Tipping Off
What 2 Watch 4
Teams say goodbye to the non-conference segment and the calendar year with 19 contests on the docket during the holiday season. Eight Big West programs host another game before the year ends with UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis looking to keep their home record unblemished in contests against Eastern Washington on Thursday and Northern Colorado on Saturday, respectively.
Riding the longest winning streak in the conference at nine games, UC Irvine puts the streak on the line at UTEP on Thursday. The Miners are a perfect 6-0 at home thus far in the year, coming off their first two losses of the season at No. 8 TCU and BYU.
Not at home, but about as close as the Rainbow Wahine can get, Hawai’i hops islands for the Maui Classic on Dec. 19 and 20, competing against Liberty and Montana State before the break until the New Year.
Every Big West home contest appears on ESPN+ throughout the season. Check listings for specific game information.
The Big West in the Rankings
Three Big West schools are listed in the latest College Insider Women’s Basketball Mid-Major Top 25 poll, with UC Santa Barbara leaping up four spots to ninth in the listings, jumping up to 13th in the listings and ranked for the third straight wee. UC Irvine and preseason favorite Hawai’i are both receiving votes in the polling.
Six teams and 11 players find themselves in the NCAA Division I women’s basketball statistical rankings, highlighted by national top 10 marks in various categories. League-leading UC Santa Barbara earns distinction in three pointers, both quantity (10.4 per game - 4th) and accuracy (.394 - 10th) as well as being stingy on opponents, allowing just 22.7 percent of attempts from distance to connect, good for second nationally. UC Irvine is a stalwart at the line, with 17.83 free throws per game (10th) while shooting 82.6 percent from the stripe (4th). Defensively, Cal State Fullerton is disrupting the flow by forcing 27.60 turnovers per game and compiling 16.6 steals per game, both marks good for third in the country.
Last Week, Today
A light week of non-conference action saw nine Big West teams notch at least one win on the week. Some notable highlights from courts around the country included:
UC Irvine (10-2, 2-0 BW)
The Anteaters extended the winning streak to nine after tallying a 77-57 win over future Big West foe California Baptist on Saturday before last night’s 83-66 road win at New Mexico State.
Hunter Hernandez picked up back-to-back Player of the Week honors after leading the squad with 27 points on 40 percent shooting along with four rebounds and four assists. Most notably, the senior from San Jose, Calif., became the 16th member of UCI’s 1,000-point club against the Lancers.
UC Santa Barbara (9-1, 2-0 BW)
The Big West leaders downed Utah Tech on the road, 68-65, to stretch their winning streak to eight games on Saturday. Jessica Grant led the team with 16 points including four triples as four players surpassed double-figure scoring in the contest. The Trailblazers mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback that knotted the game at 61, but UCSB got a three from Zoe Borter with 2:46 remaining to get back on the high side for good.
CSUN (5-4, 1-1 BW)
Rita Nazario was instrumental in CSUN’s 66-55 win against San Jose State on Saturday, finishing with 20 points and a 5-for-8 effort from three in the win. The Matadors used a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
Cal State Bakersfield (4-7, 0-2 BW)
The Roadrunners saw a 21-point performance off the bench for sophomore Crishawn Coleman as Cal State Bakersfield earned a 72-51 road win at Seattle U. Coleman provided a spark in 29 minutes on the court, also adding six rebounds, three steals and a block in the contest.
Cal State Fullerton (5-5, 2-0 BW)
Winners of their last three, Cal State Fullerton was powered by four double-figure scoring outings to defeat Portland State 81-66 on Saturday. The Titans forced the Vikings into 26 turnovers in the game as Dylan Swindle finished with a team-high 15 points and Jana Falsdottir added 13 to go along with a game-best five steals.
UC San Diego (6-4, 1-0 BW)
The Tritons starters scored all but nine points in a 67-59 home victory over California Baptist on Monday with Erin Condron’s 15 coupled with a game-best 13 rebounds leading all players in both categories. The UCSD defense held the Lancers to just 12 percent shooting from distance (3-for-25) to help stymie their opponents.
Additional prime performers
• JaQuoia Jones-Brown led Long Beach State with 25 points and nine rebounds against Portland. The sophomore from Atlanta has scored in double figures in eight out of nine games for the Beach this season.
• Avery Sussex posted a first collegiate double-double for UC Davis as the Aggies dispatched DII Chico State, 74-42. Sussex contributed 10 points, 12 rebounds and a team-high six assists in the game.
• Hawai’i senior Imani Perez recorded eight points, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks in just 21 minutes on the court as the Rainbow Wahine picked up a 61-47 victory against Hawai’i Hilo on Thursday.
Non-Conference Notables
• UC Davis set a program attendance record in their home win against Idaho, with 5,567 fans on hand.
• Title winners! UC Irvine won the Great Alaska Shootout with victories over Bowling Green and St. Thomas Nov. 21-22, with Jada Wynn named most outstanding player. Hawai’i took home the crown at the Bank of Hawai’i Classic on Nov. 21-23 as Ritorya Tamilo earned MVP honors. UC Santa Barbara took home the hardware at the CBU Invitational with wins over the host Lancers and Chattanooga over Thanksgiving week.
Welcome to The Big West
New head coach at Cal State Fullerton John Bonner heads to the Titans after a Division II national runner-up season with Cal State Dominguez Hills. Bonner boasts the only two 30-win seasons in Toreros’ program history including a record 36 victories in 2024-25 and was twice named CCAA Coach of the Year.
GET TOUGH!
The Big West has announced the return of its Tough Like Tammy fundraising initiative for the 2025-26 women’s basketball season and the goal of securing a $50,000 grant from the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
The joint venture between Big West women’s basketball, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and Big West women’s basketball analyst Tammy Blackburn, has raised more than $25,000 in support life-saving research on all cancers affecting women since its inception in 2023. The effort in 2025-26 revolves around securing a $50,000 grant to assist women in underserved communities in southern California. Currently, the Tough Like Tammy program stands over 60% of the way towards reaching the goal and fans can donate today at BigWest.org/TLT. Learn more >>>
Additionally The Big West recently announced its nation-leading nine recipients of the Kay Yow Servant Leader Award, who will be sporting a jersey patch all season long for exemplifying leadership, selflessness and service in the fight against all cancers affecting women. Meet the servant leaders >>>
Hoops in Henderson
The Big West announced an enhanced agreement with Credit Union 1, the Official Credit Union, Bank and Financial Services Partner of The Big West, to become the title partner of the 2026 Big West Basketball Championships, March 11-14, 2026, at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nev. All-Session tickets are available now! Learn more >>>
Watch Us Work
Building on one of the most successful men’s and women’s seasons since the 1990’s, The Big West has announced that more than 350 men’s and women’s basketball games will be available nationally on the ESPN family of networks and Spectrum SportsNet during 2025-26 season. All Big West men’s and women’s basketball home games and all seven games of the Credit Union I 2026 Big West Women’s Basketball Championship will stream nationally on ESPN+. Additionally, The Big West will continue its regional partnership with Spectrum SportsNet for the fifth consecutive season. Five women’s contests are part of the 14-game Spectrum SportsNet package with Long Beach State, UC San Diego, Hawai’i, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly each slated to appear. Learn more >>>
2024-25 Season Rewind
The Big West is coming off a season of parity where four teams reached the 20-win mark: Hawai’i (22-10), UC Irvine (21-10), UC Davis (21-12) and UC San Diego (20-16). The Big West Championship was won by No. 4 seed UC San Diego, who bested third-seeded UC Davis in the finale from Henderson. Regular-season champion Hawai’i was nipped at the buzzer in the semifinals, dropping their game to the eventual champions.
Winning both The Big West men’s and women’s titles to earn NCAA qualification in their first year of eligibility, UC San Diego is the first school in NCAA Division I history to accomplish that feat.
Preseason Prognostications
In yet another vote with the slimmest of margins, Hawai’i has been selected to win the 2025-26 Big West women’s basketball crown in a vote of The Big West’s 11 head coaches. It is the fourth consecutive season that the Rainbow Wahine have landed atop the preseason voting.
Hawai’i received 91 total points and four first-place votes after last year’s regular-season championship. UC Irvine, picked to finish second in the polling in consecutive seasons, landed just one point shy of UH, compiling 90 points with four first-place votes. UC Davis and UC San Diego are slotted in third and fourth, also earning the top nods on the ballot in what looks to be a four-team race to the crown.
Five of the seven Preseason All-Big West Team selections play for the top quartet, with Hawai’i the only team to record a pair of picks. Typically a six-person team, ties in the voting warranted a seventh slot be awarded, also showcasing the projected parity in not only the team predictions but the expected individual play across The Big West.
Last season, UH finished the campaign with a 22-10 overall record and a 16-4 mark in Big West action. After falling in the semifinal round of the 2025 Big West Women’s Basketball Championship, presented by Credit Union 1 to eventual victors UC San Diego, the ’Bows saw themselves in the field of the NCAA’s WBIT for consecutive seasons and a fourth-straight national postseason. Two Rainbow Wahine find themselves on the Preseason All-Big West Team in lone returning senior Imani Perez and reigning Big West Freshman of the Year Ritorya Tamilo.
Skylar Burke (UC Santa Barbara), Erin Condron (UC San Diego), Shelley Duchemin (UC Riverside), Hunter Hernandez (UC Irvine) and Megan Norris (UC Davis) round out the Preseason Coaches Team. See the complete poll and read more about the team here >>>
|
|