SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Three teams are in contention for the West Coast Conference regular season women’s basketball championship heading into the final day of the regular season Saturday.
 
LMU and Gonzaga are tied for first place in the standings at 14-3 with both on the road Saturday. The Bulldogs are at Portland at 5:00 p.m. PT on ESPNU. The Lions are at Oregon State, which sits in third place in the standings at 13-4. That game is at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+. LMU will win the title outright with a win and a Gonzaga loss. The Zags will in the title outright with a win and an LMU loss. They will share the title if they both win. If both Gonzaga and LMU lose, they will share the title with Oregon State.
 
Along with the Gonzaga-Portland and LMU-Oregon State games, there is a full slate of conference action set for Saturday with a lot in the balance heading into next week’s Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship. Saint Mary’s visits Washington State and San Francisco heads to Santa Clara, with both games set for 12:00 p.m. PT. Pepperdine is at Seattle U at 1:00 p.m. PT and Pacific travels to San Diego for a 2:00 p.m. PT contest. Those games will all be on ESPN+.
 
REGULAR SEASON TITLE HISTORY
LMU is looking to win its second West Coast Conference regular season title in program history. The Lions captured the 2003-04 title with a 13-1 league mark.
 
Gonzaga is eyeing its 21st West Coast Conference regular season championship. The Bulldogs have won or shared the last three conference regular season titles.  
 
Oregon State, competing in its second year as an affiliate member in the conference, is seeking its first regular season conference crown.
 
CREDIT UNION 1 WEST COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET TO BE ANNOUNCED SUNDAY  
Seeding information and the bracket for the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship will be announced Sunday at 10:00 a.m. PT. The tournament will begin next Thursday, March 5 and run through Tuesday, March 10 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Entering the final day of the regular season, two seeds are confirmed as San Diego will be the No. 11 seed and Seattle U will be the No. 12 seed. More information on the event, including ticket packages are available here.
 
GONZAGA-PORTLAND GAME TO AIR ON ESPNU
Saturday’s Gonzaga-Portland game will be televised on ESPNU with a 5:00 p.m. PT start at the Chiles Center in Portland. The contest is the first of two conference women’s basketball matchups that will air on an ESPN linear network this season. The Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Championship title game on Tuesday, March 10 at 1:00 p.m. PT will air on ESPN2.  
LMU EXTEND WIN STREAK IN HISTORIC SEASON
LMU has won eight straight and 11 of its last 12 contests after defeating San Francisco on the road Thursday. The Lions are 20-8 overall and 14-3 in the conference, tied for first place in the league standings. They set a new program record for conference wins, surpassing the previous high of 13 set in the 2003-04 season. The Lions’ 20-win season is the third in program history, also achieving the milestone win total in the 2003-04 (24-6) and 2000-01 (21-10) seasons. The eight-game winning streak is the program’s longest since winning 15 straight in the 2003-04 season.
 
LIONS PICKING UP THE PACE
After averaging 66.3 points per contest in its first 13 games, LMU is averaging nearly nine more points per game (75.2 ppg) over its last 15 contests. They are 13-2 in that span.
 
NATIONAL FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE LAUREN WHITTAKER
Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker is a double-double machine with 16 on the year. She leads all freshmen nationally and is tied for the 12th-most overall. Whittaker has posted a double-double in each of her last three games, including an 18-point, 12-rebound performance in Thursday’s win over Saint Mary’s.
 
Whittaker, who is the lone freshman semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award, is making a strong case for national freshman of the year honors. The forward leads the conference in scoring (19.0 ppg), rebounding (10.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (.557).
 
Whitaker, who was recognized in November as a Kay Yow Servant Leader, leads all freshman in double-doubles (16) and field goal percentage (.557) and ranks second in total points (569), points per game and total rebounds (307).
 
Whittaker’s 186 rebounds in conference play ranks 11th on the single-season list for league games.
 
Whittaker has matched the conference record with 12 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week honors this season. She owns 13 conference weekly awards overall, also earning conference player of the week honors Dec. 22. Whittaker was named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week Dec. 23.
 
A LOOK BACK AT THURSDAY’S RESULTS
Gonzaga defeated Saint Mary’s, 75-67
Sophomore Allie Turner scored a career-high 29 points with a program-record nine three-pointers, and Lauren Whittaker posted her 16th double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead Gonzaga to a 75-67 win over Saint Mary’s. Gonzaga scored 29 points in the fourth quarter to break open a one-point lead at the quarter break and earn its 22nd win of the season.
 
LMU defeated San Francisco, 66-57
Jess Lawson led LMU with 17 points and seven rebounds as the Lions continued their historic run with their eighth consecutive win with a 66-57 victory over San Francisco on the road. Andjela Matic added 15 points for LMU. The Lions held a one-point advantage after three quarters, but outscored USF, 25-17, in the final quarter for the nine-point win. Mara Neira led USF with 18 points and Candy Edokpaigbe finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.
 
Santa Clara defeated Pacific, 87-79
Ashley Hawkins finished with 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as Santa Clara earned an 87-79 win over Pacific. Freshman Delainey Miller added 19 points and eight rebounds for head coach Loree Payne and Broncos as they earned their 12th conference win of the year. The 12 conference victories are the most wins by a head coach in their first year with the program.
 
Oregon State defeated San Diego, 83-49
Led by 22 points from Kennedie Shuler and 10 points and 12 rebounds from Lizzy Williamson, Oregon State won its fourth straight with an 83-49 victory at San Diego. The Beavers shot 50 percent from the field and held a 46-28 scoring advantage in the paint. Olivia Owens led San Diego with 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
Washington State defeated Seattle U, 69-55
Washington State scored 40 of its 69 points in the second half to earn a 69-55 win over Seattle U. Alex Covill had 18 points and Eleonora Villa added 15 with both players contributing seven rebounds to lead the Cougars. Seattle U’s Ella Brubaker led the Redhawks with 17 points.
 
Pepperdine defeated Portland, 70-63
Pepperdine earned its first win at Portland since 2010 and won for the seventh time in its last nine games, as the Waves beat the Pilots, 70-63. Lina Falk paced Pepperdine with 17 points. Shorna Preston was within one rebound of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards in the contest.
 
WEST COAST CONFERENCE RANKS AMONG THE TOP CONFERENCES IN SEVERAL CATEGORIES
The West Coast Conference ranks among the top eight conferences in Division I in seven statistical categories. The league is fifth among conferences in free throw percentage (.728).
 

CATEGORY	RANK	STATISTIC
Free Throw Percentage	5	.728
Assists Per Game	6	14.5
Assists	7	5,074
3-Point FG Percentage	8	.314
3-Point Field Goals Made	8	2,212
Rebounds Per Game	8	37.3
Assist/Turnover Ratio	8	0.89

 
DISHING OUT DIMES
The West Coast Conference boasts the sixth-highest assist per game average in the nation, at 14.5 assists per contest. Three conference players are averaging at least 5.0 assists per game and rank in the top 40 in the nation, including Santa Clara’s Ashley Hawkins (11th, 6.2 apg), Oregon State’s Kennedie Shuler (30th, 5.3 apg) and Pacific’s Daria Nestorov (38th, 5.1 apg).
 
ALLIE TURNER AMONG CONFERENCE CAREER THREE-POINT LEADERS
Gonzaga’s Allie Turner owns a career three-point field goal percentage of .460 (183-of-398), which ranks first on the West Coast Conference career three-point field goal percentage list (minimum 80 three-point field goals). Former Zag Brynna Maxwell (2022-24) ranks second at .459 (183-399).
 
This season, Turner ranks fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage at .464 (78-of-168). As a team, Gonzaga ranks second nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.389).
 
SANTA CLARA CONTROLLING THE GLASS
Santa Clara currently leads the conference and ranks seventh nationally in rebounds per game at 43.2 rpg. The current average is the highest in the conference for a season in 11 years since San Diego also averaged 43.2 rpg during the 2014-15 season.  
 
AWARDS WATCH LISTS
The West Coast Conference has been represented on several watch lists for major awards. Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker was the lone freshman named as a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award. On Jan. 27, Portland’s Julia Dalan, one of the nation’s leaders in blocks per game, was named to the midseason watch list for the Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year Award. On Jan. 28, Gonzaga’s Lisa Fortier was named to the midseason watch list for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award.
 
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE
The West Coast Conference has the greatest percentage of international student-athletes of any Division I conference in the nation. Overall, 44.1% of rostered student-athletes across the 12 programs are from outside of the U.S. There are 71 international student-athletes on rosters in the conference this season. San Francisco boasts the most with 11 international student-athletes from eight different countries. OSU has 10 student-athletes from six countries. WSU has nine student-athletes from eight countries. The matchups between OSU and USF on Dec. 28th and Jan. 31st featured 21 international student-athletes between the two rosters. It is the second-most in a Division I game this season.