USD Women's Basketball 1997-1998

West Coast Conference

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A History of Achievement Since its inception in 1985-86, WCC Women's Basketball has done nothing but prosper. In the last six years, the league has sent ten teams to the NCAAs and two to the NIT. The West Coast Conference started in 1952 as the California Basketball Association and was formed by five Bay Area schools (San Francisco, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, San Jose State, and Pacific). It remained as such for two seasons until expanding down to Southern California to include Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine and changed its name to the West Coast Ath– letic Conference in 1956. The league shortened its name in 1989 to became known as the West Coast Conference. The current alliance includes eight private institutions that spans the western coast of the United States from Canada to Mexico (San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, and Portland). The institutions range from the pine forests of eastern Washington to the beaches of southern California. All have a common mission of combined excellence in academics and athletics that sets the conference apart on the national scene. The current alignment has remained unchanged since 1979, making the West Coast Conference the third most stable conference in the nation. Only the Pacific- IO Conference and the Ivy League have remained the same for a longer period. The conference sponsors thirteen championships for women (basketball, crew, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, and volleyball) and men (baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer and tennis). Current WCC members have won 14 NCAA team championships. The University of San Francisco has won the most titles (7), followed by Pepperdine (5) and Santa Clara and Gonzaga have one one apiece. San Diego owns a pair of Division II men's team tennis crowns ('74 & '75). The league owns six NCAA automatic playoff bids (women's and men's basketball, baseball, women's and men's soccer and volleyball). 1996-97 wee FINAL STANDINGS wee Pct. GB Overall Pct. Portland 14-0 J.CXX) 27-3 .900 San Francisco 11-3 .786 3 25-6 .806 Saint Mary's 9-5 .643 5 16-12 .571 Santa Clara 9-5 .643 5 19-9 .679 Pepperdine 6-8 .429 8 15-13 .536 Loyola Marymount 4-IO .286 10 5-22 .185 Gonzaga 2-12 .143 12 4-23 .148 San Diego 1-13 .07 l 13 5-22 .185 1996-97 ALL-WCC TEAM Name School Pos. Yr. Hometown Renee Demirdjian San Francisco F Sr Carlsbad, CA Nicole Gaines** LMU F Sr Long Beach, CA Kristin Hepton Portland F So Spokane, WA Andrea Kagie San Francisco F Sr Scottsdale, AZ Deana Lansing** Portland G Sr Kennewick, WA Brittany Lindhe*** San Francisco G Jr Goldendale, WA Lisa Sacco Santa Clara G Jr Kirkland, WA Lisa Siders*** Pepperdine C Sr Pueblo, CO Wendy Toonen Portland C Sr Mackay, Aust. Liz Wilkinson Saint Mary's C Sr Springfield, OR * Number of times All WCC

West Coast Conference 400 Oyster Point Blvd. Suite 22 1 South San Francisco, CA 94080 Phone: (650) 873-8622 Fax: (650) 873-7846 Commissioner: Michael Gilleran Assistant Commissioner: Don Ott

Assistant Commissioner: Teresa Kuehn Membership Services: Jennifer Markey Public Relations Assistant: Mark Papadopoulos Administrative Intern: Jeanette Morganti

Jill Shaver and Melisa Sortino hold the WCC Championship Trophy after lead– ing the Toreros to a seven-point upset ofSanta Clara at the 1993 tournament. 1996-97 ALL wee ACADEMIC TEAM Name School Yr. GPA Maior Heidi Ambrose* San Diego Sr 4.00 Chemistry Mollie Flint* St. Mary's Sr 3.95 Accounting Andrea Kagie**# San Francisco Sr 3.74 Math, Chemistry Jill Kennedy Pepperdine Sr 3.55 Business Lydia Ledgerwood Gonzaga Jr 3.72 English Literature Brittany Lindhe*# San Francisco Jr 3.49 Exercise Science Linda Riedman Santa Clara Sr 3.30 Liberal Studies Nicole Silacci* Santa Clara Sr 3.39 Finance Christie Stein Portland Sr 3.95 Education Wendy Toonen# Portland Sr 3.3 1 Psychology Liz Wilkinson# St. Mary's Sr 3.54 Philosophy

Deana Lansing, Portland Jim Sollars, Portland Tracy Morris, Saint Mary's

Player of the Year: Coach of the Year: Freshman of the Year:

* Number of times on All Academic Team # All Academic Team and All-WCC

1997-98 University of San Diego Toreros Women's Basketball Media Guide