SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – After hosting a thrilling Women’s Golf Championship last week at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., the West Coast Conference is pleased to unveil its All-WCC team and major award winners.
 
All-WCC selections and major individual award winners were selected solely by the five conference head coaches.
 
Lion Higo is the fourth straight Wave to earn WCC Player of the Year. Currently ranked No. 32 on Golfstat, Higo has impressed all season but most recently in the second round of the West Coast Conference Championship last Friday, helping propel Pepperdine’s women’s golf team into first place after two rounds. Higo shot a career low score of 64 eight under par, good enough for a WCC Championship round low and a course record for the par 72, 6,164-yard Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club. 
 
On the season, Higo won two tournaments, including a win at the Silicon Valley Showcase where she marked an eagle on the fifth hole in the first round at Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae, Calif. The Waves would go on and finish alongside the top-ranked team in the nation, Stanford. Lion averaged below par all season.
 
Higo’s head coach, Gibbs, picked up her 15th WCC Coach of the Year accolades. Gibbs won it four years in a row from 2005-08 and enjoyed a streak being WCC Coach of the Year nine out of 11 seasons from 1998-2008. Gibbs guided Pepperdine to the 2023 WCC Championship last Saturday. She begins a new winning streak, at two, having last won in 2022.

Pepperdine won its 20th WCC Women’s Golf Championship, including 14 straight between 2002 and 2015. The Waves swept the top 3 positions on the individual leaderboard on Saturday (1. Kaleiya Romero, 2. Higo, 3. Reese Guzman). Pepperdine’s five tournament wins this season ties the most in program history, a feat that had only been accomplished once before by the 2002-03 squad that ended as NCAA Championships runner-up and ranked second nationally.
 
Grace Lee of Gonzaga was tabbed WCC Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Bulldog to earn the award since x in n. Lee placed fifth at the 2023 WCC Women’s Golf Championship on Saturday leading the Zags to a third-place finish after being tied fourth on the team leaderboard heading into the final round. Lee had her best round of the tournament on the third day, carding a 71 one-under par. She rose two spots on the leaderboard. It was the freshman’s first top 5 of the season and second top 10.
 
Pepperdine led the way with five All-WCC selections. Gonzaga and San Francisco garnered a pair of honorees. BYU had one athlete make the All-WCC team. This year’s 10-member all-conference team features five underclassmen, two juniors, and three seniors. Higo and BYU’s Allysha Mae Mateo earned their third straight all-conference accolades while Pepperdine’s Lauren Gomez, Kaleiya Romero, and Riana Mission of San Francisco appear on their second straight All-WCC roster.
 
2022-23 Women’s Golf All-WCC Team
 
Player Of The Year
Lion Higo, Pepperdine
 
Coach Of The Year
Laurie Gibbs, Pepperdine
 
Freshman Of The Year
Grace Lee, Gonzaga
 
2022-23 All-WCC Women’s Golf Team
 

Name	Institution	Yr.
Lauren Gomez	Pepperdine	So.
Reese Guzman	Pepperdine	Sr.
Lion Higo	Pepperdine	Jr.
Cassie Kim	Gonzaga	Sr.
Grace Lee	Gonzaga	Fr.
Allysha Mae Mateo	BYU	Sr.
Riana Mission	San Francisco	So.
Kaleiya Romero	Pepperdine	Jr.
Yvonne Shang	San Francisco	So.
Jeneath Wong	Pepperdine	Fr.