Rydalch, Purcell, Judkins garner top WCC honors

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SAN BRUNO, Calif. — After leading the West Coast Conference in scoring, and becoming the all-time leading scorer in WCC women’s basketball history, Lexi Eaton Rydalch has been named Player of the Year. Teammate Kalani Purcell was named WCC Newcomer of the Year with head coach Jeff Judkins picking up his first Coach of the Year award since joining the WCC.

BYU took three of the top four league awards, with San Diego’s Maya Hood being named the Defensive Player of the Year. The Cougars have won four straight player of the year honors.

Rydalch and Purcell were named to the 2015-16 All-WCC Women’s Basketball First Team with Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher being named to the Second Team. Kylie Maeda was an All-WCC Honorable Mention selection.

The first-team honor is the third straight for Rydalch and the first for Purcell. In her freshman year, Rydalch was named the Newcomer of the Year and made the All-Freshman Team. The accolades for Pulsipher and Maeda are the first for both.

Judkins guided the Cougar women to their first WCC regular season title with a 16-2 record. BYU clinched the 2015-16 crown in a home win over San Diego on Feb. 18 with two league games remaining. 

The Cougars have compiled a 24-5 record and last week broke into the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll coming in at No. 22. With the 24 wins, Judkins has compiled seven-straight 20-plus win seasons which gives a total of 10 since taking over the women’s basketball program in 2001-02.

Rydalch led the conference in scoring with 24.6 points per game, ranked second in 3-point field goals made (2.4) and eighth in assists (3.2).

Purcell led the league in rebounding (12.8) and in assists (5.4).  She ranked first in defensive rebounds (9.7) and fourth in offensive boards (3.1), was tied in fifth place in blocked shots (1.0) and was sixth in both steals (2.3) and field goal percentage (.452)

Pulsipher finished conference play ranked fourth in steals (2.4) and in 3-point field goals made (2.1), ninth in scoring (13.4) and in 3-point field goal percentage (.374) and 10th in free throw percentage (.789).

Maeda led the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.7) and in 3-point field goal percentage (.488) while ranking seventh in assists (3.4).

BYU enters this week’s WCC championships as the No. 1 seed and has a bye into the quarterfinals. The Cougars are the defending WCC tournament champions and play their first game on Friday at noon PT.

2015-16 WCC Women’s Basketball Awards
Player of the Year: Lexi Rydalch, BYU
Coach of the Year: Jeff Judkins, BYU
Defensive Player of the Year: Maya Hood, San Diego
Newcomer of the Year: Kalani Purcell, BYU

2015-16 All-WCC Women’s Basketball First Team
Jill Barta- R-Fr. F, Gonzaga
Marie Bertholdt- Jr. F, Santa Clara
Hailie Eackles- Sr. G, Pacific
Malina Hood- Sr. G, San Diego
Lauren Nicholson- Sr. G, Saint Mary’s
Erica Ogwumike- Fr. G, Pepperdine
Lori Parkinson- Jr. F, Santa Clara
Taylor Proctor- Sr. F, San Francisco
Kalani Purcell- Jr. F, BYU
Lexi Rydalch- Sr. G, BYU

2015-16 All-WCC Women’s Basketball Second Team
Stella Beck- Soph. G, Saint Mary’s
Zhane Dikes- Sr. G, San Francisco
Maya Hood- Jr. F, San Diego
Makenzi Pulsipher- Jr. G, BYU
Sophie Taylor- Sr. F, Loyola Marymount

2015-16 WCC Women’s Basketball Honorable Mention Selections
Devon Brookshire, Saint Mary’s; Shelby Cheslek, Gonzaga; Desire Finnie, Pacific; Rachel Howard, San Francisco; Devin Hudson, Santa Clara; Kylie Maeda, BYU; Kaylie Van Loo, Portland

2015-16 All-WCC Women’s Basketball Freshman Team
Jill Barta- F, Gonzaga
Savanna Hanson- G, Santa Clara
Erica Ogwumike- G, Pepperdine
Sydney Raggio- F, Saint Mary’s
Cheyanne Wallace- F, Loyola Marymount