2016 WAC women's basketball tournament
The 2016 WAC women's basketball tournament was a tournament which was held on March 9–12, 2016, at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The #1 seed in the tournament will receive a first round bye to the semifinals. Grand Canyon did not compete in the 2016 women's basketball tournament. As a D2 to D1 transitioning school, they are ineligible to compete in the NCAA tournament until the 2018 season, so they can not win the conference tournament since the winner received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. However Grand Canyon is eligible to win the regular season title and is eligible to compete in the WNIT or WBI should they be invited. New Mexico State won their 2nd straight WAC Tournament to earn an automatic trip to the 2016 NCAA tournament.
| 2016 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2015–16 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Site | Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada |
| Champions | New Mexico State (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Mark Trakh (2nd title) |
| MVP | Sasha Weber (New Mexico State) |
| Attendance | 3,289 |
| Television | ESPNU WAC Digital |
Western Athletic Conference women's basketball tournaments | |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico State † | 13 | – | 1 | .929 | 26 | – | 5 | .839 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UTRGV | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Canyon* | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 16 | – | 15 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 16 | – | 15 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 12 | – | 19 | .387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UMKC | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 10 | – | 18 | .357 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 9 | – | 21 | .300 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago State | 2 | – | 12 | .143 | 4 | – | 25 | .138 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2016 WAC tournament winner As of March 18, 2016 * Grand Canyon ineligible for WAC Basketball Tournament as part of reclassification from Division II Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeds
| 2016 WAC Women's Basketball Tournament seeds | ||||||
| Seed | School | Conference Record | Overall Record (End of Regular season) |
Tiebreaker | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | New Mexico State | 13–1 | 24–4 | |||
| 2. | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | 9–5 | 17–12 | |||
| 3. | Cal State Bakersfield | 8–6 | 11–18 | 1–1 vs. Utah Valley | ||
| 4. | Utah Valley | 8–6 | 15–14 | 1–1 vs. Cal State Bakersfield | ||
| 5. | UMKC | 5–9 | 10–17 | |||
| 6. | Seattle | 3–11 | 9–20 | |||
| 7. | Chicago State | 2–12 | 4–24 | |||
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 9 | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 2:00 PM | #4 Utah Valley vs. #5 UMKC | WAC DN | 894 |
| 2 | 4:30 PM | #2 Texas–Rio Grande Valley vs. #7 Chicago State | |||
| 3 | 7:00 PM | #3 Cal State Bakersfield vs. #6 Seattle | |||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 11 | |||||
| 2 | 4 | 12:00 PM | #1 New Mexico State vs. #4 Utah Valley | WAC DN | 1,618 |
| 5 | 2:30 PM | #2 Texas–Rio Grande Valley vs. #3 Cal State Bakersfield | |||
| Championship Game – Saturday, March 12 | |||||
| 3 | 6 | 1:00 PM | #1 New Mexico State vs. #2 Texas–Rio Grande Valley | ESPNU | 777 |
| *Game Times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||||
Bracket
| Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 11 | Championship Saturday, March 12 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | New Mexico State | 58 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Utah Valley | 44 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Utah Valley | 61 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | UMKC | 53 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | New Mexico State | 80 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UTRGV | 53 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UTRGV | 60 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Chicago State | 52 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UTRGV | 732OT | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Cal State Bakersfield | 72 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Cal State Bakerfield | 62 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Seattle | 55 | ||||||||||||