Gonzaga Women Take Home Haul of West Coast Conference Honors

With the regular season of the West Coast Conference concluding this past Saturday, the different head coaches got to work completing their ballots for the various league awards and honorary teams. Those results were released to the press yesterday in this announcement on the WCC website and, as expected from the conference’s co-champion, included some members from the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Here is the full list of nominations with statistics included and the boldened numbers indicating conference leaders

2024-25 All-WCC Women’s Basketball Major Awards

Coach of the Year: Lisa Fortier Gonzaga

Player of the Year: Yvonne Ejim Gonzaga

Defensive Player of the Year: Yvonne Ejim Gonzaga

Newcomer of the Year: Kennedy Johnson Saint Mary’s

Freshman of the Year: Allie Turner Gonzaga

Sixth Woman of the Year: Emily Foy Saint Mary’s

2024-25 WCC Women’s Basketball First Team

Maisie Burnham (Sr. G) Portland — 17.0 pts, 5.0 rbd, 2.7 ast, 1.6 stl
Yvonne Ejim (Sr. F) Gonzaga — 20.7 pts, 8.7 rbd, 2.5 ast, 1.2 stl, 1.0 blk
Alexis Mark (Gr. F) Portland — 12.3 pts, 7.2 rbd, 3.5 ast, 2.2 stl
AJ Marotte (Sr. G) Oregon State — 11.4 pts, 3.4 rbd, 2.5 ast
Olivia Pollerd (Sr. F) Santa Clara — 16.5 pts, 6.4 rbd, 2.3 ast, 1.8 blk
Kelsey Rees (Sr. F) Oregon State — 13.3 pts, 7.7 rbd, 1.7 ast
Emme Shearer (Sr. G) Portland — 16.7 pts, 4.0 rbd, 2.8 ast, 1.6 stl
Allie Turner (Fr. G) Gonzaga — 13.3 pts, 3.4 rbd, 3.7 ast
Tara Wallack (Sr. G) Washington State — 13.2 pts, 7.1 rbd, 2.5 ast, 1.1 stl, 1.9 blk
Freja Werth (Sr. G) San Francisco — 16.8 pts, 6.0 rbds, 1.5 ast, 1.3 stl

2024-25 WCC Women’s Basketball Second Team

Naudia Evans (Gr. G) LMU — 15.8 pts, 5.3 rbd, 6.1 ast, 1.6 ast
Anaya James (Sr. G) Pacific — 12.5 pts, 3.7 rbd, 4.8 ast, 2.2 stl
Liz Smith (Sr. G) Pacific — 14.2 pts, 3.6 rbd, 3.4 ast, 2.6 stl

Emma Trawally Porta (Gr. F) San Francisco — 10.9 pts, 6.2 rbd, 0.9 ast, 1.3 blk
Eleonora Villa (So. G) Washington State — 13.9 pts, 3.1 rbd, 2.7 ast

2024-25 WCC Women’s Basketball Freshman Team

Charlotte Abraham (G) Washington State — 5.7 pts, 2.8 rbd, 0.6 ast
Dayana Mendes (F) Washington State — 7.9 pts, 4.8 rbd, 1.3 ast
Chloe Sotell (G) Pepperdine — 10.3 pts, 3.0 rbd, 3.0 ast, 1.2 stl
Allie Turner (G) Gonzaga — 13.3 pts, 3.4 rbd, 3.7 ast, 0.7 stl
Angeliki Ziaka (G) San Francisco — 7.6 pts, 3.1 rbd, 3.3 ast, 1.7 stl, 0.9 blk

2024-25 WCC Women’s Basketball Honorable Mention Selections

Zeryhia Aokuso (So. G) Saint Mary’s — 9.1 pts, 3.0 rbd, 3.5 ast, 1. stl
Elizabeth Elliott (Sr. F) Pacific — 14.0 pts, 6.6 rbd, 1.2 ast
Kylie Horstmeyer (Gr. G) San Diego— 12.9 pts, 4.0 rbds, 1.6 ast, 1.2 stl
Maud Huijbens (Gr. F) Gonzaga — 9.2 pts, 7.3 rbd, 2.0 ast
Kennedy Johnson (Sr. G) Saint Mary’s — 12.0 pts, 5.5 rbd, 1.9 ast, 1.9 stl
Maia Jones (So. G) Saint Mary’s — 12.1 pts, 3.1 rbd, 2.8 ast, 1.7 stl
Truitt Reilly (Sr. F) San Diego — 11.8 pts, 7.6 rbd, 1.4 asts, 1.2 stl, 0.9 blk
Astera Tuhina (Jr. G) Washington State — 7.6 pts, 3.5 rbd, 3.6 ast, 1.3 stl

As you can see, Gonzaga, Portland, and Washington State lead the way in player unique nominations with three, although all of the Pilots selections were for the First Team so I’ve got to give the tie-breaker to the Purple and White.

Yvonne Ejim again takes home the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. As I highlighted above, the Canadian’s points and rebounds led the WCC and she also ranks 9th and 15th nationally in those respective categories. Vonny also led the conference with 11 double-doubles and 244 made field goals while coming in second with her 52.7% shooting and 143 made free throws. Don’t forget too that the fifth year player remains on lists for the Becky Hammon Player of the Year (an award that just announced her as a semifinalist today), Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year, John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Award, and the USBWA Ann Meyer’s Drysdale awards.

Allie Turner was a foregone conclusion for WCC Freshman of the Year with her 7 freshman of the week nominations across conference play so her taking this home should come as no surprise. However, it remained to be seen if the Missouri native would get on the WCC First or Second Team and she ended up getting onto the First Team as she led the not just her conference in made threes at 91, but also led all freshman nationally and eighth amongst all-year players nationally.

Maud Huijbens had a bit of a rough season as she started off the year with a struggling shot, 37.8% in the non-conference, before finding a her stride as the WCC kicked off, 50.8% in the first five games, that was subsequently stopped because a concussion sustained in early January that kept her out for nearly one month. Since returning from that injury, Maud has unfortunately not started a game besides senior night, something she did exclusively prior to her absence, and yet to exceed 30 minutes, something she did 10 times in her first eighteen games. So while this season could look like a disappointment, I would beg to differ as the Dutchwoman still posted career highs in minutes, points, rebounds, and assists while committing less fouls. This was good enough to get her a nomination onto Honorable Mention Selections.

While not included in this WCC press conference announcement, the All-Academic Team was announced which included Yvonne Ejim and Claire O’Connor as Gonzaga represents on the primary team. For the All-Academic Honorary Mentions, GU also contributed Esther Little, Maud Huijbens, and Bree Salenbien to the award list

And last, but not least, Lisa Fortier took home her third consecutive Head Coach of the Year Award and seventh time overall in her eleven years at the helm in Spokane, a mark that is just one shy of form Zags coach Kelly Graves. With her 171 conference victories, Fortier ties Jim Sollars (Portland, 1986-2014) for second on the all-time coaching wins for the WCC. To think that one year ago, Lisa was delaying the start of her breast cancer treatment until the end of the season and yet here she is, winning the same award despite those trials and tribulations. That makes this one all the more impressive.

It’s been a great ‘24-25 regular season campaign and it should bode for an exciting WCC Conference Tournament where the Bulldogs will likely need to win to punch their ticket for the Big Dance.