Tipping Off
What 2 Watch 4
League-leading UC Irvine (16-2, 7-0 BW) has looks to extend a 15-game winning streak with a pair of games on the home floor against UC Riverside (6-11, 3-4 BW) and fellow conference unbeated UC San Diego (12-5, 7-0 BW) this week to highlight the week.
Also on the docket are a pair of contests on Spectrum SportsNet, both featuring UC Santa Barbara (13-3, 5-2 BW) who are knotted in a tie for third in The Big West standings. First the Gauchos head to Cal Poly for a Thursday night affair before returning home to host Long Beach State in a Saturday matinee.
UC Davis (12-6, 5-2 BW), tied for third in The Big West standings, opens the week with a home date against the Tritons before heading to the Inland Empire to tussle with the Highlanders on Saturday.
Every Big West home contest appears on ESPN+ throughout the season. Check listings for specific game information.
Let's Go Streaking
UC Irvine is holding on to the third longest winning streak in the country at 15 games, only trailing UConn and Vanderbilt. The Anteaters are a perfect 9-0 in home games thus far on the season with their last blemish coming on Nov. 12 at Idaho State.
The Big West in the Rankings
Two Big West schools are listed in the latest College Insider Women’s Basketball Mid-Major Top 25 poll, with UC Irvine jumping up to 12th followed immediately by UC Santa Barbara at 13th.
Four teams and five players find themselves in the top 10 of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball statistical rankings, in various categories. Notably:
• UC Irvine - fourth in free throw percentage (80.8), eighth in field goal percentage defense (34.0)
• Cal State Fullerton - first in turnovers forced per game (28.11) and second in steals per game (16.8); Titan Cristina Jones rates fourth individually in steals per game (4.00)
• Hawai'i - sixth in blocks per game (6.2)
• UC Davis' Megan Norris has recorded 11 double-doubles (7th), while collecting 11.6 rebounds per game (7th) and 9.6 defensive boards a contest (2nd)
• UC Santa Barbara's Jessica Grant swishes attempts from distance at a rate of 48.2 percent (2nd)
Non-Conference Notables
• UC Davis set a program attendance record in their home win against Idaho, with 5,567 fans on hand.
• Cal State Fullerton broke a 34-year-old program scoring record on Dec. 28, downing La Sierra 110-22 to best the previous high point tally (108) set on March 7 1991.
• Cal State Bakersfield’s 85 points scored in a win over Eastern Washington on Dec. 20 stands as the most points against a Division I opponent since the 2018-19 season.
• 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 65% 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 2026 Credit Union I 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.
Celebrating Officials' Appreciation Week
As part of the celebration of Officials' Appreciation Week, Big West Women’s Basketball Coordinator of Officials Violet Palmer sat down with Chloe Clark to reflect on a remarkable career, to date. Palmer shared some of the steps in the journey from Compton to Cal Poly Pomona as a Division II national champion. Trading playing shoes and layup lines for the Broncos for the whistle and running the baselines on professional courts around the country, Palmer reached the pinnacle of the profession and is now training others to follow in those footsteps. Read more >>>
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