The 2024 WAC women's basketball tournament is the postseason women's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2023–24 season. The conference tournament is scheduled to be played from March 13–16, 2024 at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas.[1] Basketball seating capacity at the Orleans Arena is 7,471.[2] The winner of the conference tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
2024 WAC women's basketball tournament | |
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Classification | Division I |
Season | 2023–24 |
Teams | 8 |
Site | Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada |
Champions | California Baptist (2nd title) |
Winning coach | Jarrod Olson (2nd title) |
Television | ESPN+, ESPNU |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
California Baptist † | 18 | – | 2 | .900 | 28 | – | 4 | .875 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Canyon | 16 | – | 4 | .800 | 24 | – | 8 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stephen F. Austin | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Utah Tech* | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UT Arlington | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 17 | – | 16 | .515 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abilene Christian | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 14 | – | 16 | .467 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tarleton State* | 7 | – | 13 | .350 | 12 | – | 20 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seattle | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 6 | – | 23 | .207 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southern Utah | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 8 | – | 22 | .267 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UT Rio Grande Valley | 5 | – | 15 | .250 | 6 | – | 23 | .207 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Utah Valley | 5 | – | 15 | .250 | 10 | – | 19 | .345 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* Ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† 2024 WAC tournament winner |
Seeds
Eight of the eleven members are invited to the tournament.[3] The field for the WAC tournament has varied from six to last year's twelve qualifiers.[4] While Tarleton and Utah Tech are ineligible for the NCAA tournament, they are eligible for the WAC tournament.[5] If a team that is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament wins the WAC Tournament, the conference's automatic bid will go to the highest seeded tournament-eligible team.[6] As was the case for the 2023 tournament, teams will be seeded based on the WAC Resume Seeding System.[7] While seeding is determined by the WAC Resume Seeding System, the eight teams invited to the tournament will be determined by composite WAC standings.[8]
Seed | School | Conference record | WAC Resume Seeding points (final) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | California Baptist | 18–2 | 7.428 |
2 | Grand Canyon | 16–4 | 4.809 |
3 | Stephen F. Austin | 14–6 | 1.399 |
4 | Utah Tech | 12–8 | -1.756 |
5 | UT Arlington | 11–9 | -1.915 |
6 | Abilene Christian | 10–10 | -5.055 |
7 | Tarleton | 7–13 | -7.960 |
8 | Southern Utah | 6–14 | -9.030 |
DNQ | Seattle | 6–14 | -10.551 |
DNQ | UT Rio Grande Valley | 5–15 | -10.419 |
DNQ | Utah Valley | 5–15 | -8.108 |
Schedule
Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First round – Wednesday, March 13, 2024 – Orleans Arena | |||||
1 | 1 | 12:00 pm | No. 5 UT Arlington vs. No. 8 Southern Utah | 67–53 | ESPN+ |
2 | 2:30 pm | No. 6 Abilene Christian vs. No. 7 Tarleton | 41–54 | ||
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 14, 2024 – Orleans Arena | |||||
2 | 3 | 12:00 pm | No. 5 UT Arlington vs. No. 4 Utah Tech | 72–57 | ESPN+ |
4 | 2:30 pm | No. 7 Tarleton vs. No. 3 Stephen F. Austin | 70–58 | ||
Semifinals – Friday, March 15, 2024 – Orleans Arena | |||||
3 | 5 | 12:00 pm | No. 5 UT Arlington vs. No. 1 California Baptist | 67–83 | ESPN+ |
6 | 2:30 pm | No. 3 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 2 Grand Canyon | 66–63 | ||
Championship – Saturday, March 16, 2024 – Orleans Arena | |||||
4 | 7 | 10:30 am | No. 3 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 1 California Baptist | 74–75 | ESPNU |
*Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. |
Bracket
First round Wednesday, March 13 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 14 | Semifinals Friday, March 15 | Championship Saturday, March 16 | |||||||||||||||
1 | California Baptist | 83 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Utah Tech | 57 | 5 | UT Arlington | 67 | |||||||||||||
5 | UT Arlington | 67 | 5 | UT Arlington | 72 | 1 | California Baptist | 75 | ||||||||||
8 | Southern Utah | 53 | 2 | Stephen F. Austin | 74 | |||||||||||||
2 | Grand Canyon | 63 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Stephen F. Austin | 70 | 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 66 | Third place | ||||||||||||
6 | Abilene Christian | 41 | 7 | Tarleton | 58 | |||||||||||||
7 | Tarleton | 54 | ||||||||||||||||
* denotes overtime period
Awards
Award | Player | Team |
---|---|---|
Most Outstanding Player | Chloe Webb | California Baptist Lancers |