What 2 Watch 4
The top of the standings has seen some separation with four teams reaching double-digit Big West win tallies last week. Two games on this week’s slate feature a pair of high performers with league-leading UC San Diego (17-6, 12-1 BW) traveling to UC Davis (17-7, 10-3 BW) on Thursday. The Tritons are looking to split the season series, as the Aggies pulled off the 66-62 comeback in La Jolla on Jan. 22. The game is also a rematch of the 2025 Big West Championship final.
Also highlighting the schedule is Saturday’s game as second-place UC Irvine (19-4, 10-2 BW) heads to Cal State Fullerton (14-9, 10-3 BW) as the Titans are in the midst of one of their most successful seasons in decades and riding a six-game winning streak including a pair of extra-period victories last week. UCI is looking to sweep the season series after a 13-point win at the Bren back on Jan. 3 during the Anteaters’ impressive 16-game string of wins.
Finally, UC Davis plays at Long Beach State as the hosts celebrate their Play 4 Kay game on Valentine’s Day.
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 Irvine occupying 19th and UC San Diego remaining in 25th for a second straight week. UC Santa Barbara is also receiving votes in the listings.
Hoopin’ in Henderson - Bracket Watch
Defending champion UC San Diego became the first squad - men’s or women’s - to clinch a postseason berth last week. UC Irvine, UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton have opportunities to join the party on Thursday, with UC Santa Barbara also knocking on the door this week with a chance to secure their spot in the field, depending on results.
Last Week, Today
Six squads recorded at least one victory last week with four - Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, UC Irvine and UC San Diego - notching a pair. Some notable highlights include:
UC San Diego (17-6, 12-1 BW)
The Tritons secured a spot in the 2026 Credit Union 1 Big West Women’s Basketball Championship with a pair of wins at Long Beach State and against Hawai’i, powered by the play of Big West Player of the Week Erin Condron. The junior forward/center finished with a UCSD Division I program record 32 points with 13 rebounds against the Beach. Condron also set the Titans’ new D1 benchmark with a 14-of-16 outing from the line in the 64-53 win.
UC Irvine (19-4, 10-2 BW)
The Anteaters are coming off a 2-0 week with a pair of 20+ point wins against Cal State Bakersfield and UC Santa Barbara. Senior Hunter Hernandez averaged 12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists with 15 points and 10 boards against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. UCI has now reached double digits in the Big West win column for the sixth year in a row.
Cal State Fullerton (14-9, 10-3 BW)
The Titans got consecutive overtime road wins to reach the 10-win mark in Big West action, first using the extra period at UC Riverside for an 87-78 win. Then, it took two on Saturday to finish off Cal State Bakersfield. Sophomore Cristina Jones led the way in both contests, racking up averages of 29.5 points, 19.5 rebounds, 5.5 steals and 1.5 assists. Saturday’s win over the Roadrunners produced one of the best stat lines in program history, with 35 points and 20 rebounds. It was just the fifth 20/20 game in Titans history and the first since 2000.
CSUN (8-14, 4-9 BW)
CSUN sophomore Jite Gbemuotor was instrumental in a two-win week, with back-to-back double-doubles and averages of 14.0 points and 14.5 rebounds to go along with 2.5 blocks and 2.0 steals per game. On Thursday, the Matadors erased an 18-point deficit before going on to beat Cal Poly by 15 as Gbemuotor finished with 15 points and 16 boards. In Saturday’s narrow in at UC Riverside, the Nigerian native added 13 and 13, shooting 50 percent from the floor in consecutive outings.
UC Davis (17-7, 10-3 BW)
The Aggies split the weekend on the Central Coast with a close loss at UC Santa Barbara followed by an even closer four-point win at Cal Poly. Sophomore Ryann Bennett posted a fifth 20-point game of the season against the Mustangs, shooting 50 percent from the field with four assists for the Aggies.
UC Santa Barbara (16-6, 8-5 BW)
Sophomore Zoe Shaw produced a career performance in Thursday’s 69-61 win over UC Davis, finishing the day with 29 points with seven triples (7-of-13) on 56 percent shooting from the field. The Gauchos split the week, dropping their contest at UC Irvine on Saturday.
League Look-Around - 2025-26 Moments & Milestones
• UC Irvine set a school record with a 16-game winning streak that spanned over two months of competition before a narrow loss against UC San Diego on Jan. 24 to stop the string and hand the Anteaters their first home loss of the season.
• Cal State Fullerton surpassed the 10-win league mark for the first time since the 1990-91 season when the team went 14-4 in conference play and 25-8 overall. The Titans are guaranteed at least a .500 mark in Big West play for just the third time in the last two decades (2006-07, ’19-20).
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.
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. The top eight teams will converge in the four-day event to vie for the league’s automatic berth into the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Single- and All-Session tickets to see The Big West in the Las Vegas Valley are available now! BigWest.org/26bkbtix.
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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GET TOUGH!
Continuing the annual fundraising initiative in The Big West, 2025-26’s Tough Like Tammy campaign has a goal of securing a $50,000 grant from the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to assist women in underserved communities in southern California..
Currently, the joint venture between Big West women’s basketball, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and Big West women’s basketball analyst Tammy Blackburn stands over 73% of the way towards reaching the goal, with $18,376 raised of $25,000.
Throughout the month of February teams will “Play for Kay” as part of National Breast Cancer Prevention Month.
Those games are:
Saturday Feb. 7
UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine
Cal State Fullerton at Cal State Bakersfield
Hawai’i at UC San Diego
CSUN at UC Riverside
Saturday, Feb. 14
UC Davis at Long Beach State
Thursday Feb. 19
Hawai’i at Cal Poly
Cal State Fullerton at UC Davis
Saturday, Feb. 21
Hawai’i at UC Santa Barbara
Cal State Bakersfield at Cal State Fullerton
Thursday, Feb 26
UC Davis at Hawai’i
Saturday, Feb. 28
UC Riverside at CSUN
Fans can donate today at BigWest.org/TLT. |