USD Women's Basketball 1999-2000

19

The Wes"t Coas"t Confe•·enee

most stable conference in the nation . Only the Ivy League and Pacific- IO have been together longer. The 1999-2000 season marks the 13th year for the WCC' s women 's basketball league, one of the most improved in the nation. USF's appearance in the 1996 NCAA Sweet 16 was the first ever for a WCC team. 1998-99 was a breakthrough season for the conference. For the first time in women's basket– ball hi story and just the second time in conference history , four

When the West Coast Conference got its start back in 1952, the founders really had only one goal in mind - to create a conve– ni ent way for five Bay Area schools to play basketball. What has grown from that original vision 46 years ago is a marvelous cohe– sive athletics league which is competitive at the national level in 13 sports. The eight current members of the WCC span the Western United States from Canada to Mexico. Though the institutions

WCC schools qualified for the post-season. Saint Mary's won the conference tournament to earn the automatic bid and was joined in the NCAAs by Santa Clara. In addition , WCC co– champion Pepperdine and Portland received berths in the WNIT. The only other time half the conference qualified for post-season play was 1989 when four men 's basketball squads (NCAA: Saint Mary 's, Loyol a Marymount; NIT: Pepperdine, Santa Clara) managed the feat. WCC women 's basketball started in 1985 with seven teams, including current members Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Fran–

range from the pine forests of the Northwest to the sun-drenched beaches of Southern Califor– ni a, the combined excellence in athletics and academics sets the conference apart on the national scene and draws the individual institu– tions together in a common mission. The WCC sponsors championships in baseball, men' s and women's basketball , men 's and women 's cross-country , men 's and women's golf, women ' s rowing, men ' s and women's soccer, men' s and women's tenni s and women's volleyball . The league was char– tered by five Bay Area institutions (Pacific,

cisco and Santa Clara. Nevada and U.S. International left the WCC in 1987, replaced by Gonzaga, Portland and Saint Mary's. In the first 14 WCC seasons, seven women 's teams have claimed the regu lar season or tournament title. As for its overall success, the WCC has annually advanced at least one team to a national championship semifinal since 1989. League members have won over 30 NCAA team and individual cham– pion ships overall, most recently as USD junior Zuzana Lesenarova won the 1999 NCAA women 's tennis singles title. !Juud 1998-99 w~t ~t ~ Women. 6 93'" fut&df. S ~ School wee Overall Santa Clara# 11 -3 22-6 Pepperdine# 11 -3 21-8 Saint Mary's! 10-4 26-6 SAN DIEGO 7-7 14-13 Portland! 7-7 16-12 Loyola Marymount 4-10 8- 19 Gonzaga 4-10 8- 19 San Francisco 2-12 7-20 #NCAA Tournament !NWIT Tournament 2000 West Coast Conference Tournament Don't miss the tipoff of the 2000 West

Saint Mary 's, San Francisco, San Jose State and Santa Clara) as the California Basketball Association, playing its first game on January 2, 1953. After two seasons of play under that name, the conference expanded to include Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine in 1955, and became the "West Coast Athletic Conference" in 1956. The name was shortened to "West Coast Conference" in 1989. The current alignment of Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara has remained unchanged since 1979, making the WCC the third ( wee in the 1998-99 Post Season '1 I NCAA Tournament I I Saint Mary's Lost to Notre Dame 57-61 I I Santa Clara Lost to Iowa State 61-74 I I WNIT Tournament I I Portland Lost to Washington 63-67 I I Pepperdine Lost to New Mexico 69-81 I , ____________________ / 1998-99 All-West; Coast; Conference Women's Basket:hall Team

GONZAGA, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, PEPPERDINE, PORTLAND, SAINT MARY'S, SAN DIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO, SANTA CLARA

Coach of the Year: Player of the Year: Freshman of the Year: Defender of the Year

Mark Trakh, Pepperdine Tracy Morris, Saint Mary' s Becki Ashbaugh, Santa Clara Annie Garri son, Santa Clara

Coast Conference Tournament as it celebrates its ninth year of exciting post-season women's basketball competition. Toso Pavilion , on the campus of Santa Clara University, once again hosts the WCC Tournament. Opening round action begins with pool play on Thursday, March 2nd; four teams will fight for the chance to play in the championship in semifinal action on Friday, March 3rd. The title game is played on Sunday, March 5th with regional television coverage. For ticket information, contact the University of San Diego (619) 260-5916, or contact Santa Clara directly at (408) 554-4660.

AII-WCC Firs1' Team

Hometown

School

Year Pos. Ht.

Name

5-10 Ontario, CA

So. So. Jr. So. Jr.

Pepperdine Pepperdine

G

Rasheeda Clark

Taft, CA

5-11

F

Kate Crane

San Diego, CA Saratoga, CA

5-9 6-2 6-0 6-3 6-1 5-9 6-2 6-0

Susie Erpelding San Diego

G

Santa Clara San Diego

C F C

Annie Garrison Jessica Gray Sarah Green Kri stin Hepton Brittany Lindhe

Redwood City, CA

Jr.

Portland, OR Yeradal e, WA

Portland Portland

F

Sr.

Goldendale, WA

San Francisco Sr. Saint Mary 's Jr. Saint Mary 's Sr.

G

F

Moraga, CA

Tracy Morri s

N. Vancouver, BC

J.R. Payne

G

" FREE THROWS WIN GAMES ." - ROLLIE MARPE