2015–16 West Coast Conference women's basketball season explained

2015–16 West Coast Conference women's basketball season
Color:	9B1743
Color Text:	FFFFFF
League:	NCAA Division I
Sport:	Women's basketball
Pixels:	120px
No Of Teams:	10
Tv:	National: ESPNU, BYUtv, TheW.tv Regional: SWX, CSNNW
Season:	Regular season
Season Champs:	BYU
Mvp:	Lexi Rydalch, BYU
Mvp Link:	West Coast Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year
Finals:	Tournament
Finals Link:	2016 West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament
Finals Mvp Link:	West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament#List of finals
Seasonslistnames:	Basketball
Prevseason Link:	2014–15 West Coast Conference women's basketball season
Prevseason Year:	14–15
Nextseason Link:	2016–17 West Coast Conference women's basketball season
Nextseason Year:	16–17

The 2015–16 West Coast Conference women's basketball season began with practices in October 2015 and ended with the 2016 West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena March 3–8, 2016 in Paradise, Nevada. The regular season started in November, with the conference schedule starting at the end of December.

This was the 31st season for WCC women's basketball, which began in the 1985–86 season when the league was known as the West Coast Athletic Conference (WCAC). It was also the 27th season under the West Coast Conference name (the conference began as the California Basketball Association in 1952, became the WCAC in 1956, and dropped the word "Athletic" in 1989).

Pre-season

• Pre-season media day took place in October at the Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes Studios. Video interviews will be hosted on the WCC's streaming video outlet, TheW.tv, beginning at 11:30 AM PDT. Jeff Lampe of WCC Live interviewed each coach and got a preview of their respective season. The regional television schedule announcement, the Pre-season Conference team, and the pre-season coaches rankings were some of the additional events that took place.

2015–16 West Coast Women's Basketball Media Poll

Rank, School (first-place votes), Points

1. Gonzaga (6), 78

2. BYU (4), 76

3. Saint Mary's, 61

4. San Diego, 58

5. San Francisco, 51

6. Pacific, 40

7. Santa Clara, 30

8. Loyola Marymount, 25

9. Pepperdine, 20

10. Portland, 11

2015–16 West Coast Women's Preseason All-West Conference Team

Player, School, Yr., Pos.

Kylie Maeda, BYU, Sr., G

Lexi Eaton Rydalch, BYU, Sr., F

Shelby Cheslek, Gonzaga, Sr., C

Ellie Tinkle, Gonzaga, Sr., G

Sophie Taylor, Loyola Marymount, Sr., F

Hailie Eackles, Pacific, Sr., G

Shannon Mauldin, Saint Mary's, Sr., G

Lauren Nicholson, Saint Mary's, Sr., G

Malina Hood, San Diego, Sr., F

Taylor Proctor, San Francisco, Sr., F

College Sports Madness Preseason All-West Conference Team

^[1]

• Coach of the Year- Lisa Fortier, Gonzaga
• Player of the Year- Lexi Rydalch, BYU
• Freshman of the Year- Andee Velsaco, Loyola Marymount

First Team

• Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
• Lauren Nicholson, G, Saint Mary's
• Malina Hood, G, San Diego
• Elle Tinkle, G/F, Gonzaga
• Taylor Proctor, F/C, San Francisco

Second Team

• Hailie Eackles, G, Pacific
• Shannon Mauldin, G, Saint Mary's
• Zhane Dikes, G, San Francisco
• Leslie Lopez-Wood, G/F, Loyola Marymount
• Shelby Cheslek, F/C, Gonzaga

Rankings

The AP Poll does not do a post-season rankings. As a result, their last rankings are Week 19. The Coaches Poll does a post-season poll and the end of the NCAA Tournament.

See main article: 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings.

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
align=center style="width:20px; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; background:white;"		RV	Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

	Pre/ Wk 1	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	Wk 19	Post
BYU	AP						RV					RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
C	RV	RV				RV	RV	RV			RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	RV
Gonzaga	AP	RV
C	RV	RV	RV
Loyola Marymount	AP
C
Pacific	AP
C
Pepperdine	AP
C
Portland	AP
C
Saint Mary's	AP
C
San Diego	AP											RV	RV	RV
C												RV	RV	RV
San Francisco	AP
C
Santa Clara	AP
C

Non-Conference games

BYU defeated #12/11 Texas A&M 72–64 to win the Tom Weston Invitational.

Conference games

Composite Matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

	BYU	Gonzaga	LMU	Pacific	Pepperdine	Portland	Saint Mary's	San Diego	San Francisco	Santa Clara
GON	LMU	PAC	PEPP	PORT	SMC	USD	USF	SCU -->	vs. Brigham Young	-	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2
vs. Gonzaga	1–1	–	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1
vs. Loyola Marymount	2–0	2–0	–	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0
vs. Pacific	2–0	1–1	2–0	-	0–2	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0
vs. Pepperdine	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	-	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0
vs. Portland	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	-	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0
vs. Saint Mary's	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	-	0–2	0–2	1–1
vs. San Diego	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	-	1–1	1–1
vs. San Francisco	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	-	2–0
vs. Santa Clara	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	-	GON	LMU	PAC	PEPP	PORT	SMC	USD	USF	SCU -->
Total	16–2	10–8	6–12	6–12	2–16	1–17	14–4	13–5	9–9	13-5

Conference tournament

See main article: 2016 West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament.

• March 3–8, 2016– West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament, Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada.

Head coaches

The 2015-16 season sees one new face in the WCC. Lynne Roberts left Pacific to become the new head coach at Utah.^[2]

Jeff Judkins, BYU

Lisa Mispley Fortier, Gonzaga

Charity Elliott, Loyola Marymount

Bradley Davis, Pacific

Ryan Weisenberg, Pepperdine

Cheryl Sorensen, Portland

Paul Thomas, Saint Mary's

Cindy Fisher, San Diego

Jennifer Azzi, San Francisco

JR Payne, Santa Clara

Postseason

NCAA tournament

See main article: 2016 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament.

WNIT

See main article: 2016 Women's National Invitation Tournament.

WBI

See main article: 2016 Women's Basketball Invitational.

Awards and honors

WCC Player-of-the-Week

The WCC player of the week awards are given each Monday.

• Nov. 16- Sydney Raggio, F, Saint Mary's
• Nov. 30- GeAnna Luaulu-Summers, G, Pacific & Morgan McGwire, F, Santa Clara
• Dec. 14- Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
• Dec. 28- Maya Hood, F, San Diego
• Jan. 11- Kalani Purcell, F, BYU
• Jan. 25- Kalani Purcell, F, BYU
• Feb. 8- Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
• Feb. 22- Marie Bertholdt, F, Santa Clara
• Nov. 23- Malina Hood, G, San Diego
• Dec. 7- Lauren Nicholson, G, Saint Mary's
• Dec. 21- Ameela Li, G, Pacific
• Jan. 4- Georgia Stirton, Gonzaga
• Jan. 18- Kalani Purcell, F, BYU
• Feb. 1- Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
• Feb. 15- Taylor Proctor, F, San Francisco
• Feb. 29- Lauren Nicholson, G, Saint Mary's

College Madness West Coast Player of the Week

^[3]

College Madness WCC player of the Week Awards are given every Sunday.

• Nov. 15^[4] - Maya Hood, F, San Diego
• Nov. 29^[5] - Morgan McGwire, F, Santa Clara (also High Major Player of the Week)
• Dec. 13^[6] - Malina Hood, F, San Diego (also High Major Player of the Week)
• Dec. 27^[7] - Lori Parkinson, F, Santa Clara
• Jan. 10^[8] - Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
• Jan. 24^[9] - Malina Hood, G, San Diego
• Feb. 7^[10] - Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
• Feb. 21^[11] - Marie Bertholdt, F, Santa Clara
• Nov. 22^[12] - Malina Hood, F, San Diego
• Dec. 6^[13] - Taylor Proctor, F, San Francisco
• Dec. 20^[14] - Lauren Nicholson, G, Saint Mary's
• Jan. 3^[15] - Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
• Jan. 17^[16] - Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
• Jan. 31^[17] - Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU (also High Major Player of the Week)
• Feb. 14^[18] - Erica Ogwumike, G, Pepperdine
• Feb. 28^[19] - Maya Hood, F, San Diego

All West Coast Conference teams

Voting was by conference coaches:

• Player of The Year: Lexi Rydalch, BYU
• Newcomer of The Year: Kalani Purcell, BYU
• Defensive Player of The Year: Maya Hood, San Diego
• Coach of The Year: Jeff Judkins, BYU

College Sports Madness Selections

• To be posted after the WCC Tournament.

All-Conference First team

College Sports Madness Selections

• To be posted after the WCC Tournament.

All-Conference Second team

College Sports Madness Selections
To be posted after the WCC Tournament.

All-Academic Honorable Mention

See also

• 2015-16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season
• West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament
• 2015–16 West Coast Conference men's basketball season
• West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament
• 2016 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament

Notes and References

1. Web site: Women's Basketball 2015-16 Preseason All Conference Teams. College Sports Madness . 2015-10-06.
2. News: New Pacific coach has a familiar face. Recordnet.com. 2015-04-23.
3. Web site: Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2013-11-10.
4. Web site: 11/15 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2015-11-15.
5. Web site: 11/29 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2015-11-29.
6. Web site: 12/13 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2015-12-13.
7. Web site: 12/27 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2015-12-27.
8. Web site: 1/10 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-01-10.
9. Web site: 1/24 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-01-24.
10. Web site: 2/7 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-02-07.
11. Web site: 2/21 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-02-21.
12. Web site: 11/22 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2015-11-22.
13. Web site: 12/6 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2015-12-06.
14. Web site: 12/20 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2015-12-20.
15. Web site: 1/3 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-01-03.
16. Web site: 1/17 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-01-17.
17. Web site: 1/31 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-01-31.
18. Web site: 2/14 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-02-14.
19. Web site: 2/28 Women's Basketball Players of the Week. College Sports Madness . 2016-02-28.