Watching the West: 2024-25 Roundup No. 1
What's going on out West now that the Pac-12 teams have dispersed to other leagues?
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With the demise of the Pac-12 as we knew it, college basketball no longer has a major conference with a distinctly Western flavor. That doesn’t mean there isn’t great basketball being played on the left coast, though.
Beginning this month, we will take a look at what’s happening around the world of Western women’s basketball every other week. That world will get shaken up again over the next few years as the Pac-12 tries to reconstitute itself by poaching from the other leagues. For now, we still have the WCC, the MWC, the WAC, the Big Sky, the Big West, and the Summit to consider.
Some of the traditional names at the top of the “mid-major” pyramid out West are not producing at the same level as recent years. Gonzaga returned Yvonne Ejim, who picked up the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award last season. She’s doing what she’s always done, averaging 18.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game over the first month of the season.
The Bulldogs as a group are not succeeding at the rate they’re used to, though. They stand at 4-5 with all five losses coming in blowout fashion. While it’s true that four of the five losses came to Power 4 teams, the only traditional power on that list was Stanford. The Cardinal are No. 14 in the Her Hoop Stats ratings, but the next-best opponent was No. 34 Florida State. The worst loss came at the hands of No. 156 Missouri State.
The quality of the schedule is helping keep the Bulldogs at No. 61 in the ratings, but they already have more losses this year than they had all of last season. Last year, they not only defeated Stanford by 18, but they also gathered wins over California and Arizona and had a five-point overtime loss to a ranked Washington State team before WCC play started.
Much has been written about head coach Lisa Fortier’s battle with cancer. There’s no doubt that it’s a tough ask for Fortier and those who care about her to focus on basketball this year, but there’s also no doubt that Fortier and her team are doing what they can to not let that overwhelm them.
The major problem for Gonzaga this season has been the lack of scoring around Ejim. Last year, the team had five players who averaged double digits. This season, it has just two. The losses of Brynna Maxwell, Kayleigh Truong, Kaylynne Truong, and Eliza Hollingsworth have taken their toll.
With the Bulldogs taking a step back from leading the way for the West Coast mid-majors, Northern Arizona, San Diego State, and GCU have taken a step forward. NAU and SDSU are 8-1 with a win over a Power 4 school to their names. GCU is 6-2 with the unofficial Arizona state title after defeating both ASU and Arizona.
NAU was picked to finish first in the Big Sky this year. They feature preseason conference MVP Sophie Glancey, who has already made a name for herself. The junior averages almost a double-double with 18.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. She was one of six players to score in double figures when the Lumberjacks beat Arizona in Flagstaff in mid-November.
SDSU was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West this season, although it did receive two first-place votes in the preseason poll. In the early going, the two voters who placed the Aztecs first are looking smart.
They started the season 8-0, their best start since 1988-89. It included a win over Wisconsin to give the Aztecs a Power 4 victory.
Much of the success is due to junior guard Veronica Sheffey with 11.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. Sheffey transferred to SDSU from the University of San Diego in the offseason. After two years of accolades in the WCC, she’s proving her worth in the MWC.
Preseason All-Mountain West honoree Adryana Quezada has only appeared in eight of the Aztecs’ nine games and started just five, but she’s contributing when she’s on the floor. The senior started college in 2019-20 at UT San Antonio. After one year at Utah State, she landed in San Diego in 2022.
The Aztecs are leaning on Quezada whether she starts or comes off the bench. She is the team’s second-leading scorer with 10.6 points per game. Her 5.5 rebounds per game are also second on the team.
The Grand Canyon State has more than one team making some noise in the early going. GCU already had a win over a Power 4 school before facing off against Arizona on Thursday night. The Lopes dominated Arizona State in mid-November. Their only two losses came to teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the Associated Press poll – and both came on the road. Then, they went into McKale Center and walked away with a three-point victory over the Wildcats.
The Lopes are an experienced bunch that was picked to win the WAC. Twelve of their 15 players are transfers. Eleven of the 15 are seniors or graduate students. They only have one freshman.
The group is full of prolific scorers with four starters averaging double figures. A fifth player averages 9.1 points off the bench.
Most impressive is senior guard Trinity San Antonio, who was tabbed as the preseason WAC Player of the Year. Antonio is speedy. She regularly beat Arizona back for easy layups off made Wildcat baskets. She averages 15.6 points but went off for 26 against her in-state opponents. She also pulled down 12 rebounds, almost seven above her average.
“She killed us,” said Arizona head coach Adia Barnes.
Teams in the middle of the pack of their Power 4 leagues have more than a few teams out West to worry about.
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Notre Dame women’s basketball beat University of Texas last night by 10 points. That makes Notre Dame the only team to have beaten two separate top five ranked teams at this point in the season. Yet today’s newsletter has no mention of that. Explain please.