IRVINE, Calif. – After another undefeated season in PacWest play, Hawai`i Pacific’s Amy Baum and Reid Takatsuka were again named the PacWest Player and Coach of the Year, respectively, as the Sharks became the first program in PacWest history to go undefeated in conference play two years in a row.
 
Azusa Pacific also took home some hardware after earning a spot in the NCAA West Regional. Alex Lowden is the PacWest Defensive Player of the Year, and Kayla Shaw is the PacWest Newcomer of the Year as voted on by the coaches from around the PacWest.
 
This year’s All-PacWest team consists of three All-Pod teams that were nominated and voted on exclusively by the coaches from within each pod. Among the notable honorees from around the conference are Concordia’s Michaela VanderKlugt and Hawai`i Pacific’s Alysha Marcucci, who both are four-time All-PacWest award winners.
 
Expectations were high this year as Baum entered her junior season. She had been named PacWest Freshman of the Year, PacWest Player of the Year and PacWest Preseason Player of the Year, while playing for the conference’s preseason favorite. Baum surpassed all of those high expectations as she nearly averaged a triple-double and led the Sharks to an undefeated season with record-setting performances.
 
In the first game of the season, Baum led the Sharks to a win over NCAA Division I opponent Hawai`i with 28 points, nine assists and five steals. Throughout the rest of the season, the junior averaged 14.7 points, 9.0 assists, 7.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. Baum’s nine assists per contest smashed the previous PacWest record, and she twice recorded 15 assists in a single game, which also ties the PacWest record. After several near triple-double performances, Baum finally got her first triple-double of the season in the regular season finale as she garnered her second-consecutive Hawai`i Pod Player of the Week award.
 
Lowden was one of the conference’s toughest defensive guards last season collecting 66 steals for the Cougars, while coming off the bench. This year, the junior out of Glendora, California, took a bigger role for Azusa Pacific and established herself as the premier defender in the conference as voted on by the coaches. Lowden recorded a steal in every single game this year and had at least two in all but two games. She topped out at seven steals in a single game, and the following game, Lowden recorded four blocks to go along with her four steals and double-double. The junior also averaged 7.7 rebounds per game as a point guard.
 
Shaw made a splash in her first year in the conference, helping Azusa Pacific to return to the NCAA West Regional for the fourth year in a row. The graduate transfer from University of Delaware averaged 17.8 points per game, making 36 shots from beyond the arc to go along with 21 assists, 10 steals and eight blocks. Shaw scored a season-high 30 points against Point Loma on a 12-for-18 shooting performance. Over the last six games Shaw averaged 21.5 points per game as Azusa Pacific moved up in the standings to win the PacWest SoCal Pod title.
 
Takatsuka was recognized by his peers for his fourth PacWest Coach of the Year award as he led Hawai`i Pacific to an undefeated record at 13-0 during the regular season, including a win over a NCAA Division I opponent. The Sharks became the first program in PacWest history to reach 200 conference wins in basketball. They enter the postseason with a 38-game winning streak, which is the longest in the history of the conference.
 
VanderKlugt finished the season with 1615 career points, which makes her the seventh-highest scoring player in PacWest history. She also finished with 889 career rebounds, ranking fourth in PacWest history. Marcucci also earned her fourth career All-PacWest recognition and now has 1,305 career points. In her career at Hawai`i Pacific, the Sharks won three PacWest Championships with 91 wins and an 86.7 winning percentage.
 
Cara Liggins from Point Loma and Rachel Berry from Fresno Pacific were also among the nominees for PacWest Player of the Year and both earned all-pod recognition. Liggins is a three-time All-PacWest honoree, and has helped the Sea Lions qualify for the PacWest Championships in each of her first three years and helped the Sea Lions finish within one game of first place in the SoCal Pod as a senior. Berry was a four-time PacWest NorCal Pod Player of the Week and she was named National Player of the Week after recording a triple-double. She helped Fresno Pacific win the PacWest NorCal Pod title.
 

2020-21 ALL-PACWEST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AWARDS
Player of the Year	Amy Baum	Hawai`i Pacific
Defensive Player of the Year	Alex Lowden	Azusa Pacific
Newcomer of the Year	Kayla Shaw	Azusa Pacific
Coach of the Year	Reid Takatsuka	Hawai`i Pacific

2020-21 ALL-PACWEST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown/Previous School
HAWAI`I TEAM
Ally Bates	Hawai`i Pacific	G	Jr.	Melbourne, Australia/Utah Valley
Amy Baum **	Hawai`i Pacific	G	Jr.	Melbourne, Australia/Rowville
Mandi Kawaha	Hawai`i Hilo	G	Jr.	Hilo, Hawai`i/Hilo
Alysha Marcucci ***	Hawai`i Pacific	G	Sr.	Yarragon, Australia/Marist-Sion
Kim Schmelz *	Hawai`i Hilo	G	GS	Sacramento, Calif./Pleasant Grove
Olivia West	Hawai`i Pacific	G	Sr.	Launceton, Australia/Utah State
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM
Stephanie Lee	Biola	G	So.	Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda
Cara Liggins **	Point Loma	G	Sr.	Albuquerque, New Mexico/Sandia
Kayla Shaw	Azusa Pacific	G	Sr.	Phoenix, Ariz./Delaware
Katie Timmerman	Concordia	G	Jr.	Torrance, Calif./West Torrance
Michaela VanderKlugt ***	Concordia	F/C	Sr.	Antioch, Calif./Carondelet
Molly Whitmore	Azusa Pacific	F	So.	Adelaide, Australia/Portside Christian
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM
Rachel Berry	Fresno Pacific	G	Jr.	Clovis, Calif./Clovis
Riley Friauf	Dominican	F	Sr.	Vancouver, Wash./Concordia
Lauryn Manns	Academy of Art	G	Jr.	Corona, Calif./Mt. SAC
Bayli McClard *	Fresno Pacific	F	Sr.	Hanford, Calif./Hanford
Julia Razo	Dominican	G	Sr.	Woodland, Calif./St. Francis
Brooke Rodgers	Academy of Art	G	Fr.	Indianapolis, Ind./Cactus Shadows