Big West Bites
Historic Tritons
Coupled with the UC San Diego men’s basketball team, the Tritons are the first school to ever qualify for the NCAA Tournament in their first year of eligibility in both men’s and women’s tournaments.
Bracket Mainstay
A VanDerveer has coached in the NCAA Tournament for the last 28 seasons, dating back to 1996-97. Tara and Heidi have combined for 39 appearances at three institutions.
Betts on It
Should UC San Diego advance to the First Round, UCLA standout Lauren Betts began career playing for Heidi’s sister Tara at Stanford before transferring to the Bruins.
Ramadan Buckets
UC San Diego standout and Big West Championship MVP Sumayah Sugapong is observing Ramadan this month. The sophomore posted averages of 19.0 points on .404 shooting, 2.00 assists and 2.67 steals per game in three contests at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nev.
The Ninth Island
Widely known as the Ninth Island due to its Native Hawaiian population and allure, the UH women are 7-3 in The Big West postseason championship since 2021’s event began a string of five straight held in the Las Vegas valley. Hawai’i won the title in both the 2022 and ’23 iterations in Henderson’s Lee’s Family Forum.
Four Straight for Rainbow Wahine
UH is make its its fourth straight postseason tournament appearance and ninth under back-to-back Big West Coach of the Year Laura Beeman. The regular-season Rainbow Wahine are in the field of the WBIT in consecutive seasons after facing off with California in the 2024 edition.
UC San Diego
2025 Big West Championship victor UC San Diego was selected as a 16th seed in the NCAA Tournament, set for a First Four game against Southern on Wednesday. The winner earnis the right to take on overall No. 1 national seed UCLA in the First Round from Pauley Pavilion.
How Did We Get Here?
Meeting up with eighth-seeded Cal Poly in the second round of the bracket, UC San Diego downed the Mustangs in comeback fashion with a 22-14 fourth-quarter rally to win 59-54. Sumayah Sugapong led the way with 29 points and six steals including the go-ahead bucket with 1:07 on the clock to give the Tritons their first lead on the day.
Tussling with regular-season champion Hawai’i in the semifinals, UCSD got off to a scorching start and held a 41-18 advantage at halftime. The Rainbow Wahine clawed all the way back from a 27-point deficit to tie the game with 1:20 to play, but a steal by Gracie Gallegos with 10 seconds remaining gave the ball back to UCSD to set up a final play. Out of the timeout, Sugapong drove the lane and layed it in for the 51-49 win.
In the Championship final, the Tritons came out fast to claim a wire-to-wire victory over No. 3 seed UC Davis, setting up consecutive runner-up finishes for the Aggies. All-Tournament Team member Gallegos paced the team with 24 points on 50 percent shooting and a 12-of-14 effort from the line to go along with seven rebounds. Sabrina Ma added 15 as four UCSD players finished with double-digit scoring outputs.
Trends:
Won three straight, four of last and eight of last 10
Leads The Big West in team steals (11.34) and turnover margin (+5.31)
Notables:
First season of DI postseason eligibility; coached by Heidi VanDerveer, associate head coach is Vanessa Nygaard. A VanDerveer has coached in the NCAA Tournament for the last 28 seasons, dating back to 1996-97. Tara and Heidi have combined for 39 appearances at three institutions.
In their first year of postseason eligibility after a four-year reclassification period from NCAA Division II, UC San Diego’s name will grace the Division I brackets for the first time. A successful program during their DII California Collegiate Athletic Association membership, the Tritons won three CCAA tournaments and eight regular-season crowns.
Team Leaders & Award Winners:
Sumayah Sugapong (So., G)
2025 Big West Tournament MVP & All-Tournament Team • All-Big West First Team selection • averages 14.71 points (3rd in Big West), 2.51 steals (1st in Big West), 4.2 rebounds and 3.62 assists (2nd in Big West)
Sabrina Ma (Jr., G)
Big West Newcomer of the Year • Honorable mention All-Big West • averages 9.9 points with 2.09 three-pointers per game on .351 shooting from distance along with 1.88 steals per game. Spent two seasons at San Jose State before joining the UCSD program.
Gracie Gallegos (R-So., G)
2025 Big West All-Tournament Team • Honorable mention All-Big West • provides 9.1 points per game on .392 shooting with 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals a game. One of three Tritons with 20 blocks on the season.
Parker Montgomery (Gr., G)
2025 Big West All-Tournament Team • averages 7.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.42 threes per game on .329 shooting from distance and 2.00 steals per game (2nd in Big West)
Hawai'i
After a departure in the semifinal round, 2024-25 regular-season champion Hawai'i earned entry into the field of the Women's Basketball Invitationl Tournament. In its second season as a NCAA-sponsored postseason women's basketball event, Hawai'i has been in the field of both brackets. The Rainbow Wahine face off with UNLV at the Cox Pavilion in their first round contest.
How Did We Get Here?
After securing The Big West regular-season title for the sixth time in program history, and third time in the last four seasons (1993, ’94, ’15, ’22, ’24, ’25), Hawai’i earned a double-bye in the Championship brackets and could not overcome a frosty start against fourth-seeded UC San Diego.
The Rainbow Wahine saw themselves down by as many os 27 points with 1:58 to play in the first half after a pair of free throws for the Tritons. Closing the half with a three-pointer from the hand of MeiLani McBee, UH staged what would have been the largest comeback in Big West women’s basketball history.
Hawai’i’s stout defense clamped down to hold UCSD to just 10 second-half points, while the offense came alive with 31. UH went on a 20-2 run that spanned nearly the entirety of the fourth quarter, including three straight triples by the upperclassmen tandem of Lily Wahinekapu, Brooklyn Rewers. Rewers knotted the game at 49-all with 1:20 to play before Sumayah Sugapong’s last-second heroics sent the top seed home.
Trends:
Won 14 consecutive from Jan. 4 to Feb. 22, before going 2-3 in their final five, including the semifinal exit in The Big West Championship.
The defensive-minded ’Bows lead The Big West in scoring defense (52.81), field goal percentage defense (.333) and blocked shots (4.42).
Notables:
On Dec. 16, the Rainbow Wahine routed Arkansas-Pine Bluff 56-15. The 15 points was the least amount UH has ever allowed against a Division I opponent, obliterating the previous mark of 31 by UTEP on Jan. 7, 1999. The last time the ‘Bows won by such wide a margin was nearly 24 years ago, when UH defeated Detroit, 97-53, on Dec. 18, 2000.
The 19-point comeback after being down 26-7 to UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 8 is believed to be the second largest deficit erased in The Big West only trailing Long Beach State’s 23-point comeback against Harvard on Dec. 7, 2013.
Team Leaders & Award Winners:
Lily Wahinekapu (Sr., G)
2025 Big West Player of the Year • All-Big West First Team selection • 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year (at Cal State Fullerton) • the Native Hawaiian averages team-bests of 11.17 points, 2.57 assists, along with 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game
Imani Perez (Jr., F)
All-Big West second team selection • Big West All-Defensive Team • averages 7.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 blocks per game
Ritorya Tamilo (F., C)
2025 Big West Freshman of the Year • Big West All-Freshman Team selection • totalled 39 blocks to set a UH freshman record while averaging 1.30 blocks per game (5th in Big West) along with 7.4 points on .485 shooting and a team-best 5.1 rebounds
Laura Beeman
2025 Big West Coach of the Year • fourth Big West career coaching honor and third in the last four seasons (2015, ’22, ’24, ’25) |
|
The Big West has announced the return of its Tough Like Tammy fundraising initiative for the 2024-25 women’s basketball season. The program is a joint venture between Big West women’s basketball, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and Big West women’s basketball analyst Tammy Blackburn designed to support life-saving research on all cancers affecting women.
A year ago, the program more than doubled its goal of raising $5,000, with all 11 women’s basketball programs participating to contribute $10,236 to the cause. The goal in 2024-25 is to raise $15,000 through donations or pledges for each offensive rebound secured during the final month of the Big West women’s basketball season.
To date, the campaign has raised $15,300 thus far this season. Fans can donate today at BigWest.org/TLT.
“There is no greater example of courage, toughness and grace than my friend Tammy Blackburn,” Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly noted. “We thank the many fans, coaches and friends who supported Tough Like Tammy a year ago, but we know the battle is not yet won against cancer. The Big West and all 11 of our member institutions are united in our support of Tammy and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, and in the belief that together we will make a difference.”
|