LOGAN, Utah - Utah State junior guard/forward Amber White became just the third Aggie to earn all-Western Athletic Conference honors when she was named to the second team by the league's coaches Sunday.

White was not the only Aggie to earn a postseason honor as fellow junior guard Alice Coddington was named to the WAC's all-defensive team. The Canberra, Australia native joins Danyelle Snelgro as the only two Aggies to ever earn this honor. Redshirt-freshman Banna Diop capped off her breakout season with all-freshmen team honors. She is the first USU player to earn this honor since Snelgro in 2006.

Since joining the WAC for the 2005-06 season, Utah State has had only two other players earn all-WAC honors. Last season, Snelgro became the first Aggie to earn first-team honors. Ana Pares was also honored with second-team honors last season.

White, a San Leandro, Calif., native, ended the regular season 13th in the WAC in scoring in league games, averaging 11.7 points per game. She is the Aggies' leading scorer, averaging 11.5 points per game overall. The versatile and durable White started every game for Utah State this season, averaging 30.6 minutes per game.

The defensive-minded Coddington has also started all 29 games for the Aggies this season, averaging 31.7 minutes per game to lead the team. In WAC games, the guard was third in steals, averaging 2.13 steals per games. She ended the regular season with 34 steals in league games. Overall, she leads the WAC averaging 2.59 spg.

Diop, who hails from Dakar, Senegal, earned a spot on the WAC's all-freshmen team with a solid conference season. The center ended conference play tied for fifth in the WAC in blocks, averaging 1.19 blocks per game. In WAC games, she averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, tying senior center Lydia Whitehead for the team lead in rebounds in WAC games.

Louisiana Tech's Shanavia Dowdell was named WAC Player of the Year for the second-straight season, while Nevada's Tahnee Robinson earned Newcomer of the Year honors. Fresno State's Jalessa Ross was named Defensive Player of the Year, while the Bulldog head coach Adrian Wiggins was named WAC Coach of the Year.

Dowdell, a 6-1 senior forward, becomes the fifth player in WAC history to earn the award in back-to-back seasons. She led the WAC in scoring (17.9) and rebounding (12.4), and ranked second in field goal percentage (.520) and fifth in blocks (1.29).

Fresno State head coach Adrian Wiggins earns WAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Wiggins led the Bulldogs to a perfect 16-0 record in WAC play, becoming the first WAC team since Louisiana Tech in 2002-03 to accomplish the feat. Fresno State has won 17-straight games.

Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross earned the WAC’s Defensive Player of the Year honor. She led the league with 2.94 steals per game in WAC play. Ross was also named first team all-WAC and to the all-Defensive team. Nevada’s Tahnee Robinson is the WAC’s Newcomer of the Year. Robinson is the first Nevada player since Brandi Fitzgerald to receive the honor. In WAC play, Robinson ranked third in the conference in scoring with 17.8 points per game.

Utah State ended the season 13-16 overall and 5-11 in the WAC. The Aggies earned the seventh seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament held in Reno, Nev., March 10-13. The Aggies will take on second-seeded Louisiana Tech on Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. MT. USU is 1-1 against the Lady Techsters with each team win on the others home floor.


Fresno State earned the top seed in the tournament for the third-straight season and will play eighth-seeded Hawai‘i at 11:00 a.m. (MT). Host Nevada earned the third seed and will take on sixth-seeded Boise State for the second-straight season at 5:00 p.m. (MT). Fourth-seed Idaho will face fifth-seeded New Mexico State at 1:30 (MT).

Live stats will be available for all WAC Tournament games through the women's basketball page on www.utahstateaggies.com, by clicking on the "Live Stats" link in the current events box. All home games can be can be heard by clicking on "Listen Live." Both can be accessed on www.utahstateaggies.com on the front page or the women's basketball page. All the games of the WAC Tournament except the championship game can be viewed for a small cost by going to wacsports.com. The championship game can be seen on ESPNU at 12 p.m. MT.


2009-10 All-Western Athletic Conference Postseason Teams

First Team All-WAC
Name Team Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown (Previous School)
Shanavia Dowdell Louisiana Tech F 6-1 Sr. Calera, Ala. (Calera)
Tasha Harris Boise State G 5-7 Sr. Longmont, Colo. (Skyline)
Adrienne Johnson Louisiana Tech F 6-1 Jr. Franklin, La. (Franklin)
Tahnee Robinson Nevada G 5-9 Jr. Fort Washakie, Wyo. (Sheridan College)
Jaleesa Ross Fresno State G 5-8 Jr. Pinole, Calif. (Pinole Valley)

Second Team All-WAC
Crystal Boyd New Mexico State G 5-11 Sr. Little Rock, Ark. (Texas)
Rachele Kloke Idaho G 5-11 Jr. Stanwood, Wash. (Stanwood)
Shavon Moore Nevada F 6-1 Jr. Riverside, Calif. (J.W. North)
Hayley Munro Fresno State G/F 6-1 Jr. Montmorency, Victoria, Australia (Viewbank College)
Amber White Utah State G/F 5-10 Jr. San Leandro, Calif. (San Leandro)

All-Defensive Team
Alice Coddington Utah State G 5-10 Jr. Canberra, Australia (Radford College)
Shanavia Dowdell Louisiana Tech F 6-1 Sr. Calera, Ala. (Calera)
Adrienne Johnson Louisiana Tech F 6-1 Jr. Franklin, La. (Franklin)
Shavon Moore Nevada F 6-1 Jr. Riverside, Calif. (J.W. North)
Jaleesa Ross Fresno State G 5-8 Jr. Pinole, Calif. (Pinole Valley)

All-Freshman Team
Banna Diop Utah State C 6-6 Dakar, Senegal (Kurashiki Suisho)
Lauren Lenhardt Boise State F 6-2 Eagle, Idaho (Eagle)
Julia Marshall Boise State G 5-9 Wichita, Kan. (Bishop Carroll)
Rosie Moult Fresno State G/F 6-1 Olinda, Victoria, Australia (Vermont Secondary)
Camila Rosen New Mexico State G 6-1 Berkeley, Calif. (Berkeley)

Player of the Year: Shanavia Dowdell, Louisiana Tech
Defensive Player of the Year: Jaleesa Ross, Fresno State
Newcomer of the Year: Tahnee Robinson, Nevada
Coach of the Year: Adrian Wiggins, Fresno State



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