2005 West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball 1250 Bayhill Drive; Suite 101 H San Bruno, CA 94066 WCCsports.com Tel: 650-873-8622 H Fax: 650-873-7846 For Immediate Release: Contact: William Kiss November 15, 2005 Email: [email protected] 2005-06 STANDINGS WCC GAMES OVERALL W L PCT GB Home Away W L Home Away Neut Strk Gonzaga 0 0 -- -- 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 -- Loyola Marymount 0 0 -- -- 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 -- Pepperdine 0 0 -- -- 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 -- Portland 0 0 -- -- 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 -- Saint Mary’s 0 0 -- -- 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 -- San Diego 0 0 -- -- 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 -- San Francisco 0 0 -- -- 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 -- Santa Clara 0 0 -- -- 0-0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 -- Loyola Marymount Tabbed As Favorite In Upcoming Games 2005-06 WCC Preseason Poll Nov. 18 LMU was chosen as the favorite to claim the WCC women’s basketball title Santa Clara at Georgia 4:00 PM in the 2005-06 WCC preseason poll, as selected by the conference coaches. Pepperdine at Washington State 5:00 PM The Lions, who posted a 16-13 overall record last season and a 9-5 mark in Gonzaga at San Jose State 7:00 PM conference play to finish in second place, will be seeking their second WCC Portland at Idaho 7:00 PM championship in the last three years. The Lions received 59 points in the poll, Saint Mary’s at Eastern Washington 7:00 PM including four first place votes, to edge defending champion Gonzaga. Santa San Diego at UC Riverside 7:00 PM Clara, the 2005 WCC Tournament champion, was picked third and received Loyola Marymount at Arizona 7:30 PM the remaining first place vote. Pepperdine, which returns six letterwinners, and Saint Mary’s, which returns eight letterwinners, tied for the No. 4 spot Nov. 19 with 36 points. San Francisco was selected sixth with 25 points, followed by San Diego with 21 points and Portland with 12 points. San Francisco at Minnesota1 1:00 PM Women’s Basketball 2005-06 Preseason Poll Nov. 20 1. Loyola Marymount - 59 (4) Eastern Washington at Gonzaga 2:00 PM 2. Gonzaga - 56 (3) Portland State at Portland 2:00 PM 3. Santa Clara - 43 (1) Arizona State at San Diego 2:00 PM 4. Pepperdine - 36 Saint Mary’s at Washington State 7:00 PM Saint Mary’s - 36 San Francisco vs. Stanford/LIU1 TBA 6. San Francisco - 25 7. San Diego - 21 8. Portland -12 1 Subway Classic (Minneapolis, MN) (First place votes in parentheses) WCC Player of the Week A Look Inside ... Conference Player of the Week Selections Begin on November 21 H Gonzaga, LMU, Pepperdine, and Portland Team Notes Pg. 2 Each week, the West Coast Conference will select a Player of the Week based on the previous week’s performances. WCC women’s basketball H Saint Mary’s, San Diego, USF, and Santa Clara Team Notes Pg. 3 Player of the Week selections will begin on Monday, November 21. For more information about WCC women’s basketball, log onto: WCCsports.com H Records Fall In 2004-05 Season Pg. 4 H A Preseason Look At The West Coast Conference Pg. 5 H Weekly Polls Pg. 6 WCC Women’s Basketball WCC Sports Info Gonzaga Bulldogs (0-0 / 0-0 WCC) Contacts H Gonzaga enjoyed a record-breaking season last year, posting a 28-4 (WB=Women’s Basketball) overall record and advancing to the second round of the WNIT. The Zags Gonzaga strung together the nation’s longest winning streak with 23 straight victories Oliver Pierce 509-323-6373 and received the first national rankings in program history. [email protected] WB Rich Moser 509-323-5484 H Anne Bailey is Gonzaga’s top returning scorer, having averaged 9.9 points per game last year. [email protected] Bailey received honorable mention All-WCC honors after appearing in 32 games and scoring in Chris Loucks 509-323-4227 double figures in 21 contests. [email protected] Office Fax: 509-323-5730 H Head Coach Kelly Graves will have to replace starters Ashley Burke, Raeanna Jewell, and All-American Shannon Mathews. Stephanie Hawk (9.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Juliann Laney are Loyola Marymount Gonzaga’s two returning starters. John Shaffer 310-338-7643 [email protected] H The Zags travel to San Jose State (11/18) before hosting Eastern Washington (11/20). Alissa Zito 310-338-7638 [email protected] Loyola Marymount Lions (0-0 / 0-0 WCC) WB Carolyn French 310-338-5798 [email protected] H Loyola Marymount was picked by the conference coaches as the Office Fax: 310-338-2703 preseason favorite to capture the WCC title after compiling a 9-5 mark in conference games to finish in second place last year. Portland Jason Brough 503-943-7439 H Center Jevay Grooms returns for her senior season after finishing second in the WCC with [email protected] a .539 field goal percentage last year. The mark ranks third on the LMU single-season chart. WB Adam Linnman 503-943-7731 [email protected] H Sisters Bianca and Rachael Ziemann return to anchor the Lions’ backcourt this season. Office Fax: 503-943-7242 Rachael Ziemann led the team in scoring last season (10.2 ppg) and sunk 43 3-pointers in conference contest, the second highest single-season total in WCC history. Saint Mary’s Rich Davi 925-631-4402 H LMU’s 43 WCC wins over the last five seasons ranks second only to Pepperdine’s 50. [email protected] WB Ryan Reggiani 925-631-4950 H LMU opens the 2005-06 campaign at Arizona (11/18). [email protected] Office Fax: 925-631-4405 Pepperdine Waves(0-0 / 0-0 WCC) San Diego H Pepperdine will look to improve on an injury plagued 2004-05 campaign Ted Gosen 619-260-4745 that saw the Waves post a 7-7 WCC mark and tie for third place in the conference. [email protected] WB Nick Mirkovich 619-260-7930 H Head Coach Julie Rousseau will field the youngest team in the conference, as nine of the [email protected] 12 players on the roster are underclassmen. The only senior on the roster is Kelsey Ball, who Ryan McCann 619-260-4803, ex. 2697 averaged 6.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 29 games last year. [email protected] Office Fax: 619-260-2990 H Teiosha George is the conference’s top returning rebounder, as the sophomore averaged San Francisco 5.7 boards per game last season. Peter Simon 415-422-6161 H [email protected] Daphanie Kennedy returns for her sophomore season after earning WCC all-freshman team WB Ryan McCrary 415-422-6162 honors a year ago. Kennedy is the squad’s top returning scorer (9.2 ppg). [email protected] Office Fax: 415-422-2929 H Pepperdine begins the season on the road at Washington State (11/18) Portland Pilots (0-0 / 0-0 WCC) Santa Clara Richard Kilwien 408-554-2114 H [email protected] Portland looks to rebound from a 2004-05 season in which the Pilots WB Aaron Juarez 408-554-4661 recorded a 6-22 overall mark and just one victory in conference play. [email protected] Roland Hu 408-554-4670 H The Pilots welcome back a pair of talented sophomores in Brooke Fernandez (3.9 ppg) and [email protected] Meagan Bermingham (8.7 ppg). Bermingham was named to the WCC all-freshman team. Office Fax: 408-554-6942 H Senior Whitney Grant is Portland’s top returning scorer (10.7 ppg) and has started 79 of 85 West Coast Conference games during her three years on The Bluff. Jae Wilson 650-873-8622 [email protected] H UP hopes to get a spark from Rachel Warren who helped Australia to a bronze medal at the WB William Kiss 650-873-8622 World University Games last summer. [email protected] Office Fax: 650-873-7846 H Portland travels to Idaho (11/18) before returning home to host Portland State (11/20). WCC Women’s Basketball Pg. 2 Saint Mary’s Gaels (0-0 / 0-0 WCC) 2005-06 WCC Players of the Week H Saint Mary’s posted a 7-7 conference mark last season to tie for third place in the WCC, marking the ninth time in the last 10 years that the Gaels 11/21 have won at least half of their league games. 11/28 12/5 H Brianna Winn returns for her senior season as the team’s top returning scorer. The transfer 12/12 from UCLA averaged 9.5 points per game as a junior. 12/19 12/26 H Sophomore Maija Lahde gained valuable international experience over the summer, playing 1/2 for her native Finland in the European Championship qualification round. 1/9 1/16 H The Gaels welcome back two players that were name to the 2004 WCC all-freshman team 1/23 in Serena Benavente and Monica Mertle. Both players missed last year due to injury. 1/30 2/6 H SMC opens on the road at Eastern Washington (11/18) and Washington State (11/20).