2024-25 WAC WBB Week 1 Release

IT’S TIME TO PLAY THE GAME
The 2024-25 WAC women’s basketball season officially kicks off this Monday, Nov. 4 as all WAC members will begin the quest for a conference championship. All nine members will compete in the Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in March 2025.
 
GRAND CANYON TABBED AS WAC PRESEASON FAVORITE
Grand Canyon was chosen for the top spot in the preseason 2024-25 WAC Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll for the second straight year. All nine WAC head coaches voted on the predicted order of finish and all-conference awards.
 
Grand Canyon received four first-place votes and 59 voting points, beating out last year’s WAC Tournament champion California Baptist who also collected four first-place votes and 58 voting points. UT Arlington claimed a first-place vote and 53 points in third place. Abilene Christian and Southern Utah rounded out the top five, placing fourth and fifth respectively.
 
TRINITY SAN ANTONIO NAMED WAC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Grand Canyon senior guard Trinity San Antonio was named the 2024-25 WAC Preseason Player of the Year. San Antonio posted a .451 (133-295) field goal percentage, a .333 (15-45) 3-point percentage, averaged 11.5 points and 2.3 steals per game, and her efforts on the defensive end landed her on the All-WAC Defensive Team. San Antonio also competed in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics with the Puerto Rico Women’s Basketball National Team.
 
San Antonio was joined on the preseason all-conference team by teammate graduate student guard Tiarra Brown, UT Arlington’s fifth year forward Avery Brittingham, Abilene Christian’s sophomore guard Payton Hull, and Southern Utah’s graduate student guard Daylani Ballena.
 
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST SET TO DEFEND THE TITLE
Last season, California Baptist claimed its second WAC Tournament title and earned its first NCAA Tournament berth where they battled with No. 2 UCLA. The Lancers finished the 2023-24 season with a 28-4 overall record, the fifth best winning percentage in the country, and an 18-2 conference record. CBU was third in the country in defensive rebounds per game (31.7) and fifth in three pointers per game (9.7).
 
Head Coach Jarrod Olson will look to fill in the big shoes of last year’s WAC Player of the Year and the WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Chloe Webb, who graduated this summer. Key returners for the Lancers include junior Filipa Barros, senior Nhug Bosch Duran, senior Anaiyah Tu’ua, sophomore Khloe Lemon, and junior Grace Schmidt. The Lancers will be tested early in the season by taking on some notable opponents in Oregon (11/4), Liberty (11/9) and USC (12/3).
 
NOTABLE WEEK ONE MATCHUPS
The WAC members will test the strength of their teams in week one with major conference matchups on the schedule. On opening day, Southern Utah will travel to Utah, CBU takes on Oregon, UT Arlington will battle Arizona and Seattle U will have an in-state matchup with Washington. Tarleton State will also play at Arizona on Thursday. Next Friday, the Lopes will travel to Middle Tennessee, who was ranked 40th in the NET rankings at the end of the 2023-24 season.