former Zag Robin Allen (1986-87) for seventh place on the Gonzaga single-season list.

- The Bulldogs, led by Heather Bowman's 19.5 points per game, lead the conference in scoring with 76.7 points per contest, 5.5 more than the next closest WCC team.

- The Zags close out their home slate this week, returning to Spokane to take on San Francisco (2/14) and San Diego (2/16).

Loyola Marymount Lions (14-10 / 6-3 WCC)
- Loyola Marymount surged into second place in the conference standings, handing previously undefeated Gonzaga a 75-60 defeat and knocking off Portland, 65-51.

- Jenna Sybesma gave the Lions a spark off the bench over the weekend, dropping in a game-high 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting against the Zags, and pitching in with 12 points and five boards against the Pilots.

- Amanda DeCoud collected five assists on the week to bring her season assist total to 96, the third-highest total in the WCC. The senior needs just four more assists to crack the LMU single-season top-10 list.

- The Lions look to extend their three-game winning streak this week, as LMU travels to Saint Mary's (2/14) and Santa Clara (2/16).

Pepperdine Waves (6-16 / 1-8 WCC)
- Pepperdine suffered a pair of narrow losses at home over the weekend, dropping an 84-83 double-overtime decision to Portland before being edged by conference-leading Gonzaga on Saturday, 92-85.

- Daphanie Kennedy continued her torrid scoring pace in WCC play, scoring 26 points on 8-for-18 shooting against the Pilots and adding 28 points, including a perfect 11-for-11 performance from the free throw line, against the Zags. Kennedy enters the week averaging a conference-best 22.0 points per game against WCC opponents.

- Miranda Ayim notched her fifth double-double of the season, scoring a season-high 23 points with 10 rebounds against Gonzaga. Ayim, who shot 11-for-13 from the field against the Zags, ranks second in the conference with a .547 (111-for-203) field goal percentage.

- The Waves travel to Santa Clara (2/14) and Saint Mary's (2/16) this week.

Portland Pilots (14-10 / 4-5 WCC)
- Portland earned a split on the road, notching an 84-83 double-overtime win at Pepperdine on Thursday, before falling to Loyola Marymount on Saturday, 64-51.

- Thursday's win marked the first Pilot victory over Pepperdine since 1997, and marked the first double-overtime contest for a UP squad since a triple-overtime tilt against Santa Clara in 1988.

- Allyson Sievers scored a career-high 22 points in Thursday's win over the Waves.

- Karlie Burris enters the week with a conference-best 1.80 assist/turnover ratio.

- The Pilots return home to face San Diego (2/14) and San Francisco (2/16) this week.

Saint Mary's Gaels (11-13 / 3-5 WCC)
- Saint Mary's improved to 11-13 and 3-5 in conference play with a 65-54 win over Santa Clara on Saturday.

- Sierra Chambers tied a career-high with 19 points on 8-for-19 shooting, while pulling down eight rebounds in Saturday's win over the Broncos.

- Louella Tomlinson pitched in with 11 points and blocked three shots in Saturday's victory, bringing her conference-leading blocks total to 118. The freshman is just 16 blocks shy of tying the Saint Mary's career mark of 134 blocks set by former Gael Pia Paivio (1989-93).

- Jontelle Smith moved into a tie for fourth place on the SMC single-season three-pointer list with her 61st trey of the year against Santa Clara.

- The Gaels host Loyola Marymount (2/14) and Pepperdine (2/16) this week.

San Diego Toreros (12-10 /3-5 WCC)
- The Toreros registered a 67-48 victory over San Francisco on Saturday for their third straight win in conference play.

- Amanda Rego recorded her second triple-double of the season, scoring 10 points to go along with 10 assists and 10 steals in the win over the Dons. The senior, who leads the WCC in both assists (8.27 apg) and steals (2.86 spg), recorded the first triple-double in USD program history against Toledo on November 16.

- Amber Sprague notched her conference-leading ninth double-double of the season on Saturday, scoring 12 points and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. Sprague is one of just two players in the league averaging a double-double (13.9 ppg, 10.6 rpg) in conference play.

- San Diego continues conference play, traveling to Portland (2/14) and Gonzaga (2/16) this week.

San Francisco Dons (13-10 / 4-4 WCC)
- San Francisco dropped its second straight conference game, falling 67-48 at San Diego on Saturday.

- Dominique Carter continued her climb up the WCC scoring chart, scoring 16 points on Saturday to bring her career point total to 1,710. Carter jumped two spots on the WCC career chart, moving into a fifth place tie with former Saint Mary's standout Anja Bordt on the all-time scoring list.

- Shay Rollins pitched in with 11 points on Saturday, and sunk a trio of three-pointers to move into third place in the conference with 50 treys so far this season. Rollins also moved into third place on the USF single-season three-pointer list with her performance.

- The Dons travel to the Northwest for conference clashes at Gonzaga (2/14) and Portland (2/16) this week.

Santa Clara Broncos (16-7 / 5-3 WCC)
- Santa Clara fell to then-No. 6 ranked Stanford at home, 96-74, before dropping a 65-54 decision at Saint Mary's in conference play on Saturday.

- The Broncos will be without leading scorer Chandice Cronk for the remainder of the season after the senior suffered a career-ending knee injury at Gonzaga on February 2. Cronk tore the ACL and MCL in her right knee, and fractured her leg while attempting a lay up.

- Sara Majors tied a career-high with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting in Saturday's loss at Saint Mary's. Majors enters the week ranked fifth on the team in scoring with 7.1 points per game, and has dished out 81 assists this year to rank second on the squad.

- The Broncos return to action at home this week, hosting Pepperdine (2/14) and Loyola Marymount (2/16).