Brent Mutis, CapU sport info & compliance officer

Chris Weimer has been named the PACWEST women's basketball Coach of the Year for the first time in his five seasons at the helm of the Blues program.

Weimer's squad posted a 16-2 record this season and enter the PACWEST provincials as the No. 1 seed for the first time since he took the head coach role in 2018.

After beginning the season with a win and a loss to open conference play, the Blues have rattled off wins in 15 of their next 16 games and had an 11-game win streak from Nov. 25 to Feb. 3. CapU scored wins over the then No. 1-ranked Vancouver Island University Mariners on Nov. 25 and beat them again on Feb. 3 to take the season series and secure top spot in the standings. 

"It's always nice to be recognized but this really is a team award," said Weimer. "Our team has earned everything we've gotten so far this season and even though we've lost some key players to injury, we haven't taken a step back.

"I'm proud of our team and we are eager to prove ourselves at the upcoming PACWEST provincials."

The Blues lost Jenna Griffin, a 2022 PACWEST Second-Team All-Star, to injury in November and also lost veteran forward Emma Jones to injury in the first game of the season.

Stepping up to fill the void, this season's Blues got All-Star performances from point guard Kirsten Abo (12.8 points per game), Ida Jonsson-Ojala (12.7 points per game) and Meagan Briggs (9.6 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game and 3.5 assists per game). Venica Davignon was an All-Rookie team honouree this season and will be a key piece of the team moving forward.

The Blues enter the PACWEST provincials with a bye to the March 3 semifinals as the No. 1 seed. They await the winner of Thursday's opening-round matchup between No. 4 Douglas College and No. 5 Okanagan College.