Even after a regular season-ending 70–57 loss to rival Gonzaga that cost Saint Mary’s College a perfect West Coast Conference record, the Gaels are in an enviable position entering the WCC Tournament that begins March 7 in Las Vegas.
While Pepperdine, Pacific, San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, and San Francisco will be involved in earlier games, top-seeded St. Mary’s and No. 2 seed Gonzaga earned byes into the March 11 semifinals.
More important, by virtue of their 24–7 overall record, which includes a 15–1 conference mark, the Moraga-based Gaels are virtually assured of receiving an NCAA Tournament berth regardless of what happens in Las Vegas.
The same can’t be said for the WCC’s other teams, though perennial power Gonzaga’s eight-game winning streak that includes road victories over Kentucky and Saint Mary’s has lifted the Bulldogs (24–6 overall, 14–2 WCC) from precarious territory into a seemingly solid spot.
The remaining schools, including six from California, almost certainly need an unlikely run to a WCC Tournament championship and the league’s automatic NCAA bid to extend their season. San Francisco, which is 22–9 overall and finished third in the conference at 11–5, owns the best resume among that group.
The WCC men’s and women’s events that take place in tandem through March 12 at the Orleans Arena are two of three post-season conference tournaments involving California schools going on this week. The Pacific 12 Conference women’s tournament, featuring regular-season champion Stanford and highly regarded USC and UCLA, as well as California, is set for March 6–10 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The Mountain West Conference women’s tournament begins March 10 and runs through March 13, while the Pac-12 men’s, Big West men’s and women’s, and Mountain West men’s tournaments are set for March 13–16. All will be played in the Las Vegas area.
The NCAA Tournament fields and pairings for men and women will be announced March 17.
The March 2 loss to Gonzaga, which snapped a 16-game winning streak, dropped Saint Mary’s from 17th to 23rd in this week’s Associated Press national rankings. The Bulldogs, who suffered a 64–62, home-court defeat to the Gaels on Feb. 3 in Spokane, Washington, rose from 23rd to 19th.
While Saint Mary’s, led by WCC player of the year Augustas Marciulionis, defensive player of the year Mitchell Saxen, and coach of the year Randy Bennett, and Gonzaga bide their time until the WCC semifinals, eighth-seeded Pepperdine and No. 9 Pacific will tip off tournament action at 2:30 p.m. March 7.
The Waves and Tigers have each made a coaching change in the past two days. Pepperdine announced March 5 that veteran Coach Lorenzo Romar will not be retained at season’s end. One day earlier, Pacific reassigned its coach, Leonard Perry, to other duties at the university, and said Associate Coach Josh Newman would lead the team in the WCC tournament.
The winner of the Pepperdine-Pacific game will advance to a 6 p.m. March 8 second-round matchup with fifth-seeded San Diego. Seventh-seeded Loyola Marymount will follow at 8:30 p.m. against No. 6 Portland.
The quarterfinals will take place March 9, with fourth-seeded Santa Clara and No. 3 San Francisco seeing their first action, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively. Both games will be televised on ESPN2. After a day off, Saint Mary’s will play in a 6 p.m. March 11 semifinal on ESPN, with Gonzaga to follow at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The championship game is set for 6 p.m. March 12 on ESPN.
Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed and a heavy favorite in the WCC women’s tournament. The Bulldogs, who handed second-ranked Stanford the first of its four losses in a Dec. 3 non-conference matchup in Spokane, rolled through the WCC regular season with a 16–0 record, are 29–2 overall and ranked 15th in this week’s AP national poll.
While Gonzaga and second-seeded Santa Clara have byes into the March 11 semifinals, San Diego and Pepperdine open the tournament at noon March 7. The winner will advance to play Pacific at noon March 8, with Saint Mary’s and Loyola Marymount following at 2:30 p.m.
San Francisco will play at 1 p.m. March 9 in one of two quarterfinals. The tournament championship game is set for 1 p.m. March 12 and scheduled to be televised on ESPNU.
The Pac-12 women’s tournament features a different format, with the top four of Stanford, USC, UCLA, and Oregon State all receiving byes into the March 7 quarterfinals.
Cal, 17–13 overall, needs a strong showing after tying for eighth during the regular season with a 7–11 conference record. The Golden Bears will take on Washington State in a 2:30 p.m. first-round game March 6, with the winner advancing to face Stanford at 2:30 p.m. the following day.
USC will play at 6 p.m. March 7 against the winner of a first-round game between Arizona and Washington, with UCLA to follow at 8:30 p.m. against the winner of the Utah-Arizona State first-round matchup.
The first three rounds of the tournament, including the 5 p.m. and 7:30 semifinals March 8, will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks, with the 2 p.m. March 10 championship game set for telecast on ESPN.
Stanford, which won the regular-season title with a 15–3 record and is 26–4 overall, USC, and UCLA are locks to land NCAA Tournament berths. The Los Angeles schools tied for second in the Pac-12 at 13–5, with the Bruins 24–5 overall and the Trojans 23–5. USC is fifth and UCLA seventh in this week’s AP poll.
Depending on results of the conference tournament, the Cardinal is a likely No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed, with the Trojans and Bruins also in the running for a first or second seed.
Stanford took home quite a haul of Pac-12 postseason awards March 5. The conference named senior Cameron Brink player of the year, as well as defensive player of the year for a third consecutive season, junior Kiki Irifaen most improved player, and Tara VanDerveer coach of the year for the 18th time in her storied career.
USC sensation JuJu Watkins, meanwhile, won freshman of the year honors. Trojans senior teammate McKenzie Forbes and the UCLA trio of senior Charisma Osborne and sophomores Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice joined Brink, Kiki Iriafen, and Watkins as all-conference selections. Osborne is all-Pac-12 for a fourth consecutive year, and Brink for a third successive season.
