Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Open WAC Tournament vs. Hawai'i
3/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 9, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
RENO, Nev.- Fresno State opens the 2010 WAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the third straight year. The Bulldogs open the tournament against No. 8 seededHawai'i on Wednesday, March 10 at 12 p.m. The game will be heard live on 790 ESPN Radio, with Guy Haberman calling the action. This is the second straight year Fresno State and Hawai'i have met in the first round of the WAC tournament.
Hawai'i leads the overall series 25-21 but the Bulldogs have won 14 of the last 15 meetings against Rainbow Wahine. This year the Bulldogs won 83-42 in Fresno and 78-69 at Hawai'i.
Hawai'i finished the regular season 10-19 and 4-12 in WAC play. Keisha Kanekoa is scoring 11.2 points a game and the team is averaging 60.7 points a game ans shooting 40 percent from the field.
Fresno State won the 2009 tournament by defeating Hawai'i 65-50 win the first round, Utah State 57-54 and Nevada 56-49. Jaleesa Ross became the first women's player in WAC history to be named WAC Tournament MVP in back-to-back seasons. Joh-Teena Filipe was named to the All-Tournament Team. In last year's tournament, Fresno State set a tourney record for most 3-pointers attempted at 85 and the 27 3-pointers they made tied the tournament record.
WAC TO STREAM SELECTED WAC TOURNAMENT GAMES
A total of three men's games and six women's games will be streamed via the internet from the 2010 WAC Basketball Tournament presented by Verizon Wireless. Those nine games will be available live on WAC.tv. Games that will be shown on any ESPN networks cannot be shown due to contractual obligations. These ESPN games include the men's afternoon quarterfinals on March 11, the second men's semifinal game on March 12 and both the men's and women's championship games. Individual tournament games may be purchased for $7.95 each.
Bulldogs Earn All-WAC Honors
For the second time in three years Adrian Wiggins was named the WAC Coach of the Year and for the second straight year Jaleesa Ross earned first-team All-WAC honors. As a freshman she earned second-team All-WAC accolades. Ross was also named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year. Hayley Munro earned second-team All-WAC honors for the second-straight year while Rosie Moult was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Best Start in School history; WAC Regular Season Champions
Fresno State is off to its best in school history with its 25-5 overall mark, 16-0 WAC record and its 17-game winning streak. It is the 10th time in the program's 45 year history that the Bulldogs have won 20 games or more. Under coach Adrian Wiggins Fresno State has won 20 games or more in four of the last five years. The team boasts a record RPI of 27 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, 12 spots up from last week. In the daily RPI rankings, collegerpi.com and realtimerpi has the Bulldogs ranked 26th. For the first time in school history the Bulldogs won the WAC regular season title out right.
Ross One of Top Scorers in Bulldog History
Jaleesa Ross has scored 1,401 points in her career at Fresno State and is currently in 5th place on the Fresno State all-time scoring list. Ross needs 115 points to pass Shannon McGee's (1984-87) 1,515 points and move into fourth place. She needs 377 points to become the program's all-time leading scorer.
Ross Becomes Programs Career 3-Point Leader
Jaleesa Ross hit three 3-pointers in the Feb. 27 at Boise State to become the Fresno State all-time leader for 3-pointers made. She currently has 274, passing Lindsay Logan's 272. The 278 3-pointers ranked Ross fourth all-time for 3-pointers made in the WAC. She has hit 94 3-pointers this season, the second best mark in Fresno State single season history. Ross set the single season record last year by hitting 95 3-pointers.
One of the Nation's Best Winning Streaks
Fresno State currently has the seventh best winning streak in the country at 17 straight wins. The only other winning streaks that are better are UCONN with 70 straight wins, Nebraska 28, Arkansas Little Rock 20, Hartford 20, Princeton 20, Stanford 19, Fresno State 17, Gonzaga 17, Xavier 17.
School Record for Wins
Fresno State has won a school record 25 games this year. The previous record was 24 set by the 2008-09 and the 2005-06 teams. Since Adrian Wiggins has been the head coach the program has had the four winningest seasons in school history. He won 22 games in 2007-08, tying the mark for the third most wins in program history.
WAC Winning Streak
Fresno State has won 18 straight WAC regular season games dating back to last season. That mark is the third best in WAC history behind only Louisiana Tech's 23 straight conference wins from 2003-05 and Louisiana Tech's 22 straight wins from 2002-04.
"We Are Your Team"- The Frsno State women's basketball team opens the WAC Tournament against Hawai'i on Wednesday at Noon. Follow all the action live on 790 ESPN Radio, the Deuce and on gobulldogs.com.
