The Vanguard Lions took over sole possession of first place with three road wins in Hawaii to earn Team of the Week. Azusa Pacific’s Elyse Mitchell tallied 40 points in a win over Fresno Pacific, the highest scoring total by far in the PacWest this season. PLNU’s Izzy Navarro had all-around impressive numbers, including 12 total steals in two wins for the Sea Lions to share Defender of the Week with Concordia's Genesis Hopkins, who blocked and rebounded her way to another award.

2025-26 Results/Schedule
2025-26 Standings
2025-26 Statistics

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific’s Elyse Mitchell, G, Jr., 5-8, Newhall, Calif.                                                    
Azusa Pacific’s Elyse Mitchell had the best game of her career with 40 points during a 88-65 victory over Fresno Pacific last Tuesday. The 5-8 junior guard nailed 14 of 25 shots and converted 9 of 10 free throw attempts to get to 40, the highest total in the PacWest this year by a lot (next is 32 by Alberte Frisch of Menlo). The third-year Cougar had 50 points for the week. Her 40 points completely smashes her previous career best of 18 points, scored earlier this season, twice.
 
Co-DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Point Loma’s Izzy Navarro, G, Jr., 5-8, Tijuana, Mexico                                               
Point Loma’s Izzy Navarro notches her first Defender of the Week honor after totaling 12 steals during wins over Biola and Azusa Pacific. Navarro, who had three offensive Player of the Week awards in her career at Concordia and Point Loma, had seven steals in a huge win over Azusa Pacific, her season high and added five more in a PLNU victory over Biola. Navarro also totaled 13 assists in the two games, 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Tijuana native has at least one steal in 16 of Point Loma’s 17 games this year, and she has 18 in her last three games. She leads the PacWest Conference by a large margin with 3.8 steals per game.

Co-DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Concordia's Genesis Hopkins, F, Soph., 6-0, Seattle, Wash.                                        
Concordia's Genesis Hopkins earns the award for the second week in a row after another big week of rebounding and blocking shots. In Golden Eagle wins over Fresno Pacific and Jessup, the Sonoma State transfer had 11 and 17 rebounds respectively, the latter a season and career high for the Seattle native. She also had six blocked shots against the Sunbirds, another career best for her that equals a PacWest season high, giving her eight blocks for the week. Additionally, she had a dozen points in each contest to give her a pair of double-doubles and 28 total rebounds. Hopkins now had double-figure rebound totals in each of her last five games.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Vanguard is the Team of the Week, winning three games in Hawaii to improve to 12-2 overall and 8-1 in the PacWest, moving into sole possession of first place. The Lions began the islands trip with a 83-47 win over Chaminade, and then followed that up with a 72-61 victory at Hawaii Pacific and wrapped up the tour with a 60-44 win at Hawaii Hilo. That makes for a +63 margin of victory. Emma Schaaf averaged 15 points per game, including a 21-point outing at HPU. Micaela Hanning led the Lions at CUH with 16 points and seven boards. Against the Sharks, Kaylee Byon hit all 10 of her free throw attempts for 14 points, and Byon had 14 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and two steals at the Vulcans. Coach Russ Davis’ team has now won 10 of their last 11 games.
 
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: In addition to Vanguard’s unblemished week a 3-0, three squads went 2-0 to keep the top of the standings tight—Point Loma, Concordia and Dominican. At the end of the regular season, the top six teams qualify for the PacWest Championships in San Diego. Here are the top six through last weekend: Vanguard (8-1), Point Loma (9-2), Azusa Pacific (7-2), Dominican (7-3), Westmont (6-3) and Concordia (6-4)…Point Loma pulled of the stunner of the week, taking out APU by a 80-55 score. The Sea Lions rolled out to a 43-22 halftime lead and Eiley Tippins had 25 points to snap the Cougars 7-game win streak…Concordia won a pair, topping Jessup 78-66 behind Asia Darcuiel’s 27 points and Genesis Hopkins’ 12 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. CUI also topped Fresno Pacific (80-67) behind Camryn Kiernan’s 25 points on 6-of-9 accuracy from three-point range…Dominican kept pace with a 30-point win over Chaminade and a 82-60 victory at Hilo. Keyonee Neal had a double-double on the Big island with 18 points and 11 rebounds while Isobel Crosswhite had 25 points on 9 of 13 shooting against the Silverswords…Hawaii Pacific’s Kyra Tanabe had two 19-point games and totaled nine steals on the week…Menlo’s Alberte Frisch continued to pace the PacWest in scoring with 47 points last week, including a season-high 32 against CUH.  Frisch averages 19.1 points per contest…Hilo’s Kaile Cruz had games of 23 points (vs. VU) and 22 (DUC)…Biola’s Laney Grider had 23 points in a loss to Point Loma. PLNU’s Hannah Golan had a double-double in that same game with 14 points and 11 rebounds…FPU’s Sienna Evans had 22 points and eight boards in the Sunbirds’ set-back against Concordia…Biola upset Westmont in overtime 65-62. Danya Dykstra missed just one shot on her way to 16 points, including 4-of-5 marksmanship from behind the arch…Noemie Barieau had 15 points and six rebounds off the bench in Westmont’s 64-46 win over Fresno Pacific.

WHAT’S NEXT: 14 PacWest games are on the schedule this week, beginning with a Tuesday slate that has Jessup at Fresno Pacific, Westmont at Hawaii Hilo and Biola at Hawaii Pacific. On Thursday Concordia is at Hilo, Menlo travels to Jessup, Azusa Pacific is at Vanguard, Westmont is at Hawaii Pacific and Biola visits Chaminade. On Saturday, Point Loma is at Vanguard, Fresno Pacific is at Menlo, Dominican goes to Jessup, Biola is at Hilo, Westmont goes to Chaminade and Concordia will be at HPU. To see the complete season schedule, click here.