Big West Women's Basketball Weekly Release No. 1
The 2019-20 Big West Women's Basketball season is set to get underway Tuesday, kicking off a week filled with action.
The three-time defending regular season champion and defending 2019 Tournament champion UC Davis begins its season Friday with a trip to Montana State. The Aggies have won 20+ games in each of the last three seasons and return a strong nucleus as it looks for four.
Rising UC Irvine faces a difficult week as it hosts San Jose State and then travels to nationally-ranked Oregon State. The matchup against the Beavers is a part of the preseason WNIT, the first time the Anteaters have competed in the event.
Opening night also features PAC-12 opposition as CSUN hosts USC in a primetime tilt.
AROUND THE BIG WEST
Split Decision For the Favorites
The league’s nine head coaches and selected media each chose their own preseason favorites last month, resulting in the same teams in the top half of each poll but with different favorites. Defending Big West champion UC Davis was favorite among the media while UC Irvine claimed the top spot in the coaches poll. Both groups chose UC Riverside in third and Hawai’i in fourth
Preseason All-Conference Squads
The coaches and media also chose six-person preseason All-Conference squads. Four players appeared on both teams in Long Beach State’s Shanaijah Davison, UC Irvine’s Jordan Sanders, UC Riverside’s Jannon Otto and UC Santa Barbara’s Coco Miller. The coaches list added UC Davis’ Nina Bessolo and UCR’s Marina Ewodo while the media added Cal State Fullerton’s Raina Perez and UCI’s Lauren Saiki.
The Stampede To Four
UC Davis finally brought home the Big West Tournament title last year after three years of resounding regular season success. The Aggies have won three straight conference regular season crowns, the longest run in the league in post divisional play since UC Santa Barbara won at least a share of six straight titles from 2001-06. UCD has also won 20+ games in each of the last three seasons, including a school-record 28 games in 2017-18.
Zot Zot Win
UC Irvine comes into the 2019-20 season on the heels of its best season in nearly 35 years, culminating in a Big West Tournament semifinal appearance. The Anteaters won 20 games for the first time since 1984-85 while their number of victories tied for the second-most in program history. The 20-win campaign was also just the third in ‘Eaters history and marked the third straight year that the club has increased its win total under Tamara Inoue.
Mimnaugh Approaches Milestone
Entering her 23rd year on the Cal Poly sideline, Faith Mimnaugh is on the verge of a major coaching milestone. Two more wins gives Mimnaugh 300 for her career, the second-most in Big West history and making her only the second coach to win that many games while in the league. Only UC Santa Barbara’s Mark French (438) stands above Mimnaugh in the history books of the conference.