Last Week In The Big West
The top four in the Big West remained unchanged as Cal Poly, UC Davis, UC Riverside and Long Beach State remained in their respective 1-4 positions. The top three all won their single games of the week, while LBSU split its Northern California road trip to keep pace. The rest of the league is still a muddled picture as Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara are tied for fifth at 6-7, with UC Irvine just a game back. Cal State Northridge and Pacific also continue to be tied for the eighth and final Big West Tournament slot.
Cal Poly Clings to Half Game Lead with Three Games Left
With just a trio of conference games left on its slate and just a half-game lead to their name, Cal Poly embarks on an important road trip which would greatly enchance their tournament seeding as well as Big West regular season title aspirations.
The Mustangs road journey takes them to Cal State Fullerton Thursday and Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara Saturday. Already assured of no worse than the fourth position at the tourney, the Mustangs can clinch no worse than the third position in the annual tournament with a pair of wins.
There are also games with huge seeding implications during the upcoming week. The spotlight affair has UC Davis and UC Riverside doing battle in the Inland Empire Saturday in a matchup of teams that are just a half-game and full game out of first place, respectively. Both teams must avoid slip ups in games Thursday against Long Beach State and Pacific, respectively, to set up the important showdown.
Gaucho Block Brigade
A block party in Santa Barbara would sound like a fun idea to some, but for Cal State Fullerton it was just a nightmare. UC Santa Barbara blocked a school-record 15 shots in its matchup against the Titans. In fact, CSF nearly had as many shots blocked as it made throughout the contest (17). As one might expect when talking about blocks and UCSB, Mekia Valentine led the way with nine giving her 94 for the season, just six shy of 10th place on the Big West single season list. In fact, Valentine now has more blocks than all but one team in the Big West and is just five shy of catching UC Riverside at the moment.
Senior Moment
Senior Day is a time when the home team wants to put on a show for its outgoing seniors and fans and Cal Poly certainly gave everyone their money’s worth last weekend. In the final home game of 2009-10 for the Mustangs, the squad put up 100 points against Cal State Northridge. It marked the first time that the program had hit the century mark in nine years and the first time that a Big West team had hit triple digits since Long Beach State dropped 102 on CSUN back on January 15, 2006
About That Show...
Dropping 100 points was impressive in itself, but how Cal Poly got there is jaw dropping in its own right. The Mustangs put up 40 points in the first half thanks to an 8-of-14 showing from downtown, but in the second half, the team scored 60 points in the second half on an incredible 22-of-28 showing from the field. In all, Cal Poly shot 55.6% from the field, 14-of-21 from the three-point line and hit 16-of-21 from the charity stripe. Five players scored in double figures and 10 of the 14 players who saw action on the floor scored. But arguably the most impressive statistic was that Cal Poly assisted on 27 of its 35 made field goals.
I'll Stay for Some Extra Time
Illustrating just how much parity exists in the Big West Conference this season, six of the eight overtime games have come during conference play, including two which have gone to double OT. Cal State Fullerton has seen the most extra time this year as the Titans have participated in four overtime games, including one which required a pair of extra sessions to end. CSF is 2-2 in overtime games this season.
Don't Worry, the Scoreboard Still Works!
The scoreboard operator at the Pavilion in Davis might have been a little concerned that the bulbs wouldn’t work for the Aggies once the team got to 70 points last week. The club has scored 70+ points in just 10 of their 28 games this season, with four of those contests coming among UCD’s 12 home contests. Actually the Aggies have the second-best point differential in the Big West at +4.0 thanks to the 61.2 points the club gives up to its opponents.
Margaritis Seeks 100th Win at UCR
John Margaritis is eyeing his 100th UC Riverside victory as he currently owns 98 wins at the helm of the Highlanders program. Margaritis will have a shot to reach the milestone this week as UCR is home for a pair of contests against Pacific and UC Davis. Previously, UC Riverside’s 74-61 win over Cal State Northridge not only secured the Highlanders their first Big West victory of the season, but lifted head coach John Margaritis to his 200th career victory.
Pretty Good These Last Few Years
UC Riverside has been a consistent contender for the Big West title over the past four seasons and its performance in league play is a big reason why. With one more league victory this season, the Highlanders will be the only team in the Big West to post double-digit conference wins in each of the last four league seasons. UC Santa Barbara also has won double-digit conference games over the past three seasons, but the Gauchos cannot reach that number with only three contests remaining this season.
Oh the Irony of it All
Kristina Santiago of Cal Poly and Christina Thompson of Pacific are two of the best players in the Big West around the paint, but they share an ironic twist thanks to their teams’ style of play. Santiago and Thompson are the leading and 11th-best scorers in the Big West, but they’ve hit a combined one three-pointer on the season. Meanwhile Cal Poly as a team is hitting at a 38.9% clip and has 145 made threes, while Pacific has shot more threes (556) than free throws (426) and is second in the Big West with 161 makes from downtown. Also if you’re wondering, Santiago hit the lone three-pointer two weeks ago...the first one of her career.
'Eaters Gobble Boards Too
Despite possessing one of the league’s shorter lineups, UC Irvine is more than holding its own on the glass. The Anteaters are just -1.0 in rebounding margin this season, but the more impressive statistic might be how they have fared on the offensive glass. UCI has grabbed 382 offensive rebounds, second in the Big West, and grabs the board off its own miss 37% of the time, a rate that is also the second-best in the league.
UC Santa Barbara Tabbed Preseason Favorite
The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara were selected to claim their third consecutive, 14th overall, Big West Conference women’s basketball regular season title, as voted on by the media. The Gauchos captured 10 of a possible 20 first-place votes and 162 total points. They were closely followed by second place UC Davis, who received six first-place nods and 155 points. Rounding out the top three was Cal Poly with three first-place selections and a point total of 146.
Two-time Big West Champion UC Riverside was selected fourth with one first-place vote and a total of 112 points. Garnering the fifth slot in the preseason poll with 99 points is Long Beach State, who begins a new era under first-year head coach Jody Wynn. Pacific earned the sixth spot after acquiring 87 points and was followed by Cal State Fullerton (59), Cal State Northridge (41) and UC Irvine (39).
Long Beach State Showcases New Face At The Helm Of Its Program
Jody Wynn, who spent the last five seasons as the senior assistant, recruiting coordinator and head of scouting at USC, becomes the sixth head coach in LBSU women’s basketball history. Wynn comes to LBSU with 13 years of collegiate coaching experience under her belt. While at USC, she was in charge of bringing in four nationally-ranked recruiting classes, including the No. 1-ranked group in 2006.
Foster Takes Over Reins At Fullerton
Former associate head coach Marcia Foster at Cal State Fullerton was promoted to head coach after Dr. Maryalyce Jeremiah relinquished her duties at the end of last season. Foster begins her seventh year with the Titans women’s basketball program. She also spent one year as head coach at Cal Tech and six years as an assistant at Cal Poly.
Teams Showcase New Lineups
With the departure of such a large group of talented women’s basketball players, fresh faces will be seen on the court this year. Three teams with the tough task of constructing a successful lineup this season are UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific. The Highlanders must start from scratch after losing all five of their starters to graduation. The Tigers and Gauchos aren’t far behind, welcoming back just one starter from last season.
Honda Center To Become Official Home Of Big West Basketball Tournament Beginning in 2011
Honda Center has announced a five-year partnership with the Big West Conference to host its annual men’s and women’s post-season basketball tournament beginning in 2011. The Big West and Honda Center have teamed up for “March Madness” and “The Road To The Final Four” on numerous occasions including men’s basketball regionals in 1998, 2001 and 2003 and first and second round action in 2008.
In addition, the Big West and Honda Center was selected as host of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball West Regional.