The 2023 WAC women's basketball tournament is the postseason women's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2022–23 season. The conference tournament is scheduled to be played from March 7–11, 2023, at Michelob ULTRA Arena and the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas.[1] The first round will be played on March 6 at Michelob ULTRA Arena with the remaining rounds March 8–11 at the Orleans Arena.[2] The winner of the conference tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
| 2023 WAC women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2022–23 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Site | Michelob Ultra Arena (first round) Orleans Arena (all other games) Paradise, Nevada |
| Champions | Southern Utah (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Tracy Sanders (1st title) |
| Television | ESPN+ |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Utah† | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 23 | – | 10 | .697 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen F. Austin | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 26 | – | 6 | .813 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California Baptist | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 22 | – | 13 | .629 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Canyon | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 21 | – | 10 | .677 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Tech* | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 19 | – | 12 | .613 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 18 | – | 17 | .514 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilene Christian | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 15 | – | 15 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlington | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 14 | – | 17 | .452 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Rio Grande Valley | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 12 | – | 18 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 6 | – | 24 | .200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 6 | – | 24 | .200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tarleton* | 2 | – | 16 | .111 | 8 | – | 21 | .276 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Ineligible for the 2023 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2023 WAC tournament winner As of March 18, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeds
editTwelve of the thirteen members will be invited to the tournament.[3] While Tarleton and Utah Tech are ineligible for the NCAA tournament, they are eligible for the WAC tournament.[4][5] The WAC Resume Seeding rankings are an advanced analytic developed by Ken Pomeroy that incorporates the performance of teams in both conference and non-conference games.[6] Rankings were initially released on December 5.[7] While seedings are determined using the WAC Resume Seeding System, the top 12 teams that qualify for the tournament will be determined based on conference league records.
| Seed | Feb. 27 | Final |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin |
| 2 | Southern Utah | Southern Utah |
| 3 | Grand Canyon | Grand Canyon |
| 4 | California Baptist | California Baptist |
| 5 | Utah Tech | Utah Tech |
| 6 | UT Arlington | UT Arlington |
| 7 | Sam Houston State | New Mexico State |
| 8 | New Mexico State | Abilene Christian |
| 9 | Abilene Christian | Sam Houston State |
| 10 | UT - RGV | UT - RGV |
| 11 | Seattle | Tarleton State |
| 12 | Tarleton State | Seattle |
| 13 | Utah Valley | Utah Valley |
Schedule
edit| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Monday, March 6, 2023 – Michelob ULTRA Arena | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 12:00pm | No. 8 Abilene Christian vs. No. 9 Sam Houston | 81–82 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 2:00pm | No. 5 Utah Tech vs. No. 12 Utah Valley | 72–68 | |||
| 3 | 6:00pm | No. 7 New Mexico State vs. No. 10 UT Rio Grande Valley | 65–49 | |||
| 4 | 8:00pm | No. 6 UT Arlington vs. No. 11 Seattle | 78–80 | |||
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 8, 2023 – Orleans Arena | ||||||
| 2 | 5 | 12:00pm | No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 9 Sam Houston | 74–59 | ESPN+ | |
| 6 | 2:00pm | No. 4 California Baptist vs. No. 5 Utah Tech | 81–72 | |||
| 7 | 6:00pm | No. 2 Southern Utah vs. No. 7 New Mexico State | 62–61 | |||
| 8 | 8:00pm | No. 3 Grand Canyon vs. No. 11 Seattle | 85–80 | |||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 10, 2023 – Orleans Arena | ||||||
| 3 | 9 | 12:00 pm | No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 4 California Baptist | 64–69 | ESPN+ | |
| 10 | 2:30pm | No. 2 Southern Utah vs. No. 3 Grand Canyon | 64–51 | |||
| Championship – Saturday, March 11, 2023 – Orleans Arena | ||||||
| 4 | 11 | 3:30pm | No. 4 California Baptist vs. No. 2 Southern Utah | 73-82 | ESPN+ | |
| *Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||||
Bracket
edit| First round Monday, March 6 Michelob ULTRA Arena ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 8 Orleans Arena ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 10 Orleans Arena ESPN+ | Championship Saturday, March 11 Orleans Arena ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Abilene Christian | 81 | 9 | Sam Houston | 59 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Sam Houston | 82 | 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 64 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | California Baptist | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | California Baptist | 81 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Utah Tech | 72 | 5 | Utah Tech | 72 | ||||||||||||||
| 12 | Utah Valley | 68 | 4 | California Baptist | 73 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Southern Utah | 82 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Southern Utah | 62 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | New Mexico State | 65 | 7 | New Mexico State | 61 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | UT Rio Grande Valley | 49 | 2 | Southern Utah | 64 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Grand Canyon | 51 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Grand Canyon | 85 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | UT Arlington | 78 | 11 | Seattle | 80 | ||||||||||||||
| 11 | Seattle | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "WAC Bracket 2023 & WAC Tournament Predictions". www.teamrankings.com. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ "Western Athletic Conference". The Orleans Hotel & Casino. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ "2022-23 WAC Championships Schedules Released". July 28, 2022.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "WAC approves Conference Championship eligibility for Tarleton in recent board meeting". Tarleton State University Athletics. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ "WAC altering basketball tournament formats by introducing bold new seeding concept based on advanced analytics". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ Koons, Zach (July 11, 2022). "WAC to Seed Conference Tournament Using KenPom Ratings, per Report". www.si.com.
- ^ "This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Dec. 6". December 6, 2022.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)