Championships Central >>> | WATCH: Semifinals recap
| No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara 75, No. 9 seed CSU Bakersfield 66 |
Box score | UCSB presser | CSUB presser
HENDERSON, Nev. – No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara is heading to their 18th Big West Championship game after defeating ninth-seeded CSU Bakersfield, 75-66, in the semifinals of the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships, presented by The Hawaiian Islands.
Alexis Tucker closed with a sixth 20-point game of the year to lead all scorers, finishing with one shy of a career high with 28 points on 8-14 shooting from the field and a 10-of-14 day from the stripe to go along with seven rebounds. The senior from Hawthorne, Calif., scored 19 points in the first half of action, going 7-of-10 from the field and setting the tone for the Gauchos early on from The Dollar Loan Center.
All told, UCSB got to the free throw line 39 times, connecting on 30 attempts and doubling their season average of 15 free throws per game.
2023 will mark the 18th Big West Championship final appearance for UC Santa Barbara, and the Gauchos will be aiming for their 15th Big West title (1992-93-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-08-09-12) and first since 2012. Their last Championship final appearance came in 2017, a 56-55 loss to Long Beach State at the Honda Center, in Anaheim, Calif.
UCSB led by as many as 14 as late as 5:22 to play, but CSU Bakersfield (8-23) battled to the finish with Hennie van Schaik’s successful trip to the line with 1:53 to play cutting the margin in half. The sophomore recorded a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Redshirt senior and Bakersfield native Taylor Caldwell capped her collegiate career with a team-best 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Gauchos improve to 22-11 on the year, while CSU Bakersfield closes the season at 8-23 after an impressive three-game swing through the 2023 championship bracket as the underdogs.
UC Santa Barbara advances into Saturday’s Championship game, slated for 3 p.m. tomorrow, March 11 on ESPN+ and SiriusXM. The Gauchos will play the victors of the second semifinal between No. 2 seed Long Beach State and 2022 champion, No. 3 seed Hawai’i.
| No. 3 seed Hawai'i 67, No. 2 seed Long Beach State 62 |
Box score | UH presser | LBSU presser
HENDERSON, Nev. – The No. 3 seed Hawai’i Ranbow Wahine will go for back-to-back Championship titles, after defeating second-seeded Long Beach State, 67-62, in the semifinals of the 2023 Big West Women’s Basketball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands from The Dollar Loan Center.
Hawai’i (17-14) was led by an 18-point outing for sophomore guard Lily Wahinekapu, 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year while playing at Cal State Fullerton last season. Wahinekapu was 7-of-8 from the free throw line to go along with seven rebounds and just two turnovers, playing nearly 38 minutes of the game. Daejah Phillips added 14 points and four assists with freshman forward Imani Perez contributing 10 points on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting performance.
The hotly-contested game started as a physical, defensive battle between UH and LBSU and neither side led by more than six points until the fourth quarter. The game was knotted at 21 apiece at the halftime break and another battle to the buzzer between the two foes seemed imminent. The contest stayed within two possessions after the third, with Hawai’i edging out to the 46-42 advantage heading into the final frame.
However, the Beach were held scoreless for nearly five minutes of the fourth quarter while the Rainbow Wahine made their move. Phillips connected with Perez in the paint on back-to-back plays that started with LBSU turnovers to increase the lead to nine points at the 7:04 mark and the score at 51-42.
LBSU kept battling for the duration of the game, even slicing the lead to three with 1:38 to play, but UH kept their composure and went on the win, 67-62, capped by a buzzer-beating layup from Phillips as time was expiring.
The Beach was led by a trio of double-digit upperclassmen scorers in Kianna Hamilton-Fisher (17 points), Ma’Qhi Berry (13) and Courtney Murphy (12) as UH held Big West Player of the Year Tori Harris to six points on 2-of-14 shooting. Long Beach State departs Henderson with a record of 23-9 and now awaits their postseason fate.
The 2023 finale will be the first time a No. 1 seed wasn’t in the title tilt since 2017, when No. 2 seed Long Beach State knocked off No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara. That Championship iteration is the last time the Gauchos advanced to the final. Hawai’i’s eye is on the back-to-back prize as the Rainbow Wahine are making their eighth overall championship game appearance. UH hoisted the trophy in 1996, ’16, and ’22. UC Santa Barbara and Hawai’i have met just once in The Big West championship final, a 1993 contest that went the way of the Gauchos, 80-77, at Long Beach Arena.
Hawai'i will take on the Gauchos tomorrow, March 11 at 3 p.m. on ESPN+ and SiriusXM with the winner earning The Big West's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship. The women's bracket will be announced on Selection Sunday at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN.