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

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

* 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.
Legend :
| | Improvement in ranking |
| | Drop in ranking |
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll |
| | | Pre/ Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 |
| BYU | AP | | | | RV | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV |
| BYU | C | RV | RV | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | RV |
| Gonzaga | AP | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Gonzaga | C | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | |
| Loyola Marymount | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Loyola Marymount | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pacific | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pacific | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pepperdine | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pepperdine | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Portland | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Portland | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Saint Mary's | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Saint Mary's | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San Diego | AP | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | | | | |
| San Diego | C | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | | | |
| San Francisco | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San Francisco | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Santa Clara | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Santa Clara | 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 |
| 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 | - |
| Total | 16–2 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 2–16 | 1–17 | 14–4 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 13–5 |

## Conference tournament

* March 3–8, 2016– West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament, Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada.
| First round | First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Championship | Championship |
| | | | 1 | BYU | 72 | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Pepperdine | 59 | | | | | |
| 8 | Pacific | 72 | 9 | Pepperdine | 59 | | | | | |
| 9 | Pepperdine | 81 | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Pepperdine | 81 | | | | 1 | BYU | 87 | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Santa Clara | 67 | | |
| | | | 4 | Santa Clara | 59 | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Gonzaga | 58 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | BYU |
| | | | | | | | | | 6 | San Francisco |
| | | | 2 | Saint Mary's | 85 | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Loyola Marymount | 71 | | | | | |
| 7 | Loyola Marymount | 85 | 7 | Loyola Marymount | 71 | | | | | |
| 10 | Portland | 72 | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Portland | 72 | | | | 2 | Saint Mary's | 65 | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | San Francisco | 67 | | |
| | | | 3 | San Diego | 80 | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | San Francisco | 84$^{OT}$ | | | | | |

## 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.
    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

| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Sweet 16 | Elite 8 | Final Four | Championship |
| # Bids | W-L (%): | TOTAL: 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – |

### WNIT

* Main article: 2016 Women's National Invitation Tournament
| School | First round | Second round | Third round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |
| # Bids W-L (%) TOTAL: 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | 0–0 – |

### WBI

* 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

College Madness WCC player of the Week Awards are given every Sunday.
* Nov. 15- Maya Hood, F, San Diego
* Nov. 29- Morgan McGwire, F, Santa Clara (also High Major Player of the Week)
* Dec. 13- Malina Hood, F, San Diego (also High Major Player of the Week)
* Dec. 27- Lori Parkinson, F, Santa Clara
* Jan. 10- Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
* Jan. 24- Malina Hood, G, San Diego
* Feb. 7- Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
* Feb. 21- Marie Bertholdt, F, Santa Clara
* Nov. 22- Malina Hood, F, San Diego
* Dec. 6- Taylor Proctor, F, San Francisco
* Dec. 20- Lauren Nicholson, G, Saint Mary's
* Jan. 3- Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
* Jan. 17- Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU
* Jan. 31- Lexi Rydalch, G, BYU (also High Major Player of the Week)
* Feb. 14- Erica Ogwumike, G, Pepperdine
* Feb. 28- 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

| Name | School | Pos. | Year |
| Jill Barta | Gonzaga | F | R-Freshman |
| Marie Bertholdt | Santa Clara | F | Junior |
| Hailie Eackles | Pacific | G | Senior |
| Malina Hood | San Diego | G | Senior |
| Lauren Nicholson | Saint Mary's | G | Senior |
| Erica Ogwumike | Pepperdine | G | Freshman |
| Lori Parkinson | Santa Clara | F | Junior |
| Taylor Proctor | San Francisco | F | Senior |
| Kalani Purcell | BYU | F | Junior |
| Lexi Rydalch | BYU | G | Senior |
College Sports Madness Selections
* To be posted after the WCC Tournament.
| Name | School | Pos. | Year |

### All-Conference Second team

| Name | School | Pos. | Year |
| Stella Beck | Saint Mary's | G | Sophomore |
| Zhane Dikes | San Francisco | G | Senior |
| Maya Hood | San Diego | F | Junior |
| Makenzi Pulsipher | BYU | G | Junior |
| Sophie Taylor | Loyola Marymount | F | Senior |
College Sports Madness Selections To be posted after the WCC Tournament.
| Name | School | Pos. | Year |

### Honorable mention

| Name | School |
| Devon Brookshire | Saint Mary's |
| Shelby Cheslek | Gonzaga |
| Desire Finnie | Pacific |
| Rachel Howard | San Francisco |
| Devin Hudson | Santa Clara |
| Kylie Maeda | BYU |
| Kaylie Van Loo | Portland |

### All-Freshman team

| Name | School | Pos. |
| Jill Barta | Gonzaga | F |
| Savanna Hanson | Santa Clara | G |
| Erica Ogwumike | Pepperdine | G |
| Sydney Raggio | Saint Mary's | F |
| Cheyanne Wallace | Loyola Marymount | F |

### All-Academic team

| Player, School | Year | GPA | Major |
| Stella Beck, Saint Mary's | Sophomore | 3.72 | Psychology |
| Marie Bertholdt, Santa Clara | Junior | 3.26 | Business |
| Devon Brookshire, Saint Mary's | Junior | 3.70 | Psychology & Business |
| Shelby Cheslek, Gonzaga | R-Senior | 3.62 | Masters of Business Administration |
| Rachel Howard, San Francisco | Junior | 3.75 | Kinesiology |
| Makenzi Pulsipher, BYU | Junior | 3.42 | Recreation Management |
| Lexi Rydalch, BYU | Senior | 3.25 | Psychology |
| Sophie Taylor, Loyola Marymount | Senior | 3.20 | Physics |
| Kaylie Van Loo, Portland | Junior | 3.70 | Marketing |
| Sydney Williams, San Diego | Sophomore | 3.45 | Behavioral Neuroscience |

### All-Academic Honorable Mention

| Player | School |
| Shelbi Aimonetti | Loyola Marymount |
| Erin Butler | Pacific |
| Brooke Gallaway | Santa Clara |
| Kiara Kudron | Gonzaga |
| Lisa Janko | Saint Mary's |
| Kyle Maeda | BYU |
| Hannah Mattson | Portland |
| Samira McDonald | Saint Mary's |
| Kristine Nielsen | BYU |
| Shaniqua Nilles | Gonzaga |
| Olivia Ogwumike | Pepperdine |
| Lori Parkinson | Santa Clara |
| Krista Pettepier | Pepperdine |
| Michaela Rakova | San Francisco |
| Anna Seilund | San Francisco |
| Kalyn Simon | San Francisco |
| Devin Stanback | Pepperdine |
| Georgia Stirton | Gonzaga |
| Emma Stach | Gonzaga |
| Elle Tinkle | Gonzaga |
| Carly Turner | Saint Mary's |