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2024–25 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball season

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Sports season
2024–25 WAC women's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams9
TV partner(s)ESPN, ESPN+
Regular season
WAC tournament
WAC women's basketball seasons
← 2023–242025–26 →
2024–25 WAC women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Grand Canyon 0 0   10 2   .833
Abilene Christian 0 0   8 4   .667
Utah Valley 0 0   7 4   .636
Tarleton 0 0   7 6   .538
UT Arlington 0 0   4 6   .400
Utah Tech 0 0   4 8   .333
California Baptist 0 0   3 11   .214
Seattle 0 0   2 9   .182
Southern Utah 0 0   1 10   .091
2025 WAC tournament winner
As of December 19, 2024

The 2024–25 WAC women's basketball season began with practices in October followed by the start of the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in early November 2024. The conference began play in January 2025. This is the WAC's 63rd season of basketball. The WAC competed with nine teams due to two teams having left the conference since the prior season. UTRGV and Stephen F. Austin both joined the Southland Conference since the prior year. The WAC tournament will be held in March 2025 with all nine teams competing for the automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The opening round will be held at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah with the remaining rounds at the Orleans Arena in the Las Vegas-area community of Paradise, Nevada. This was the last WAC season for both Grand Canyon and Seattle, which announced that they would join the West Coast Conference the following year.

Pre-season

WAC Media days

The WAC's 2024 women's basketball media day was held on October 16.

Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll
Place Team Points First place votes
1. Grand Canyon 59 4
2. California Baptist 58 4
3. UT Arlington 53 1
4. Abilene Christian 37 --
5. Southern Utah 33 --
6. Tarleton 28 --
7. Utah Tech 24 --
8. Utah Valley 17 --
9 Seattle U 15 --

WAC Preseason All-Conference

First Team
Name School Yr. Pos.
Trinity San Antonio Grand Canyon Senior G
Payton Hull Abilene Christian Sophomore G
Tiarra Brown Grand Canyon Graduate G/F
Daylani Ballena Southern Utah Graduate G
Avery Brittingham UT Arlington Fifth year F

Denotes Preseason Player of the Year

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Team Tournament Finish
Abilene Christian FIU Thanksgiving Classic & Lobo Invitational 1st & TBD
California Baptist FGCU Homewood Suites Classic 3rd
Grand Canyon Talking Stick Resort Thanksgiving Classic & Have Fayth Christmas Classic 1st & TBD
Seattle U Talking Stick Resort Thanksgiving Classic 2nd
Southern Utah Nugget Classic 4th
Tarleton Big Easy Classic 2nd
UT Arlington N/A ---
Utah Tech N/A ---
Utah Valley USD Thanksgiving Classic 2nd

Conference USA-Western Athletic Conference Challenge

Date Conference USA team WAC team Score Location Leader
November 4 UTEP Tarleton 52–49 Don Haskins CenterEl Paso, TX CUSA (1–0)
November 7 New Mexico State Utah Tech 85–63 Pan American CenterLas Cruces, NM CUSA (2–0)
November 8 Florida International Abilene Christian 76–73 Ocean Bank Convocation CenterMiami, FL CUSA (2–1)
Middle Tennessee Grand Canyon 57–47 Murphy CenterMurfreesboro, TN CUSA (3–1)
November 9 Kennesaw State Utah Valley 64–61 Convocation CenterKennesaw, GA CUSA (3–2)
Jacksonville State Southern Utah 77–58 Pete Mathews ColiseumJacksonville, FL CUSA (4–2)
Liberty California Baptist 72–44 Liberty ArenaLynchburg, VA CUSA (5–2)
Sam Houston Seattle 69–57 Bernard Johnson ColiseumHuntsville, TX CUSA (6–2)
November 10 Louisiana Tech UT Arlington 71–60 Thomas Assembly CenterRuston, LA CUSA (7–2)
November 21 Western Kentucky Abilene Christian 68–64 Moody ColiseumAbilene, TX CUSA (8–2)
November 27 Liberty Grand Canyon 79–50 Global Credit Union ArenaPhoenix, AZ CUSA (8–3)
December 14 UTEP Utah Tech 71–57 Burns ArenaSt. George, UT CUSA (9–3)
December 16 Sam Houston Southern Utah 72–61 America First Event CenterCedar City, UT CUSA (10–3)
Kennesaw State Seattle 64–41 Redhawk CenterSeattle, WA CUSA (11–3)
Jacksonville State Utah Valley 49–45 UCCU CenterOrem, UT CUSA (11–4)
New Mexico State Tarleton 65–55 Wisdom GymStephenville, TX CUSA (11–5)
Florida International UT Arlington 72–56 College Park CenterArlington, TX CUSA (11–6)
December 17 Middle Tennessee California Baptist 74–54 Fowler Events CenterRiverside, CA CUSA (12–6)
WINNERS ARE IN BOLD. HOME TEAM IN ITALICS.

Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. Did not participate: none

Records against other conferences

2024–25 records against non-conference foes:

Regular season

Power Conferences & Gonzaga Record
ACC 0–1
Big East 0–0
Big Ten 0–6
Big 12 3–8
Pac-12 0–0
SEC 0–2
Gonzaga 0–0
Power Conference Total 3–17
Other NCAA Division I Conferences Record
America East 0–0
American 0–2
A-10 0–2
ASUN 0–1
Big Sky 2–3
Big South 0–0
Big West 4–2
CAA 1–0
C-USA 7–11
Horizon 0–0
Ivy League 0–1
MAAC 0–0
MAC 0–1
MEAC 0–0
MVC 0–0
Mountain West 1–6
NEC 0–1
OVC 0–0
Patriot League 0–0
SoCon 0–0
Southland 10–3
SWAC 1–0
Summit 1–1
Sun Belt 0–1
WCC (except Gonzaga) 1–5
Other Division I Total 28–40
Non-Division I Total 10–0
NCAA Division I Total 31–57

Record against ranked non-conference opponents

This is a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP poll/Coaches poll):

Date Visitor Home Score
November 18 Grand Canyon #23 Oregon L, 54–70
November 20 Tarleton #4 Texas L, 41–83
December 3 Cal Baptist #6 USC L, 52–94
December 11 Tarleton #24 Nebraska L, 50–63

Team rankings are reflective of AP poll/Coaches poll when the game was played, not current or final ranking.

Rankings

See also: 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25
NV No votes received
  Pre Wk
2
Wk
3
Wk
4
Wk
5
Wk
6
Wk
7
Wk
8
Wk
9
Wk
10
Wk
11
Wk
12
Wk
13
Wk
14
Wk
15
Wk
16
Wk
17
Wk
18
Final
Abilene Christian AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
California Baptist AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Grand Canyon AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Seattle U AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Southern Utah AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Tarleton AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
UT Arlington AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Utah Tech AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Utah Valley AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV

Head coaches

Coaching changes

No coaching changes were made during the offseason.

Coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and WAC records are from time at current school.

Team Head coach Previous job Seasons at school Overall record WAC record WAC titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Abilene Christian Julie Goodenough Charleston Southern 13th 228–130 (.637) 138–75(.648) 2 1 0 0
California Baptist Jarrod Olson Florida Southern 13th 133-54 (.711) 76-26 (.745) 2 1 0 0
Grand Canyon Molly Miller Drury 5th 85-35 (.708) 50-18 (.735) 0 0 0 0
Seattle U Skyler Young Portland (assistant) 2nd 6-23 (.207) 6-14 (.300) 0 0 0 0
Southern Utah Tracy Mason St. Mary's (associate HC) 7th 84-87 (.491) 22-16 (.579) 1 1 0 0
Tarleton Bill Brock McLennan Community College 2nd 12-20 (.375) 7-13 (.350) 0 0 0 0
UT Arlington Shereka Wright Vanderbilt (associate HC) 5th 64-48 (.571) 41-27 (.603) 0 1 0 0
Utah Tech JD Gustin Weber State (assistant) 9th 48-47 (.505) 28-28 (.500) 0 0 0 0
Utah Valley Dan Nielson BYU (associate HC) 6th 57-81 (.413) 37-48 (.435) 0 1 0 0

Notes:

  • Overall and WAC records, conference titles, etc. are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2023–24 season.
  • Records and season totals only include time spent at Division I as head coach.
  • NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only.
  • NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools.

Post season

WAC tournament

Main article: 2025 WAC women's basketball tournament

The WAC tournament will be held in March 2025 with all nine teams competing for the automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The opening round will be held at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah with the remaining rounds at the Orleans Arena in the Las Vegas-area community of Paradise, Nevada.

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

Teams from the conference that were selected to participate: 0

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
Bids W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)

Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 0

Main article: 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament
Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)

Women's National Invitation Tournament

Number from the conference that were selected to participate: 0

Main article: 2025 Women's National Invitation Tournament
Seed School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)
Index to colors and formatting
WAC member won
WAC member lost

*Denotes overtime period

Awards and honors

Players of the week

Throughout the conference regular season, the WAC offices name a player of the week and a newcomer of the week each Monday.

Week Player of the Week School Newcomer of the Week School
November 11 Bella Earle Abilene Christian Danja Stafford Collins Utah Valley
November 18 Alyssa Durazo-Frescas Grand Canyon Alyssa Durazo-Frescas Grand Canyon
November 25 Chardonnay Hartley Utah Tech Aaliyah Ibarra Utah Tech
December 2 Payton Hull Abilene Christian Taisiya Kozlova Seattle
December 9 Trinity San Antonio Grand Canyon Koi Love UT Arlington
December 16 Laura Erikstrup Grand Canyon Alyssa Durazo-Frescas Grand Canyon

Totals per school - Players of the week

School Player of the week Freshman of the week Total
Abilene Christian University 2 2
California Baptist University
Grand Canyon University 3 2 5
Seattle University 1 1
Southern Utah University
Tarleton State University
University of Texas at Arlington 1 1
Utah Tech University 1 1 2
Utah Valley University 1 1
Total 6 6 12

All-Americans

Main article: 2025 NCAA Women's Basketball All-Americans

All-WAC

First team
Name School
  • ‡ WAC Player of the Year
  • ‡‡ WAC Defensive Player of the Year
Second team
Name School

All-Freshman team

Name School

† Freshman of the Year

All-Defensive team

Name School
  • ‡WAC Defensive Player of the Year

Other awards

Sixth Woman of the Year:

Coach of the Year:

2025 WNBA draft

Main article: 2025 WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team School/club team

Home game attendance

Team Stadium Capacity Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7 Game 8 Game 9 Game 10 Game 11 Game 12 Game 13 Game 14 Game 15 Game 16 Game 17 Game 18 Total Average % of Capacity
Abilene Christian Moody Coliseum 3,600 652 2,207 709 624 348 4,540 908 25%
California Baptist CBU Events Center 5,050 740 758 461 427 2,386 597 12%
Grand Canyon GCU Arena 7,000 552 534 482 398 511 407 2,884 481 7%
Seattle U Redhawk Center/Climate Pledge Arena 999/18,100 536 164 247 143 1,090 273 27%
Southern Utah America First Event Center 5,300 355 369 349 266 1,339 335 6%
Tarleton State Wisdom Gymnasium 3,000 840 677 927 581 676 3,701 740 25%
UT Arlington College Park Center 7,000 1,161 256 901 734 3,052 763 11%
Utah Tech Burns Arena 4,779 1,841 327 665 467 260 377 3,937 656 14%
Utah Valley UCCU Center 8,500 539 636 457 474 381 422 2,909 485 6%
Total 62.329 25,838 5,237 15%

Bold – At or exceed capacity; capacity ratios for Seattle U computed based on smaller home arena; attendance is for regular season only

  • †Season high
  • ‡Climate Pledge Arena
  • ‡‡Bert Ogden Arena

See also

References

  1. "CONFIRMED: SFA returning to the Southland Conference". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  2. "Championship Format And Dates For 2025 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament Set". wacsports.com. October 15, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  3. "WCC to add Grand Canyon, Seattle in 2025-26". ESPN.com. May 10, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  4. "Grand Canyon Tabbed as 2024-25 WAC Women's Basketball Preseason Favorite". wacsports.com. November 2, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  5. "Women's Basketball Releases Full 2024-25 Slate". FIU Athletics. November 8, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  6. "ACU hopes to make statement in year four in the WAC". Abilene Christian University Athletics. November 1, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  7. "Women's basketball unveils non-conference slate for 2024-25 season". FGCU Athletics. September 12, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  8. ^ "Challenging nonconference schedule unveiled". Grand Canyon University Athletics. September 12, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  9. "Women's Basketball announces 2024-25 schedule". University of Nevada Athletics. September 24, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  10. "2024 Big Easy Classic - NCAA Women's Basketball Tournaments". Alario Center. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  11. "USD Women's Basketball Reveals Full 2024-25 Schedule". University of San Diego Athletics. September 26, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  12. Seattle U uses two home arenas: Redhawk Center, which is located on campus, and the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena in uptown Seattle.
Western Athletic Conference women's basketball
Teams
Championships & awards
Seasons
2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball conference season
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