Tipping Off
What 2 Watch 4
With non-conference play ushered out with the turn of the calendar to 2026, Big West teams resume league action on Jan. 1. League leaders UC Santa Barbara (10-1, 2-0 BW) and UC Irvine (11-2, 2-0 BW) are both hosting a pair to open the New Year.
Both the Anteaters (t-13th) and Gauchos (t-16th) are streaking into 2026 in the top 20 nationally. UCI brings a 10-game winning streak and 5-0 home record into the week with games against Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton on the docket. Meanwhile, the Gauchos host the Titans and CSUN to restart Big West action with a nine wins on the season and a 3-0 mark at the Thunderdome.
Along with UCI and UCSB, Hawai’i hosts a pair of foes in UC Riverside and UC San Diego. CSUN, Cal Poly, CSUB and UCSB each see a split week with Long Beach State with just one contest on the docket, on the road against the Mustangs.
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 holding firm to ninth in the listings with UC Irvine entering the Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 24. Preseason favorite Hawai’i continues to receive votes in the polling.
Four teams and six players find themselves in the top 10 of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball statistical rankings, in various categories. League-leading UC Santa Barbara earns distinction in three pointers, both quantity (10.3 per game - 4th) and accuracy (.391 - 4th) as well as being stingy on opponents, allowing just 22.2 percent of attempts from distance to connect to lead the country. UC Irvine is automatic from the line, with 18.31 free throws per game (4th) while shooting 82.6 percent from the stripe (2nd). Defensively, Cal State Fullerton is disrupting the flow by forcing 29.00 turnovers per game (1st) and compiling 17.3 steals per game (2nd) to create chaos for the Titans’ opponents.
Last Week, Today
The end of non-conference play saw a sparse schedule surrounding the holiday season. Some notable highlights from courts around the country included:
UC Irvine (11-2, 2-0 BW)
The Anteaters extended the winning streak to 10 after tallying a 93-72 road win over UTEP back on Dec. 18 to hand the Miners their first home loss of the season. Hunter Hernandez nabbed a third-straight Big West Player of the Week award with a career-high 36 points on an efficient 13-for-18 shooting night with four triples to go along with six rebounds. The 10th straight victory is a new program record after the wire-to-wire win. UCI has been idle for since the contest for the holiday break.
UC Santa Barbara (10-1, 2-0 BW)
The Big West leaders dispatched Eastern Washington 89-63 on Dec. 18 to cap their non-conference slate. The Gauchos saw four players reach double-figure scoring with Zoe Borter (24) and Olivia Bradley (20) each eclipsing the 20-point mark. Bradley and Skylar Burke both tallied double-doubles in the win.
Cal State Bakersfield (5-7, 0-2 BW)
The Roadrunners secured a third consecutive victory on Dec. 20, downing Eastern Washington 85-72. Senior Marley Langi scored a season-high 19 points with center Tena Ikidi going off for 15 points and a career-best 16 rebounds for CSUB. The 85 points scored is the most against a Division I opponent since the 2018-19 season.
Cal State Fullerton (6-6, 2-0 BW)
After a comeback bid by the Titans fell one points short at San Diego on Dec. 20, Cal State Fullerton rebounded with aplomb after Christmas, breaking a 34-year-old program scoring record in a 110-22 win against La Sierra on Dec. 28. Big West Player of the Week Cristina Jones led the way with 25 points, eight rebounds and five steals in just 17 minutes of game action. All 12 players to hit the floor finished the game with at least two points in the 88-point victory.
UC Riverside (3-9, 1-1 BW)
Hannah Wickstrom powered the Highlanders with a 30-point outing as UCR cruised to a 93-52 win over Division II UC Merced on Dec. 30. The victory comes after a string of three straight narrow losses by single digits, at San Diego and Utah and against Gonzaga. UCR opens the new year at Hawai’i on Jan. 1 in their lone game of the week.
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 >>>
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