SAN DIEGO – Women's basketball senior Ayanna Khalfani was named the West Coast Conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Year, while being tabbed to the All-WCC second team, as the conference announced on Wednesday.
 
Khalfani shares the award with BYU's Lauren Gustin. The Woodland Hills, Calif., native was one of four Toreros to be named to an All-WCC team and was joined on the second team by Kiera Oakry. Kasey Neubert was named an All-WCC honorable mention honoree, while Veronica Sheffey was tabbed to the WCC's All-Freshman team.
 
Khalfani becomes the second consecutive Torero to earn WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors, after Jordyn Edwards won the award last season. San Diego is the first WCC program with back-to-back winners since BYU's Kalani Purcell and Sara Hamson won in 2017 and 2018. Khalfani also becomes the fourth WCC Defensive Player of the Year under head coach Cindy Fisher.
 
The senior guard earns the honor, as well as the all-conference distinction following a breakout second half campaign, in which she was named the WCC Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 13. Khalfani is in the midst of career-year, averaging a career-high 9.1 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, 2.7 assists per game and 1.2 steals per game. Khalfani has been on a torrid pace since Jan. 28, averaging 17.1 points per game over her last eight games. No Torero had scored 20 points in a game until Jan. 28, when Khalfani took over to score 20 or more in four of the last eight contests.
 
Khalfani has made her biggest impact in transition, allowing the Toreros to get out and running following an opponent turnover. Khalfani has aided in the San Diego defense ranking first in the WCC in turnover margin and third in turnovers forced per game.
 
Oakry takes home her first All-WCC honors on the heels of being named to the WCC's All-Academic Team on Tuesday. A San Diego native, Oakry is having the strongest season of her career, averaging a personal best 10.7 points per game, as well as 2.9 rebounds per game, 1.7 assists per game and 1.2 steals per game. Oakry has been a consistent scorer for the Toreros, scoring in double figures in 16 of 29 games this season.
 
Neubert earns All-WCC honors for the first time, following a highly successful season as one of the top rebounders in the conference. The Elizabeth, Colo., native ranks fifth in the conference in rebounding at 7.4 per game, to go along with 8.6 points per game. Neubert has tallied three double-doubles this season, as well as a career-high 17 rebounds against Santa Clara on Jan. 19 and has the program's highest rebounding average since Patricia Brossmann (7.6 RPG) in the 2018-19 season.

Sheffey gets selected to the conference's All-Freshman team after a breakout campaign in year one as a Torero. Sheffey has played in 20 games this season, averaging 5.0 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per game. The Woodinville, Wash., native played the role of spark plug for the Toreros on numerous occasions, including a career-high 17 points against Saint Mary's on Dec. 29, which led to WCC Freshman of the Week honors on Jan. 2. Sheffey becomes the first Torero freshman to be named to the list since Myah Pace in 2018.
 
The Toreros are back in action on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., against a to-be-determined opponent in the 2023 WCC Tournament, hosted at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
 
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