The West Coast Conference (WCC) Women's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the most outstanding women's basketball player in the West Coast Conference. The award has been given ever since the conference first sponsored women's basketball in the 1985âÂÂ86 season, when it was known as the West Coast Athletic Conference. There have been two ties in the history of the award. The first was in 2006âÂÂ07 between Stephanie Hawk of Gonzaga and Amanda Rego of Santa Clara (coincidentally, players from the same two schools were involved in a tie for the WCC Men's Player of the Year Award that season). The second was in 2020âÂÂ21, when BYU's Shaylee Gonzales and Gonzaga's Jenn Wirth shared honors. There have also been a total of five repeat winners, but only oneâÂÂCourtney Vandersloot of GonzagaâÂÂhas been Player of the Year three times.
No one WCC school has dominated the total awards distribution over time. The overall leader is Gonzaga, with 14 awards; BYU is next with seven, while Saint Mary's and Santa Clara have five each. Of these schools, all but BYU, which joined the WCC in 2011 and left for the Big 12 Conference in 2023, have been WCC members throughout the conference's women's basketball history. Each current full WCC member except for Pacific and Seattle has at least one award. Pacific had been a charter member of what is now the WCC, but left in 1971, long before the conference sponsored women's sports, and did not return until 2013. Seattle left the WCC in 1980, well before the conference sponsored women's basketball, and did not return until 2025. Denver will join the conference in July 2026, followed by UC San Diego in July 2027.
As of the next 2026âÂÂ27 WCC season, the only former WCC women's basketball members that failed to produce an award winner are Nevada, Oregon State, and Washington State. Nevada only participated in the conference's first two women's basketball seasons (1985âÂÂ86 and 1986âÂÂ87). Oregon State and Washington State, which also did not produce any winners, joined as associate members in 2024âÂÂ25 after the collapse of their full-time home of the Pac-12 Conference. The 2025âÂÂ26 season was their last as WCC affiliates; the Pac-12 will resume full operation in 2026âÂÂ27 with seven new members, including Gonzaga.
Note: Years of entry for each school are the actual calendar years they joined the WCC and first played women's basketball in the conference. Because the basketball season spans two calendar years, the award years reflect the years in which each season ended. Schools that have left the WCC are highlighted in italics.