DENVER ? The Western Athletic Conference announced its women's basketball yearly honors for the 2008-09 season on Sunday and the University of Idaho brought in an impressive haul after achieving its highest WAC finish since joining the conference.

The Vandal women were picked to finish last in the coaches poll and eighth in the media poll at the beginning of the season, but 27 games later, Idaho is 13-14 overall, 10-6 in WAC play and tied for third in the conference.

Idaho head coach Jon Newlee was honored as the WAC Coach of the Year, while junior guard Derisa Taleni was voted Newcomer of the Year by the league's coaches. Taleni was joined on the All-WAC Second Team by sophomore Yinka Olorunnife, who was also selected to the WAC All-Defensive Team. Shaena-Lyn Kuehu, the WAC's top freshman scorer, rebounder and 3-point shooter, earned a well-deserved spot on the WAC All-Freshman Team.

“You like seeing your team well-represented,” Newlee said. “It shows we have a team effort in everything that we do and everybody contributed in those difference categories.”

Taleni's selection may have been the easiest for the conference's coaches. In her first year from De Anza College, she averaged 15.1 points and 5.8 rebounds, while shooting .710 from the free-throw line and .396 from the field in WAC games. Her 31-point outburst against Utah State on Jan. 5 is the WAC's top scoring performance of the season. She scored in double-digits in 20 of Idaho's 27 games this season.

Newlee earns his first career WAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Vandal women to the nation's sixth-best turnaround and its best finish in the WAC. Entering this season, Idaho had won just 11 combined WAC games in three previous seasons and its best WAC finish was 5-11 in 2006. This year, Idaho went 10-6 and finished in a third-place tie.

“It's nice to be recognized by your peers for a job well-done, but I feel like that's a staff award,” Newlee said. “I feel like I have the best staff in the country working for me and without those guys, there would be no awards.”

Olorunnife, an All-Freshman honoree last season, was the only player in the WAC to average a double-double, as she scored 12.2 points and grabbed 11.6 boards per WAC game. Her 186 rebounds in WAC games rank fifth all-time in the WAC, while her 297 rebounds so far this year are a school record by 20. She broke the Idaho home-court single-game rebounding record on Feb. 13 with 20 boards against Fresno State, which gave her the highest single-game performance in the WAC this year.

Olorunnife was equally as good on defense as she was on offense. Her 9.56 defensive rebounds per game in WAC play are 3 more per game than the second-best average and she ranked fifth in blocked shots (1.44/g) and third in steals (2.19/g).

Kuehu was another easy selection for the league's coaches. She finished the WAC season ranked first among conference freshmen in scoring (11.8), rebounding (5.5), field goal percentage (.447), 3-point percentage (.389), 3-pointers made per game (1.75) and steals (1.94).  Her 3-point percentage also ranks fourth among all WAC players, while her field-goal percentage leads Idaho and ranks sixth overall in the WAC. She scored double-digit points in 14 of Idaho's 16 WAC games and 18 overall.

“They worked hard and did a great job this year and they certainly deserve any honor they get,” Newlee said of his players, “Yinka, Derisa and Shaena wouldn't be anywhere without their teammates, so it's a tribute not just to their work, but also what our team has accomplished this year.”

Taleni's and Olorunnife's honors give Idaho its 13th consecutive season with an all-conference performer. Idaho has produced at least one all-conference honoree every year since 1996-97 and in 26 of the 27 seasons since joining NCAA Division I.

The Vandal women will take the floor on Wednesday, Mar. 11 at 12 p.m. (PT) against Utah State in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament. The Vandals hold the No. 4 seed, while USU comes in at No. 5.

2008-09 Western Athletic Conference Postseason Award Winners

Player of the Year: Shanavia Dowdell, Louisiana Tech

Newcomer of the Year: Derisa Taleni, Idaho

Defensive Player of the Year: Dellena Criner, Nevada

Coach of the Year: Jon Newlee, Idaho

First-Team All-WAC

Dellena Criner, Nevada, G, 5-7, Sr. (Oakland, Calif./Fremont)

Shanavia Dowdell, Louisiana Tech, F, 6-1, Jr. (Calera, Ala./Calera)

Adrienne Johnson, Louisiana Tech, F, 6-1, So. (Franklin, La./Franklin)

Jaleesa Ross, Fresno St., G, 5-8, So. (Pinole, Calif./Pinole Valley)

Danyelle Snelgro, Utah St., G, 5-5, Sr. (Altadena, Calif./Muir)

Second-Team All-WAC

Hayley Munro, Fresno St., G/F, 6-1, So. (Montmorency, Victoria, Australia/Viewbank College)

Yinka Olorunnife, Idaho, F, 6-0, So. (Windsor, Ontario, Canada/Natl. Elite Development)

Ana Pares, Utah St., G, 5-8, Sr. (Provo, Utah/Timpview)

Madison Spence, New Mexico St., G, 5-11, So. (Las Cruces, N.M./Mayfield)

Derisa Taleni, Idaho, G, 5-9, Jr. (Santa Clara, Calif./De Anza College)

All-Defensive Team