By John Crumpacker
#WCChoops Columnist
So far, so good.
After the first month of non-conference basketball games, nine West Coast Conference women’s teams have winning records, from 8-1 Gonzaga to 5-3 San Diego and in between Pepperdine (5-1), Pacific (5-1), BYU (6-2), Portland (6-2), Saint Mary’s (5-2), Loyola Marymount (6-2) and Santa Clara (5-2).
“I’ve been in this league a long time,’’ BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. “I think Gonzaga right now is playing the best. Saint Mary’s is next. Portland, Pepperdine and Santa Clara moved it up a notch, which is good for our conference. Gonzaga beat Stanford (79-73), we beat TCU (61-58) and LMU beat Arizona (66-64) and UCLA (69-63. That’s a very good thing for our conference.’’
On Dec. 2, playing at home, Gonzaga vanquished then-No. 8 Stanford. Coach Lisa Fortier’s team’s only loss was to No. 1 Notre Dame 81-65 on Nov. 22.
“It’s been a great start,’’ Fortier said. “Losing to the No. 1 team, I feel pretty good about it. We’re always looking for ways to get better. Overall, it’s been a good start for our team.’’
On beating nationally-ranked Stanford, Fortier said, “I liked our confidence. We work hard in practice every day. We still need to work on our timing on offense. We need a little more consistency there. At the end of the season you want to be a well-oiled machine. We’re not there yet.’’
Fortier has an experienced team led by forward Zykera Rice, who is averaging 11.2 points and 8.1 rebounds a game, along with senior point guard Laura Stockton, leading the WCC in free throw percentage at .952, senior Chandler Smith (10.0 ppg) and junior Katie Campbell (9.8 ppg).
“Katie has shot the ball really well,’’ Fortier said. “She’s someone people are concerned with. People are starting to respect what she can do.’’
In Provo, Judkins has a balanced team with three players scoring in double figures, Shaylee Gonzales (16.9), Brenna Chase (12.9) and Paisley Johnson (12.6), who unfortunately is not able to wear uniforms in the style of her first name.
Judkins also has a pronunciation problem in that he has a Shaylee and a Shalae (Salmon). Calling out “Shay’’ just won’t work.
“I’ve got so many hard names to pronounce,’’ he said. “Holy cow.’’
He said he confuses Shaylee and Shalae “all the time.’’
Nevertheless, he has the Cougars headed in the right direction despite a hiccup at Southern Utah on Nov. 27, a 67-64 defeat on a shot at the buzzer.
“We really have not shot the ball as well as we wanted to,’’ Judkins said. “We’ve played some teams that we have a tough time matching up against. What’s been encouraging is last year we lost all those (close) games. I try to play a tough schedule. Hopefully, that will help us in conference.’’
At LMU, coach Charity Elliott’s team is 6-2 with significant wins over then-No. 23 UCLA, Arizona and UC Santa Barbara to open the season. Its record is all the more impressive considering the Lions’ best player, forward Gabby Green, has been out since the opener vs. UCLA with a foot issue. She is expected back this season, possibly in time for the start of conference play.
“It’s given other people a chance to step up and show what they can do,’’ Elliott said. “We’ve been able to still play at a high level without Gabby in the lineup. That’s encouraging. It’s been playing different combinations, different people in different roles.’’
In Green’s absence, LMU has played good defense and rebounded the ball well while relying on such players as Chelsey Gipson (15.0 ppg), Jasmine Jones (12.1) and Bree Alford, leading the conference in rebounding at 9.9 per game. Point guard Andee Velasco is averaging 4.6 assists per game.
“We’ve been able to do some good things without some key pieces,’’ Elliott said. “I’m proud of everyone for stepping up. I think it’s going to be a tremendous conference season. We’ve beaten Pac-12 teams. We’re playing at a very high level. It’s exciting. It speaks well for the conference.’’
At Pepperdine, coach DeLisha Milton-Jones has the Waves at 5-1, the only loss coming at Colorado. She has the WCC’s leading scorer in Yasmine Robinson-Bacote, averaging 22.8 points per game after setting a program record with 47 points vs. Sacramento State.
Pacific coach Bradley Davis’ Tigers are 5-1 and have the leader in assists in point guard Ameela Li (5.2) to go with 17.3 points and the best thief in the conference in Valerie Higgins, recording 3.4 steals per game.
Along with LMU, other teams checking in with at least five wins and no more than two losses after the first month of the season are Portland, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara.
Portland is getting it done with a pair of seniors in Darian Slaga, averaging 17.1 points per game and Julie Spencer, No. 2 in the conference with 8.3 rebounds per game. Saint Mary’s has four players averaging between 12.0 and 9.6 points per game, led by senior forward Sydney Raggio (12.0, 7.4 rebounds per game). Santa Clara, with victories over Nevada, San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton, is getting a productive season out of junior Lauren Yearwood, who averages 7.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocked shots per game.
For San Diego, junior Patricia Brossman averages 12.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting .589 from the field. San Francisco’s Shannon Powell is having a good senior season with 14.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.