IRVINE, Calif. (Nov. 2, 2021) – The Big West women’s basketball coaches and media have spoken, and UC Davis is the unanimous selection to repeat as Big West champions in the 2021-22 season.
Winners of the last five Big West Conference regular season titles and the last two tournament crowns, UC Davis is ready to begin in its quest for a sixth consecutive championship — and the seventh overall for the program. The Aggies return four starters off of last season’s squad, including reigning Big West Player of the Year Cierra Hall and Defensive Player of the Year Sage Stobbart. The Aggies earned nine first-place votes from the coaches and six from the media to come out atop the rankings.
Back for one last season on the court, Hall leads a group of five women who were unanimous selections to the preseason basketball teams. She is joined on both lists by upperclassmen Amy Atwell (Hawai’i forward), Keilanei Cooper (UC Riverside guard) and Justina King (Long Beach State forward). Also seeing her name on both preseason teams is sophomore guard Kayla Williams of UC Irvine.
A pair from UC Santa Barbara earned distinction on one of the two teams with Ila Lane gaining recognition from the coaches and Taylor Mole tapped to represent the Gauchos in the media voting.
The second position in the preseason prognostications went to UC Irvine in the coaches’ eyes, receiving one first-place nod. The media slotted Long Beach State in second, immediately followed by the Anteaters, and the Beach was listed first on one media ballot.
UC Irvine welcomes back eight letterwinners from a 2020-21 squad that made the program’s first appearance in the Big West Tournament championship game since 1997. Among the eight returners are the Anteaters’ top three scorers, including Preseason All-Big West selection Kayla Williams.
Long Beach State returns nine letterwinners from a year ago including Preseason All-Big West consensus honoree Justina King, as well as 2020-21 All-Big West Defensive Team selection Ma’Qhi Berry. The Beach bowed out of the 2020-21 Big West Championship in the quarterfinal round, after being upset by Cal Poly, 61-60.
The coaches strayed from the media predictions as their third-place pick went to UC Santa Barbara, and the Gauchos picked up the final first-place vote from the group. Ila Lane, an opt out in the 2020-21 season, was an honorable mention All-American performer and Big West Freshman of the Year in her last year on the court for the Gauchos. Lane finds her name on the coaches’ preseason team while teammate Taylor Mole made the media list after nearly averaging a double-double last season.
The top-line selections for the media were varied, with Hawai’i, CSU Bakersfield, UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside all earning a first-place vote apiece.
Each team was discussed in depth and preseason selections were unveiled as part of the Big West’s
preseason women’s basketball show on ESPN+, which debuted on Nov. 2, and will be available on-demand for the next 30 days.
The regular season tips off on Nov. 9, as teams take to the court for non-conference action. League play is slated to begin on Dec. 28, with Big West teams taking on a 10-week double round-robin schedule. Postseason play will be at the brand-new Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev., March 8-12 in the 2022 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships, presented by the Hawaiian Islands.