2026 WAC women's basketball tournament

Not to be confused with 2026 West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament.
2026 WAC women's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2025–26
Teams7
SiteOrleans Arena
Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsCalifornia Baptist (2nd title)
Winning coachJarrod Olson (2nd title)
TelevisionESPNU, ESPN2
2025–26 WAC women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
California Baptist † 15 – 3   .833 23 – 11   .676
Abilene Christian 13 – 5   .722 23 – 10   .697
Southern Utah 11 – 7   .611 19 – 13   .594
Utah Valley 9 – 9   .500 16 – 15   .516
Tarleton 7 – 11   .389 14 – 17   .452
UT Arlington 4 – 14   .222 12 – 21   .364
Utah Tech 4 – 14   .222 9 – 20   .310
† 2026 WAC tournament winner
As of March 22, 2026

The 2026 WAC women's basketball tournament was a postseason women's basketball tournament for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The tournament was played from March 11–14, 2026 with all rounds at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas.[1] This will be the 16th year that the tournament will be held at the Orleans Arena.[2] The winner, California Baptist received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[3][4]

This was the last women's tournament under the Western Athletic Conference name. On July 1, 2026, the WAC will offically rebrand as the United Athletic Conference, assuming the name previously used for the current football-only alliance between the WAC and Atlantic Sun Conference. Three of the legacy WAC members (Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and UT Arlington) all are planned to maintain their conference memberships through the transition.[5][6]

Seeds

All seven members were invited to the tournament.[7] The field for the WAC tournament has varied from six to twelve qualifiers.[8] All teams are eligible for the NCAA tournament including Tarleton and Utah Tech which completed their transition to Division I in 2024.[9] For the 2025 WAC tournament, seeding was determined by conference record with ties broken first by head-to-head competition, then by the WAC Résumé Seeding System points.[10] The highest two seeded teams will receive byes to the semifinals in this year's tournament.[11]

Seed School Conference record Tiebreak
1 California Baptist 15–3
2 Abilene Christian 13–5
3 Southern Utah 11–7
4 Utah Valley 9–9
5 Tarleton 7–11
6 UT Arlington 4–14 2–1 vs. Utah Tech
7 Utah Tech 4–14 1–2 vs. UT Arlington

Schedule

Session Game Time* Matchup# Score Television Attendance
First round – Wednesday, March 11, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
1 1 3:00 p.m. No. 6 UT Arlington vs No. 7 Utah Tech 77–73 ESPN+ 760
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
3 2 12:00 p.m. No. 4 Utah Valley vs. No. 5 Tarleton 57–60 ESPN+ 786
3 2:30 p.m. No. 3 Southern Utah vs. No. 6 UT Arlington 65–70
Semifinals – Friday, March 13, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
4 4 12:00 p.m. No. 1 California Baptist vs. No. 5 Tarleton 77–60 ESPN+ 786
5 2:30 p.m. No. 2 Abilene Christian vs. No. 6 UT Arlington 70–50
Championship – Saturday, March 14, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
5 6 12:30 p.m. No. 1 California Baptist vs. No. 2 Abilene Christian 74–58 ESPNU 576
* Game times in PDT for all rounds.

#Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

First Round
Wednesday, March 11
ESPN+		Quarterfinals
Thursday March 12
ESPN+		Semifinals
Friday, March 13
ESPN+		Championship
Saturday, March 14
ESPNU
4Utah Valley57
5Tarleton601California Baptist77
5Tarleton60
6UT Arlington771California Baptist74
7Utah Tech733Southern Utah652Abilene Christian58
6UT Arlington702Abilene Christian70
6UT Arlington50

Awards

Award Player Team
Most Outstanding Player Filipa Barros California Baptist
All-Tournament Team Emma Johansson California Baptist
Shawnee Nordstrom California Baptist
Payton Hull Abilene Christian
Erin Woodson Abilene Christian

See also

References

  1. ^ Collom, Ryley; Communications, Assistant Director of Athletic; Media, Digital (January 1, 2026). "The WAC Announces 2025-26 Basketball Conference Schedule". CBU Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  2. ^ Collom, Ryley; Communications, Assistant Director of Athletic; Media, Digital (January 1, 2026). "The WAC Releases Tournament Schedule and Format for 2024-2025 Season". CBU Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  3. ^ "What is an at-large bid in March Madness? | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  4. ^ "Utah Valley's 2025-26 WAC Schedule Officially Announced". Utah Valley University Athletics. January 12, 2026. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  5. ^ "Atlantic Sun Conference and Western Athletic Conference to Forge Strategic Alliance" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. June 26, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  6. ^ Trujillo, Derryl. "WBB: The Last Dance is Here; Welcome to the 2025-2026 Season". www.wachoopsnation.com. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  7. ^ "This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Oct. 30". wacsports.com. January 13, 2026. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  8. ^ "WAC Tournament format, dates set". Grand Canyon University Athletics. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  9. ^ "IT'S OFFICIAL! Utah Tech University Completes NCAA Division I Transition". Utah Tech University Athletics. January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  10. ^ "2024 25 WAC MBB Resume Seeding As of March 7 (PDF) - Western Athletic Conference" (PDF). wacsports.com. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
  11. ^ "2026 WAC Basketball Tournament - Western Athletic Conference". wacsports.com. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
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