(Tucson, AZ) Pima Community College women’s basketball player Rylei Waugh (Westchester HS, CA) can add another accolade to her 2023-24 season.
Waugh, a freshman guard from Los Angeles, was named First Team NJCAA Division II All-American. She is the 19th NJCAA All-American in program history; and 18th under coach Todd Holthaus.
She scored 580 points on the season, which included breaking the program’s single-game scoring record with 43 points in a 98-87 win against Harcum College for seventh place at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament. Waugh scored in double figures in 33 of the 35 games she played in.
Waugh averaged 17.2 points per game while shooting 40.4 from the field and 81.6 from the free throw line. She also averaged 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
She was named to the NJCAA Division II All-Tournament Team after averaging 21.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals in five games. She shot 46 percent from the field. She broke the NJCAA Tournament record with 20 made free throws in a game (20-22) and 40 free throws made for a tournament (40-43).
Waugh was named ACCAC Division II Player of the Year, ACCAC Division II Freshman of the Year, First Team All-ACCAC and First Team All-Region I, Division II. She was also named ACCAC Division II Player of the Week six times this season.
In 17 seasons at the helm, women’s basketball coach Todd Holthaus has produced an NJCAA All-American in 14 of those seasons. The Aztecs have an NJCAA All-American in seven of the last eight years.
Waugh joins Jessie Ingraham (2008), Tia Morrison (2009, 2010), Abyee Maracigan (2009, 2010), Deanna Daniels (2011), A’jha Edwards (2013), Raja Moreno-Ross (2014), Sydni Stallworth (2016, 2017), Jacqulynn Nakai (2018, 2019), Shauna Bribiescas (2019), Hallie Lawson (2020), Sierra Mich’l (2021), Fama Thiam (2021) and Luisayde Chavez (2023).
Bennett was the first Aztecs women’s basketball NJCAA All-American in 1994.
The Aztecs finished with a 27-9 overall record. It is the most wins for the program since the 2015-16 season. They surpassed 20 wins in a season for the seventh straight year and eight of their last nine seasons. They also went 18-5 in ACCAC conference play; the most wins in conference since 2010-11. Pima was 16-1 at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium this season.
See the complete NJCAA Division II All-American Teams:
https://www.njcaa.org/sports/wbkb/2023-24/div2/all-americans/index
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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