SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Gonzaga's
Yvonne Ejim was named the 2023 West Coast Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year as head coach
Lisa Fortier was named the WCC Coach of the Year the league announced Wednesday.
Maud Huijbens also won a major award, winning the WCC Sixth Woman of the Year.
Ejim,
Kayleigh Truong,
Kaylynne Truong and
Brynna Maxwell were selected All-WCC First Team.
Eliza Hollingsworth was tabbed All-WCC Second Team.
Ejim is Gonzaga's 12th Player of the Year as GU has had the honor back-to-back years. This is the sixth time that Fortier has been named Coach of the Year as she also has been named it in back-to-back seasons.
All individual awards – along with the All-West Coast Conference Teams and the All-Freshman Team – were voted on by the league's nine head coaches.
Ejim was unstoppable offensively this season, bringing unmatched consistency and prowess. Despite missing a pair of Conference games while representing Canada in an Olympic qualifying tournament, Ejim led the Bulldogs and the league in scoring at 20 points per game, which was good enough for 22nd in the country. She has scored in double figures in 35-straight games, dating back to last season. Ejim also led the WCC and is sixth in the nation in field goal percentage at 62.8 percent. This is the 12th time a Gonzaga player has earned WCC Player of the Year accolades and the second straight year the Zags have garnered the honor.
Ejim finished in the top five in the WCC in double-doubles, rebounds, and blocked shots. She was third in the league in double-doubles (12), rebounding (8.3 rpg) and fifth in blocked shots (1.0). Ejim has tallied 11 double-doubles this season, which is third best in the WCC. The last time a Zag won Defensive Player of the Year was in 2013.
Fortier, in her 10th season at Gonzaga, currently holds a 94.1 percent Conference winning percentage, best in the league, and an 81.1 percent career winning percentage. Fortier's career winning percentage is fifth among active Division I head coaches. This is the sixth WCC Coach of the Year honor for Fortier who previously earned the recognition last season. For the first time under Fortier, Gonzaga finished undefeated in Conference play at 16-0 winning the 2023-24 WCC regular season title outright on Feb. 17. The Bulldogs currently rank No. 15 in Associated Press poll and own the nation's second-longest winning streak at 23 games. Gonzaga is second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (40.4) and third in the NCAA in assists per game (20.1). GU led the league in scoring at 82.9 ppg and win margin at 22.3. In Conference games only, the Zags finished with a staggering win margin of 30.7 ppg.
Huijbens is the sixth leading scorer coming off the bench for Gonzaga this season averaging 6.7 ppg. She has scored in double figures six times this season, including a career-high 15 points three times. Huijbens recorded her first career double-double at San Francisco. This is GU's third Sixth Woman of the Year award in four years.
This is the third All-WCC honor for
Kayleigh Truong and second All-WCC First Team nod for the graduate student.
Brynna Maxwell and
Kaylynne Truong have been named All-WCC First Team in back-to-back years as well. This marks the first All-WCC honor for
Eliza Hollingsworth.
The No. 1 seeded Zags will begin the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 11 with a noon tipoff.
2023-24 All-WCC Women's Basketball Major Individual Honors
Coach of the Year –
Lisa Fortier, Gonzaga
Player of the Year –
Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga
Newcomer of the Year – Freja Werth, San Francisco
Defensive Player of the Year –
Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga
Sixth Woman of the Year –
Maud Huijbens, Gonzaga
2023-24 All-WCC Women's Basketball First Team
| Name |
Year |
Pos. |
School |
| Yvonne Ejim |
Sr. |
F |
Gonzaga |
| Debora dos Santos |
R-Jr. |
F |
San Francisco |
| Jasmine Gayles |
Gr. |
G |
San Francisco |
| Tess Heal |
So. |
G |
Santa Clara |
| Anaya James |
Jr. |
G |
Pacific |
| Brynna Maxwell |
Gr. |
G |
Gonzaga |
| Olivia Pollerd |
Jr. |
F |
Santa Clara |
| Emme Shearer |
Jr. |
G |
Portland |
| Kayleigh Truong |
Gr. |
G |
Gonzaga |
| Kaylynne Truong |
Gr. |
G |
Gonzaga |
2023-24 All-WCC Women's Basketball Second Team
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
| Zeryhia Aokuso |
Fr. |
G |
Saint Mary's |
| Maisie Burnham |
Jr. |
G |
Portland |
| Elizabeth Elliott |
Jr. |
C |
Pacific |
| Veronica Sheffey |
So. |
G |
San Diego |
| Eliza Hollingsworth |
Gr. |
F |
Gonzaga |
2023-24 All-WCC Women's Basketball Freshman Team
| Name |
Pos. |
School |
| Dyani Ananiev |
G |
Portland |
| Zeryhia Aokuso |
G |
Saint Mary's |
| Maia Jones |
G |
Saint Mary's |
| Maddie Naro |
G |
Santa Clara |
| Jorynn Ross |
F |
Pepperdine |
2023-24 WCC Women's Basketball Honorable Mention Selections
Ali Bamberger, Saint Mary's; Cecilia Holmberg, Pacific; Alexis Mark, LMU; Jane Nwaba, Pepperdine
