Big West Conference

UC Riverside’s Hannah Wickstrom led the Highlanders to 2025-capping and 2026-opening wins to earn a first career Big West Player of the Week award. Wickstrom is the first UCR player to garner weekly distinction since the 2023-24 season when Jordan Webster earned back-to-back honors in January of that season.  

The sophomore guard averaged 33.0 points on 67 percent shooting, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals, 2.0 assists with a 13-for-13 week at the charity stripe. 

Wickstrom notched a 30-point game in UCR’s 93-52 win against UC Merced on Dec. 30. Wickstrom went 13-of-17 to shoot 76.5 percent from the field to tie a career high while setting a new steals personal benchmark with seven in just 21 minutes on the court.  

In the Highlanders New Year’s Day win at Hawai’i, Wickstrom went off for 36 points with three triples and an 11-for-11 night at the line. The win over the preseason favorite Rainbow Wahine is a second consecutive for UCR in the all-time season series. 

Wickstrom, a product of Melbourne, Australia, currently leads The Big West and is 14th in NCAA Division I with 20.8 points per game to go along with 3.00 steals per game (31st nationally). For the week of Dec. 29-Jan. 4, Wickstrom’s points per game average stands in second in the country, only trailing Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes.