The spring D1 women's college picture is fairly clear as the playoffs loom.

Pacific Desert

BYU is flying pretty high this year, having beaten GCU, Cal State Northridge, UCSB, and Arizona by a total score of 391-6, averaging almost 100 points per win. No wonder other teams have backed out of playing them. This has been a bit of a harsh lesson for the Cougars—stubbornly remaining in D1, rather than D1 Elite, BYU has found that they are so far ahead of these teams that they aren't getting any games.

One of the reasons no player from BYU received a nomination for the MA Sorensen Award was that they haven't had competition, and evaluating a player's excellence without competition is very difficult. BYU has lost games, however, having lost in the fall to Central Washington and last week to their alumni. 

Still, they are in D1 this year and with players such as flanker Lewanda Aspinall, center Kat Stowers, fullback Talosia Morrissette, and a powerful front row,  they are the favorites to win it all. 

Outside of playing BYU, Grand Canyon has been fairly dominant in this league, with their average score against teams not in Provo, Utah somewhere around 49-6. The 'Lopes are led by the try-scoring strike of Chloe Geryol and Angel Lucero and seem to have taken a key step forward.

Head Coach Lindsey Mahoney installed a much more complex attack this season and essentially asked more of the players—they have responded. The approach requires the players to make decisions and take ownership of those decisions. 

Earlier this season Mahoney spoke to GRR about this, saying "I was worried in introducing this new system that players wouldn’t buy-in or be able to accept some of the changes, but the girls have taken to the challenge and exceeded my expectations."

Along with Geryol and Lucero, other players have made key contributions. AIC transfer Kalika Havili has been a nice addition; Kloe Williams has been a leader on and off the sield, while SyAnne Callier is talented on attack and defense and puts in a ton of work.

It's been fun, added Mahoney, watching them develop.

Following BYU and GCU at 4-1-1, albeit at a bit of a distance, is Arizona State. Stephanie Davies is a major try-scorer for ASU.

Pacific Mountain 

Stanford won the Pacific Mountain West and for many longtime fans of women's college rugby is was nice to see the Cardinal back at the forefront of the game.

Hosts Stanford and nearby Cal won their games over UW and WWU, respectively, setting up Sunday's final. Cal put up perhaps their best performance of the year, but the very strong Stanford won out 43-28. Cal has undergone a coaching change and handled that pretty well.

"It's always a hard-fought game between Cal and Stanford," said Stanford Coach Rich Ashfield. "This was the third time we have played them this year and its been a tough game every time. It's always difficult at this time of the year as teams are beaten up after a physical season and the double header weekends just add more pressure to small squads.

Lock/center/wherever Elly MacKay has been a powerhouse for them, and one with an eye for the tryline. Sydney Davis is a strong defender and Leilani Mendoza has directed the attack smartly at flyhalf or scrumhalf.

She has weapons, too, with not only MacKey and Davis but the talented Vanessa Onuoha and Chloe Shrager to set up.

Washington and Western Washington were engaged in a tough competition up north in the Pacific Mountain East division. WWU ended up on top on the backs of 27-12 and 34-14 victories over the Huskies and that set up this past weekend's conference playoffs.

Both Stanford and Cal have qualified to play BYU and GCU in the next round of playoffs.