The WAC women's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The WAC has held a postseason tournament to crown a women's basketball champion every year since 1991. At first the regular season champion hosted it but at its height, the tournament was held at larger urban venues. With the departure of the Mountain West Conference teams, the tournament had returned to campus, with each game in the tournament being held in one campus venue, each year. Since 2011, the tournament has been held at the Orleans Arena, part of the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.[1]

WAC women's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
SportCollege basketball
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Number of teams8
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumOrleans Arena
Current locationParadise, Nevada
Played1991–present
Last contest2024
Current championCalifornia Baptist
Most championshipsLouisiana Tech (5)
Official websiteWACSports.com Women's Basketball

The winner of the WAC tournament is normally guaranteed a berth into the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament every year. An exception to this was in 2021, when California Baptist won the WAC tournament but was ineligible for the NCAA tournament because the school was in the midst of its transition from NCAA Division II to Division I.

Starting with the 2023 tournament, the WAC adopted a new seeding system based on advanced team metrics, developed in large part by statistical guru Ken Pomeroy. Tournament entry will still be based on conference record.[2]

Results

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Year Winner Score Opponent Location
1991 Utah 86–69 Creighton Arena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming)
1992 Creighton 74–63 Utah Salt Lake City
1993 BYU 53–50 Utah Delta Center (Salt Lake City)
1994 San Diego State 51–47 Colorado State Delta Center (Salt Lake City)
1995 Utah 64–57 San Diego State The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
1996 Colorado State 72–65 New Mexico The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
1997 San Diego State 56–50 Utah Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)
1998 New Mexico 69–48 Rice Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)
1999 SMU 65–49 Colorado State Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2000 Rice 71–67 SMU Selland Arena (Fresno, California)
2001 TCU 66–58 Hawaii Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2002 Louisiana Tech 53–50 Hawaii Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2003 Louisiana Tech 89–57 Fresno State Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2004 Louisiana Tech 76–52 Rice Save Mart Center (Fresno, California)
2005 Rice 86–66 Louisiana Tech Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
2006 Louisiana Tech 63–39 New Mexico State Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
2007 Boise State 49–39 New Mexico State Pan American Center (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
2008 Fresno State 72–56 New Mexico State Pan American Center (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
2009 Fresno State 56–49 Nevada Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
2010 Louisiana Tech 68–66 Fresno State Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
2011 Fresno State 78–76 Louisiana Tech Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2012 Fresno State 89–61 Louisiana Tech Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2013 Idaho 67–64 Seattle Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2014 Idaho 75–67 Seattle Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2015 New Mexico State 70–52 Texas-Pan American Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2016 New Mexico State 80–53 Texas-Rio Grande Valley Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2017 New Mexico State 63–48 Seattle Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2018 Seattle 57–54 Cal State Bakersfield Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2019 New Mexico State 76–73 2OT Texas–Rio Grande Valley Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2020 Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 California Baptist 78–60 Grand Canyon Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2022 Stephen F. Austin 74–57 Grand Canyon Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2023 Southern Utah 82–73 California Baptist Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2024 California Baptist 75–74 Stephen F. Austin Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Records

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School Finals Record Finals Appearances Years
Louisiana Tech 5–3 8 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010
New Mexico State 4–3 7 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
Fresno State 4–2 6 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012
Utah 2–3 5 1991, 1995
Rice 2–2 4 2000, 2005
San Diego State 2–1 3 1994, 1997
California Baptist 2–1 3 2021, 2024
Idaho 2–0 2 2013, 2014
Seattle 1–3 4 2018
Colorado State 1–2 3 1996
SMU 1–1 2 1999
New Mexico 1–1 2 1998
Creighton 1–1 2 1992
Stephen F. Austin 1–1 2 2022
Boise State 1–0 1 2007
Southern Utah 1–0 1 2023
TCU 1–0 1 2001
BYU 1–0 1 1993
Texas–Rio Grande Valley 0–3 3
Hawai'i 0–2 2
Grand Canyon 0–2 2
Cal State Bakersfield 0–1 1
Nevada 0–1 1

Note: 2021 champion California Baptist began a transition from NCAA Division II in 2018 and thus was not eligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play until the 2022–23 season.

  • Schools highlighted in pink are former WAC members as of the current 2022–23 WAC season.
  • Records for Texas–Rio Grande Valley include those of Texas–Pan American. UTRGV was formally founded in 2013 and began operation in 2015 via the merger of UTPA and UT Brownsville. The UTPA athletic program and its history were transferred to UTRGV.
  • Among current WAC members, four have competed in at least one WAC tournament but have yet to reach the title game: Abilene Christian, Sam Houston, UT Arlington, and Utah Valley. Of these schools, only Utah Valley has competed in more than one WAC tournament. The 2021–22 season was the first for Abilene Christian and Sam Houston. UT Arlington competed in the 2013 tournament in the only season of its first WAC tenure; it rejoined for the 2022–23 season.
  • Two other members, Tarleton and Utah Tech (renamed from Dixie State before the 2022–23 season), have yet to compete in a WAC tournament. Both schools started transitions from NCAA Division II to Division I in 2020. Under then-current WAC rules, transitional schools were ineligible to compete in the WAC tournament until their third transitional season. (This was changed in advance of the 2022–23 season to allow transitional schools to compete in the tournament upon joining the WAC.) Both schools are ineligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play until 2024–25.
  • Southern Utah is playing its first WAC season in 2022–23.
  • New Mexico State and Sam Houston will leave the WAC after the 2022–23 season for Conference USA.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Courtesy: New Mexico State University (2009-06-24). "New Mexico State Athletics - 2011 and 2012 WAC Basketball Tournaments Headed to Las Vegas". Nmstatesports.com. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  2. ^ "WAC Adopts Seeding System for Basketball Tournaments" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. July 15, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022.