SAN DIEGO—The
Vanguard Lions women’s basketball team made their first-ever Pacific West Conference Championship tournament one to remember, winning the title on Saturday night at Golden Gymnasium with a 61-47 victory over
Azusa Pacific.
In their first year of NCAA eligibility, the No. 1 seeded Lions took out perennial PacWest power Azusa, one day after dispatching Westmont (73-59). With the wins, Vanguard earns the PacWest’s automatic berth into next week’s NCAA tournament.
The Lions (24-5) will learn what seed they are during Sunday night’s NCAA selection show. Azusa Pacific (19-6), will await their postseason fate via the selection show. The Cougars were ranked ninth in last week's poll (top eight qualify).
Emma Schaaf led Vanguard tonight with 18 points and 16 rebounds, and she also blocked four shots. Freshman
Micaela Hanning, the tournament MVP, had 11 points and four steals. Hanning had 25 points and 11 rebounds against Westmont, stepping in for injured point guard
Kaylee Byon.
Byon, the PacWest regular season MVP, got the start tonight after sitting on Friday with an injury and it seemed to jump start the Lions. They blasted out to a 10-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game and never trailed after that. They led 17-10 at the quarter and 36-22 at halftime.
The Lions would establish their largest lead in the third quarter (42-22). The Cougars would claw back a number of times, including to 52-46 in the fourth quarter, but the Lions answered each run.
Lauren Jones and
Audrey Sayoc led the Cougars with 13 points each.
"I am excited for the girls because of all the hard work that they have put in.," said Vanguard head coach
Russ Davis. "I have never seen hard work not pay off."
The Lions had a 55-40 rebound advantage and led for entire contest.
"It's special to go to the NCAA tournament in the first season that we are eligible," Davis added. "We will continue to take it one possession at a time. We will continue to work together and play together as a team."
2026 PacWest All-Tournament Team
MVP—Micaela Hanning, Vanguard
Emma Schaaf, Vanguard
Akilah Kubi, Vanguard
Lauren Jones, Azusa Pacific
Audrey Sayoc, Azusa Pacific
Noemie Bariteau, Westmont