2024 Big West Conference women's basketball tournament
The 2024 Big West Conference women's basketball tournament will be the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Big West Conference of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. It will be held March 13–16, 2024, at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. The winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA tournament.
| 2024 Big West Conference women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2023–24 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, Nevada |
| Champions | UC Irvine (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Tamara Inoue (1st title) |
| MVP | Déja Lee (UC Irvine) |
| Television | ESPN+ |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hawai'i | 17 | – | 3 | .850 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine † | 16 | – | 4 | .800 | 23 | – | 9 | .719 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Riverside | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal Poly | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 17 | – | 14 | .548 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 20 | – | 14 | .588 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 16 | – | 15 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC San Diego* | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 12 | – | 19 | .387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 15 | – | 18 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Fullerton | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 5 | – | 15 | .250 | 8 | – | 21 | .276 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Northridge | 1 | – | 19 | .050 | 3 | – | 27 | .100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition period | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2024 Big West tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeds
In June 2023, the Big West Conference board of directors voted to reduce the tournament field from 10 teams to 8 teams. In the new format, the top two seeds receive automatic berths in the semifinals, the next two seeds are placed in the quarterfinals, and the remaining four seeds play each other in the first round. Big West commissioner Dan Butterly stated that the decision was made to improve the regular season champion's odds of winning the tournament and thus receiving the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[1]
Of the 11 conference teams, 10 are eligible for tournament spots. UC San Diego is ineligible for the tournament, as it is in the final year of the four-year transition required for teams transferring to Division I from Division II. Teams are seeded based on their performance within the conference, and teams with identical conference records are seeded using a tiebreaker system.
As is the case since 2020, reseeding teams does not occur at any point before the semifinals.
| Seed | School | Record | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawai'i | 17–3 | |
| 2 | UC Irvine | 16–4 | |
| 3 | UC Riverside | 13–7 | 2–0 vs. Cal Poly, 1–1 vs. UC Davis |
| 4 | Cal Poly | 13–7 | 2–0 vs. UC Davis, 0–2 vs. UC Riverside |
| 5 | UC Davis | 13–7 | 1–1 vs. UC Riverside, 0–2 vs. Cal Poly |
| 6 | UC Santa Barbara | 10–10 | |
| 7 | Long Beach State | 8–12 | |
| 8 | Cal State Fullerton | 6–14 | |
| DNQ | Cal State Bakersfield | 5–15 | |
| DNQ | Cal State Northridge | 1–19 | |
Schedule and results
| Game | Time[2] | Matchup | Score | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 13 | ||||
| 1 | Noon | No. 5 UC Davis vs. No. 8 Cal State Fullerton | 81–56 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 2:30 PM | No. 6 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 7 Long Beach State | 75–90 | |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 14 | ||||
| 3 | Noon | No. 3 UC Riverside vs. No. 7 Long Beach State | 75–83OT | ESPN+ |
| 4 | 2:30 PM | No. 4 Cal Poly vs. No. 5 UC Davis | 48–56 | |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 15 | ||||
| 5 | Noon | No. 1 Hawai'i vs. No.5 UC Davis | 48–51 | ESPN+ |
| 6 | 2:30 PM | No. 2 UC Irvine vs. No. 7 Long Beach State | 69–57 | |
| Final – Saturday, March 16 | ||||
| 7 | 3:00 PM | No. 5 UC Davis vs. No. 2 UC Irvine | 39-53 | ESPN+ |
| *Game times in PDT. Rankings denote tournament seed. | ||||
Bracket
| First Round Wednesday, March 13 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 14 | Semifinals Friday, March 15 | Championship Saturday, March 16 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Hawai'i | 48 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Cal Poly | 48 | 5 | UC Davis | 51 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | UC Davis | 81 | 5 | UC Davis | 56 | 5 | UC Davis | 39 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Cal State Fullerton | 56 | 2 | UC Irvine | 53 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | UC Irvine | 69 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | UC Riverside | 75 | 7 | Long Beach State | 57 | Third place | ||||||||||||
| 6 | UC Santa Barbara | 75 | 7 | Long Beach State | 83* | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Long Beach State | 90 | ||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime
References
- "Big West Board of Directors Approves New Initiatives at Annual Spring Meeting". Big West Conference. June 9, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
- "2024 Hercules Tires Big West Women's Basketball Championship". Big West Conference. September 28, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2024.