Tipping Off
What 2 Watch 4
League-leading UC Irvine (13-2, 4-0) puts their 12-game winning streak and 7-0 home record on the line this week, first heading to Long Beach State for the Black-Blue Rivalry before returning home to take on Hawai’i on Saturday on Spectrum SportsNet.
UCI trails in its all-time series with Hawai’i, 39-15. The Rainbow Wahine have won four in a row after sweeping the ’Eaters last year. The ’Bows held UCI to under 50 points in each of their last four meetings, but this season could snap that trend as the preseason favorites are still seeking a first conference victory in their lone game of the week.
Fellow current league unbeaten UC Davis (10-4, 3-0 BW) hosts a pair of Central Coast foes, taking on UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. UC San Diego (8-5, 3-0 BW) is also splitting the week’s locations, playing against Cal State Fullerton’s disruptive defense before returning home to LionTree Arena against UC Riverside.
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 slipping to 12th and UC Irvine jumping up 10 spots to 14th. UC Davis is receiving 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. UC Santa Barbara earns distinction in three pointers, both quantity (10.0 per game - 5th) and accuracy (.395 - 4th) as well as being stingy on opponents, allowing just 22.4 percent of attempts from distance to connect to rank second nationally. UC Irvine is automatic from the line, with 19.13 free throws per game while shooting 82.0 percent from the stripe, both second in NCAA Division I. Defensively, Cal State Fullerton is disrupting the flow by forcing 28.43 turnovers per game (1st) and compiling 16.8 steals per game (2nd) to create chaos for the Titans’ opponents.
Last Week, Today
Teams across The Big West opened 2026 with gusto, with some notable highlights from courts around the conference, including:
UC Irvine (13-2, 4-0 BW)
The Anteaters extended the program record winning streak to 12 after wins against Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton to ring in the New Year. Hunter Hernandez continues to pace the team with a pair of 20-point performances, averaging 26.5 points on 46 percent shooting, 9.5 rebounds 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game. UCI’s string of 12 consecutive is good for sixth nationally, and the Anteaters have never trailed at or after the half in all 13 of their victories.
UC Davis (10-4, 3-0 BW)
The Aggies remain unbeaten in conference play after claiming road wins against CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield. Senior Nya Epps stood out over the weekend, exploding for a career-high 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with eight rebounds against the Roadrunners in Saturday’s 10-point win.
UC San Diego (8-5, 3-0 BW)
The Tritons continued their undefeated start to league play with a home win against Cal Poly followed by a victorious effort on O’ahu to keep preseason favorite Hawai’i out of the Big West win column. UCSD redshirt junior Rosa Smith paced the team with averages of 17.5 points, 6.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game, highlighted by a 21-point performance with a season-best eight assists against the Mustangs.
UC Riverside (4-9, 2-1 BW)
First time Big West Player of the Week Hannah Wickstrom set a career high with 36 points and an 11-for-11 outing at the line in a New Year’s Day showdown at Hawai’i. Wickstrom, a product of Melbourne, Australia, currently leads The Big West and is 14th in NCAA Division I with 20.8 points per game to go along with 3.00 steals per game (31st nationally). For the week of Dec. 29-Jan. 4, Wickstrom’s 33.0 points per game average against UH and UC Merced stood in second in the country, only trailing Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes.
Cal State Fullerton (7-7, 3-1 BW)
The Titans split the week against previously Big West unbeatens, taking down UC Santa Barbara 62-61 at the Thunderdome on Jan. 1. Cristina Jones went up for the offensive rebounds and putback for the game-winner with just one second to play. The Gauchos suffered their first home loss of the year and snapped a nine-game winning streak.
UC Santa Barbara (11-2, 3-1 BW)
After suffering their first home loss at the hands of Cal State Fullerton on New Year’s Day, UC Santa Barbara rebounded against CSUN to claim the 88-70 victory. Redshirt sophomore Olivia Bradley provided 18 points on 60 percent shooting. All five starters surpassed double-figure scoring in the game with NCAA three-point percentage leader Jessica Grant going 4-for-5 from distance.
Cal Poly (3-11, 1-3 BW)
The Mustangs split the opening weekend of 2026, falling at UC San Diego before taking down Long Beach State at home to garner their first league win of the season. Vanessa McManus averaged 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists on the week, with 15 and seven coming in the 63-49 win against the Beach.
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.
• 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 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.
Preseason Prognostications
In yet another vote with the slimmest of margins, Hawai’i was 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.
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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