2023 WAC women's basketball tournament

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
ClassificationDivision I
Season2022–23
Teams12
SiteMichelob Ultra Arena (first round)
Orleans Arena (all other games)
Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsSouthern Utah (1st title)
Winning coachTracy Sanders (1st title)
TelevisionESPN+
← 2022
2024 →
2022–23 WAC women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
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

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Twelve 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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "WAC Bracket 2023 & WAC Tournament Predictions". www.teamrankings.com. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  2. ^ "Western Athletic Conference". The Orleans Hotel & Casino. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  3. ^ "2022-23 WAC Championships Schedules Released". July 28, 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ "WAC approves Conference Championship eligibility for Tarleton in recent board meeting". Tarleton State University Athletics. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  5. ^ "WAC altering basketball tournament formats by introducing bold new seeding concept based on advanced analytics". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  6. ^ Koons, Zach (July 11, 2022). "WAC to Seed Conference Tournament Using KenPom Ratings, per Report". www.si.com.
  7. ^ "This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Dec. 6". December 6, 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)