SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Santa Clara has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2026-27 West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball regular-season title in a vote of the conference’s 10 head coaches, the league office announced Wednesday.
The West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Road Show premieres Wednesday, October 14, at 2:30 p.m. PT on ESPN+. Hosted by Seth Davis, the show takes viewers across the Conference for an inside look at each women's basketball program ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Santa Clara and Portland each received four first-place votes with the Broncos (74 points) edging the Pilots (71) for top billing. Reigning regular-season champion LMU (63) garnered the other two first-place votes and slotted third, followed by Pepperdine (59) and San Francisco (58) in the top half of the poll.
The Broncos tied a program record with 13 league victories en route to a 24-win campaign and appearance in the WBIT in head coach Loree Payne’s debut season in 2025-26.
Santa Clara, Portland, Pepperdine and San Francisco all garnered two selections to the Preseason Team.
All 10 members of the Preseason Team earned recognition on the 2025-26 WCC All-Conference Teams.
San Francisco’s Candy Edokpaigbe, Pepperdine’s Elli Guiney, LMU’s Maya Hernandez and Santa Clara’s Maia Jones earned First Team accolades, while Portland’s Dyani Ananiev and San Diego’s Kylie Ray were Second Team honorees last season.
USF’s Aina Cargol, Portland’s Florence Dallow and Lina Falk, and Santa Clara’s Ava Schmidt were Honorable Mention picks, with Cargol also earning a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
Non-conference play tips off Monday, Nov. 2 with WCC play commencing Thursday, Dec. 31. The 2027 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships return to Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the 19th consecutive year. The reformatted 10-team, nine-game, four-round tournaments will be held March 5-9, 2027.
Last season a conference record seven women’s basketball teams earned postseason selections in the NCAA Tournament, Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) and Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), surpassing the previous record of six which the conference set for the fifth time in 2024-25. Over the past two seasons, West Coast Conference women’s basketball has earned a combined 13 postseason bids, the most in any two-year stretch in conference history. Among the postseason participants, Pepperdine and Portland each advanced to the WNIT Super 16.
2026-27 WCC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
| RANK |
SCHOOL (First-Place Votes) |
PTS. |
| 1. |
Santa Clara (4) |
74 |
| 2. |
Portland (4) |
71 |
| 3. |
LMU (2) |
63 |
| 4. |
Pepperdine |
59 |
| 5. |
San Francisco |
58 |
| 6. |
San Diego |
35 |
| 7. |
Pacific |
34 |
| 8. |
Seattle U |
24 |
| 9. |
Saint Mary's |
22 |
| 10. |
Denver |
10 |
2026-27 WCC Women’s Basketball Preseason Team
| NAME |
YR. |
POS. |
SCHOOL |
| Dyani Ananiev |
Sr. |
G |
Portland |
| Aina Cargol |
So. |
G |
San Francisco |
| Florence Dallow |
5th |
G |
Portland |
| Candy Edokpaigbe |
Jr. |
G |
San Francisco |
| Lina Falk |
Sr. |
G |
Pepperdine |
| Elli Guiney |
Jr. |
G |
Pepperdine |
| Maya Hernandez |
Sr. |
F |
LMU |
| Maia Jones |
Gr. |
G |
Santa Clara |
| Kylie Ray |
Jr. |
G |
San Diego |
| Ava Schmidt |
Sr. |
F |
Santa Clara |