West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament

The West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament is the annual concluding tournament for the NCAA college basketball in the West Coast Conference. The winner receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. The championship is broadcast nationally on ESPNU.

West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
SportCollege basketball
ConferenceWest Coast Conference
Number of teams9
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumOrleans Arena
Current locationLas Vegas, Nevada
Played1992-present
Last contest2024
Current championPortland Pilots
Most championshipsGonzaga Bulldogs (10)
TV partner(s)BYUtv, ESPNU
Official websiteWCCSports.com Women's Basketball
Sponsors
University Credit Union (2019)

Games were at campus sites from 1992 to 1994, then were played at the same location as the men's tournament, beginning in 1995.

Beginning in 2012, the WCC adopted a new format to incorporate a ninth team (BYU). In 2012 and 2013, the tournament started on Wednesday instead of Friday, and a first round 8 vs. 9 game was added. The winner of the 8/9 game played the 5 seed on Day 2 of the Tournament (Thursday). The 6 vs. 7 match took place that same day. Day 3, or the Quarterfinals (Friday), featured the winner of the 5/8/9 game playing the 4 seed and the winner of the 6/7 game playing the 3 seed. The top two seeds entered in the semifinals on Saturday. All teams were off on Sunday (all WCC members are private, faith-based schools, and BYU has a strict policy against Sunday play), and the championship game was played Monday on ESPNU. BYUtv Sports showed all games on the women's side except for the championship.

The format changed to a traditional 10-team tournament with the addition of Pacific for the 2013–14 season.

At the end of each tournament, an all-tournament team is named, with one individual selected as Most Valuable Player. Four players have earned MVP honors more than once—Valerie Gillom of San Francisco, Jill Barta of Gonzaga, and Alex Fowler of Portland twice each; and Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot three times.

Past WCC women's basketball tournament results

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Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot, the only three-time tournament MVP, is also the WCC's only three-time Player of the Year.
Year Champion Runner-Up Site MVP[1]
1992 Santa Clara San Francisco Toso Pavilion, Santa Clara, California Melissa King, Santa Clara
1993 San Diego Santa Clara Jill Shaver, San Diego
1994 Portland Gonzaga Amy Claboe, Portland
1995 San Francisco Portland Valerie Gillon, San Francisco
1996 San Francisco Portland Valerie Gillon, San Francisco
1997 San Francisco Portland Gersten Pavilion, Los Angeles, California Brittany Lindhe, San Francisco
1998 Santa Clara Saint Mary's Toso Pavilion, Santa Clara, California Lisa Sacco, Santa Clara
1999 Saint Mary's Pepperdine Tracy Morris, Saint Mary's
2000 San Diego Pepperdine Jessica Gray, San Diego
2001 Saint Mary's Loyola Marymount Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego, California Jermisha Dosty, Saint Mary's
2002 Pepperdine Santa Clara Damaris Hinojosa, Pepperdine
2003 Pepperdine Santa Clara Kendra Rhea, Santa Clara
2004 Loyola Marymount Gonzaga Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California Adrianne Slaughter, Loyola Marymount
2005 Santa Clara Gonzaga Michelle Cozad, Santa Clara
2006 Pepperdine Santa Clara McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Washington Daphanie Kennedy, Pepperdine
2007 Gonzaga Loyola Marymount Chiles Center, Portland, Oregon Heather Bowman, Gonzaga
2008 San Diego Gonzaga Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego, California Amanda Rego, San Diego
2009 Gonzaga San Diego Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga
2010 Gonzaga Pepperdine Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga
2011 Gonzaga Saint Mary's Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga[2]
2012 BYU Gonzaga Haley Steed, BYU[3]
2013 Gonzaga San Diego Haiden Palmer, Gonzaga[4]
2014 Gonzaga BYU Sunny Greinacher, Gonzaga[5]
2015 BYU San Francisco Lexi Eaton, BYU[6]
2016 San Francisco BYU Taylor Proctor, San Francisco
2017 Gonzaga Saint Mary's Jill Barta, Gonzaga[7]
2018 Gonzaga San Diego Jill Barta, Gonzaga[8]
2019 BYU Gonzaga Paisley Johnson, BYU[9]
2020 Portland San Diego Alex Fowler, Portland[10]
2021 Gonzaga BYU Jill Townsend, Gonzaga[11]
2022 Gonzaga BYU Melody Kempton, Gonzaga[12]
2023 Portland Gonzaga Alex Fowler, Portland[13]
2024 Portland Gonzaga Kennedy Dickie, Portland[14]

Performance by school

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Former WCC members highlighted in pink.

Member Winners Winning Years
Gonzaga
10
2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022
Portland
4
1994, 2020, 2023, 2024
San Francisco
4
1995, 1996, 1997, 2016
BYU
3
2012, 2015, 2019
San Diego
3
1993, 2000, 2008
Pepperdine
3
2002, 2003, 2006
Santa Clara
3
1992, 1998, 2005
Saint Mary's
2
1999, 2001
Loyola Marymount
1
2004
Pacific
0

References

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  1. ^ "WCC Tournament Recaps" (PDF). 2010–11 West Coast Conference Women's Basketball Media Guide. West Coast Conference. pp. 71–73. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  2. ^ "2011 WCC Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team Announced" (Press release). West Coast Conference. March 7, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  3. ^ "BYU women punch NCAA Tournament ticket with WCC title win over Gonzaga". Salt Lake Tribune. March 7, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  4. ^ Associated Press (March 11, 2013). "Gonzaga Heads to Post Season Defeating San Diego". West Coast Conference. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  5. ^ "BYU women fall in scoring hole, lose to Gonzaga in WCC Championship". The Daily Universe. March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  6. ^ "Cougar women claim second WCC title, NCAA tourney next". Salt Lake Tribune. March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  7. ^ Crumpacker, John (March 7, 2017). "Crumpacker - Jill Barta Leads Gonzaga To #WCChoops Title". West Coast Conference. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  8. ^ Crumpacker, John (March 6, 2018). "Crumpacker - Zags Dance Again After Dispatching Toreros". West Coast Conference. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  9. ^ Gurney, Brandon (March 12, 2019). "Cougars Surpass Expectations, beat Gonzaga 82-68 for Conference Championship". Deseret News. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  10. ^ Faraudo, Jeff (March 10, 2020). "Faraudo: Portland Completes Title Run". West Coast Conference. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  11. ^ "2021 UCU West Coast Conference Women's All-Tournament Team" (PDF) (Press release). West Coast Conference. March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "Gonzaga Wins 2022 WCC Women's Basketball Championship" (Press release). West Coast Conference. March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  13. ^ "Portland Wins 2023 UCU WCC Basketball Tournament" (Press release). West Coast Conference. March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  14. ^ "Portland Knock Off Favored Gonzaga For The WCC Title" (Press release). West Coast Conference. March 12, 2024.

See also

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