Sports season
2024–25 WAC women's basketball season | |
---|---|
League | NCAA Division I |
Sport | Basketball |
Number of teams | 9 |
TV partner(s) | ESPN, ESPN+ |
Regular season | |
WAC tournament | |
WAC women's basketball seasons | |
← 2023–242025–26 → |
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.
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 Center • El Paso, TX | CUSA (1–0) |
November 7 | New Mexico State | Utah Tech | 85–63 | Pan American Center • Las Cruces, NM | CUSA (2–0) |
November 8 | Florida International | Abilene Christian | 76–73 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center • Miami, FL | CUSA (2–1) |
Middle Tennessee | Grand Canyon | 57–47 | Murphy Center • Murfreesboro, TN | CUSA (3–1) | |
November 9 | Kennesaw State | Utah Valley | 64–61 | Convocation Center • Kennesaw, GA | CUSA (3–2) |
Jacksonville State | Southern Utah | 77–58 | Pete Mathews Coliseum • Jacksonville, FL | CUSA (4–2) | |
Liberty | California Baptist | 72–44 | Liberty Arena • Lynchburg, VA | CUSA (5–2) | |
Sam Houston | Seattle | 69–57 | Bernard Johnson Coliseum • Huntsville, TX | CUSA (6–2) | |
November 10 | Louisiana Tech | UT Arlington | 71–60 | Thomas Assembly Center • Ruston, LA | CUSA (7–2) |
November 21 | Western Kentucky | Abilene Christian | 68–64 | Moody Coliseum • Abilene, TX | CUSA (8–2) |
November 27 | Liberty | Grand Canyon | 79–50 | Global Credit Union Arena • Phoenix, AZ | CUSA (8–3) |
December 14 | UTEP | Utah Tech | 71–57 | Burns Arena • St. George, UT | CUSA (9–3) |
December 16 | Sam Houston | Southern Utah | 72–61 | America First Event Center • Cedar City, UT | CUSA (10–3) |
Kennesaw State | Seattle | 64–41 | Redhawk Center • Seattle, WA | CUSA (11–3) | |
Jacksonville State | Utah Valley | 49–45 | UCCU Center • Orem, UT | CUSA (11–4) | |
New Mexico State | Tarleton | 65–55 | Wisdom Gym • Stephenville, TX | CUSA (11–5) | |
Florida International | UT Arlington | 72–56 | College Park Center • Arlington, TX | CUSA (11–6) | |
December 17 | Middle Tennessee | California Baptist | 74–54 | Fowler Events Center • Riverside, 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 rankingsImprovement 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 tournamentThe 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 tournamentTeams 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 TournamentSeed | 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 TournamentSeed | 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-AmericansAll-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 draftRound | 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
- "CONFIRMED: SFA returning to the Southland Conference". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
- "Championship Format And Dates For 2025 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament Set". wacsports.com. October 15, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
- "WCC to add Grand Canyon, Seattle in 2025-26". ESPN.com. May 10, 2024. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
- "Grand Canyon Tabbed as 2024-25 WAC Women's Basketball Preseason Favorite". wacsports.com. November 2, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
- "Women's Basketball Releases Full 2024-25 Slate". FIU Athletics. November 8, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- "ACU hopes to make statement in year four in the WAC". Abilene Christian University Athletics. November 1, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- "Women's basketball unveils non-conference slate for 2024-25 season". FGCU Athletics. September 12, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ "Challenging nonconference schedule unveiled". Grand Canyon University Athletics. September 12, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- "Women's Basketball announces 2024-25 schedule". University of Nevada Athletics. September 24, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- "2024 Big Easy Classic - NCAA Women's Basketball Tournaments". Alario Center. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- "USD Women's Basketball Reveals Full 2024-25 Schedule". University of San Diego Athletics. September 26, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- 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 | |
---|---|
This article needs additional or more specific categories. Please help out by adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles. (November 2024) |