Tipping Off
What 2 Watch 4
Six Big West squads at or above .500 through the first month of non-conference play, with UC Santa Barbara (6-1), UC Davis (6-2) and UC Irvine (6-2) leading the way. The Gauchos and Anteaters have won their last five contests.
Continuing a bold scheduling strategy into the 2025-26 season, The Big West will open its 11-week true round robin basketball slate with Bold Week, taking place Dec. 4-6, 2025.
Both men’s and women’s basketball will tip-off conference action the first week of December, providing access to games before the holiday season to improve both the fan and student-athlete experience while adding early season intrigue and ensuring conference weeks feature a consistent Thursday/Saturday schedule format.
Eight programs play at least one conference home game this week, with Cal State Bakersfield and UC Riverside both hosting a pair.
The Big West’s 14-game package on Spectrum SportsNet tips off on Saturday at Long Beach State heads to the home of defending Champion UC San Diego for a 1 p.m. tip from LionTree Arena.
Along with league action, UC Davis, who has just one game on the Bold Week schedule, travels to WCC foe Gonzaga on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Every Big West home contest appears on ESPN+ throughout the season. Check listings for specific game information.
Last Week, Today
• Big West Player of the Week Megan Norris capped off a three-win week for UC Davis with a pair of double-double performances in the Tiger Turkey Tipoff in Stockton, Calif. The redshirt senior center averaged 14.0 points, 11.67 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game as the Aggies also took the overtime win in the Causeway Classic downing Sacramento State 70-67.
• UC Irvine’s Hunter Hernandez paced the Anteaters with 20 points (13-16 FT), seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a 58-52 win over Wichita State to highlight a two-win home weekend. In the 36-point win over Colgate to stretch the Anteaters’ streak to five wins, Hernandez was an efficient 5-for-8 from the field to put up 14 points in 25 minutes.
• Zoe Borter of UC Santa Barbara helped the squad to the title at the CBU Classic, averaging 17.0 points per game while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and connecting on 4-of-7 three-point attempts. Borter and teammate Maddie Naro were named to the All-Tournament Team and Olivia Bradley turned in a game-winning buzzer-beater performance in a 66-64 win over Chattanooga.
• UC San Diego’s Erin Condron averaged a double-double of 16.3 points and 11.7 rebounds per game as the Tritons recorded wins against Occidental and Portland State while dropping their contest at No. 22 Washington.
• UC Riverside sophomore Hannah Wickstrom dropped 30 points with 14 rebounds and seven steals against Cal Lutheran. In the third quarter of the contest Wickstrom single-handedly outscored Cal Lutheran, 13-12
• CSUN’s Rita Nazario scored a team-best 19 points on 60 percent shooting including a 5-of-9 effort from distance in just 16 minutes of game action in the Matadors’ victory over Life Pacific.
• Hawai’i freshman Bailey Flavell was named to the American Savings Bank Rainbow Wahine Showdown All-Tournament team after averaging a team-best 15.0 points including a career-best 20 against Lindenwood. The Rainbow Wahine dropped all three games in the event.
Additional 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.
The Big West in the Rankings
Four Big West schools are listed in the latest College Insider Women’s Basketball Mid-Major Top 25 poll, with UC Santa Barbara entering the poll at No. 15. Hawai’i, UC Davis and UC Irvine are all receiving votes in the polling.
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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