IRVINE, Calif. – Hawai`i Pacific won its fourth PacWest women’s basketball regular season title with the first 22-0 conference season in PacWest history and led the conference in awards, topped by Amy Baum being named the PacWest Player of the Year.
 
Hawai`i Pacific is also represented on the awards list by PacWest Newcomer of the Year Ally Bates and Coach of the Year Reid Takatsuka. Azusa Pacific’s Laura Pranger is the PacWest Defender of the Year, and Stephanie Lee from Biola is the Freshman of the Year.
 
Baum is one of only two sophomores on the All-PacWest team after she helped the Sharks win the PacWest in the regular season. The point guard out of Melbourne, Australia, averaged 12.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game and tallied 40 steals and 12 blocks. Her 174 assists currently ranks fifth in PacWest history for a single season
 
Baum led the conference in assists and assist-turnover ratio as she facilitated the eighth most productive offense in the nation. Last year’s Freshman of the Year had several notable performances this season, including her triple-double against Dominican with 18 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds. In the Sharks’ win at home against Concordia, Baum registered 20 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists for her season-high in rebounding.
 
Pranger was named the Newcomer of the Year last year and is now the Defender of the Year and All-PacWest First Team after leading the conference in blocks during the regular season. She blocked 111 shots during the regular season and is just 13 shy of the PacWest single-season record. The junior also has 133 defensive rebounds and 25 steals on the season. In the second game of the year against No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona, Pranger recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 11 blocks and 11 rebounds. She has recorded at least five blocks in 10 games this season as she helped the Cougars take second place in the PacWest, earning a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
 
Along with being the PacWest Newcomer of the Year, Bates is an All-PacWest honorable mention selection. The transfer from Utah Valley gave the Sharks some key offensive production off the bench. She averaged 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in just 23.9 minutes per game. Against Dominican, Bates scored a season-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds for a double-double. During the regular season, she shot .380 from beyond the arc and .820 from the free-throw line.
 
Lee is the PacWest Freshman of the Year after ranking second in the conference in 3-point percentage. She made 57 of 133 attempts from beyond the arc as she helped Biola qualify for the PacWest Championships. Lee averaged 10.2 points per game with 60 percent of her points coming from beyond the arc. Her best shooting performance of the season was against Point Loma when she made 5-of-6 treys and finished with 26 points, leading the Eagles to the win.
 
Takatsuka won his fourth PacWest Coach of the Year honor as the unanimous selection of his peers. He led the Sharks to a historic regular season, winning 23 games in a row, including all 22 PacWest competitions. Hawai`i Pacific is ranked No. 1 in the region and No. 3 in the nation as a result of its 27-1 record.
 
Takatsuka scheduled some of the toughest teams in the West Region and earned non-conference wins against Northwest Nazarene, Central Washington, Simon Fraser and UC San Diego. The Sharks had won 16 games in a row when they got ready to make their toughest trip of the season to Southern California. They went undefeated on the trip, beating nationally-ranked Azusa Pacific before taking out each of the other top-5 teams in the conference for four wins in eight days.
 
Out of the conference’s 18 All-PacWest selections, 13 were repeat selections. Jerusha Paine from Dominican and Chaminade’s Destiny Castro both earned All-PacWest honors for the fourth time in their respective careers. Paine led the nation this season in scoring with 26.6 points per game, while Castro led the conference in steals this season.
 
Azusa Pacific’s Savanna Hanson earned her third first-team All-PacWest selection. Michaela VanderKlugt also earned her third All-PacWest selection in as many years after helping Concordia to its best regular-season finish in the PacWest. Starr Rivera is a first-team selection for Hawai`i Pacific after leading the conference in shooting from beyond the arc. Rivera made 75 of 163 attempts from 3-point territory, giving her the eighth-best percentage in the nation.
 

2019-20 ALL-PACWEST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AWARDS
Player of the Year	Amy Baum	Hawai`i Pacific
Defender of the Year	Laura Pranger	Azusa Pacific
Newcomer of the Year	Ally Bates	Hawai`i Pacific
Freshman of the Year	Stephanie Lee	Biola
Coach of the Year	Reid Takatsuka	Hawai`i Pacific