What 2 Watch 4
A shake up in the standings sees UC San Diego (15-6, 10-1 BW) leading the way with the opportunity to punch their ticket to Henderson this week. The Tritons start the week on the road at Long Beach State before a home date with Hawai’i as the Rainbow Wahine find themselves on a six-game winning streak. The UCSD/UH contest will be a matchup between the 2025 regular-season and postseason champions. The first meeting in the regular season went to the Tritons, 65-54 back on Jan. 3.
Second in the standings belongs to UC Davis (16-6, 9-2 BW) with the Aggies traveling down the Central Coast to meet up with UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.
Another matchup to watch on this week’s docket comes on Saturday as UC Santa Barbara (15-5, 7-4 BW) heads to UC Irvine (17-4, 8-2 BW). The Anteaters are looking to halt a two-game slide that followed a 16-game winning streak while the Gauchos look to rebound after two narrow losses by a combined five points last week.
Every Big West home contest appears on ESPN+ throughout the season. Check listings for specific game information.
The Big West in the Rankings
Five Big West schools are listed in the latest College Insider Women’s Basketball Mid-Major Top 25 poll, with UC Irvine occupying 20th and UC San Diego sliding into the Top 25 for the first time this season at 25th. UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis and Hawai’i are all receiving votes in the listings.
Last Week, Today
Seven squads recorded at least one victory last week with three - Hawai’i, UC Davis and UC San Diego - notching a pair. Some notable highlights include:
UC San Diego (15-6, 10-1 BW)
The Tritons bumped up to the top line in the standings with big wins at UC Santa Barbara and against CSUN. Makayla Rose played a pivotal part including a game-winning basket and converted three-point play with 6.5 seconds remaining in the 52-49 win against the Gauchos. Saturday, last season’s Best Defensive Player swiped eight steals against the Matadors to set the Triton’s single-game record and notch a new career high. Rose averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 2.5 assists on the week.
Hawai’i (13-9, 6-5 BW)
After a quiet beginning, the preseason favorite Rainbow Wahine extended the streak to six games after downing UC Irvine and Long Beach State on O’ahu. Freshman Keiara Curtis continued the dynamic play with 11 points including three key triples in the five-point victory over the Anteaters while adding 10 in the balanced scoring effort against the Beach.
UC Davis (16-6, 9-2 BW)
The Aggies secured their 11th consecutive winning season with home wins over CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield. Nya Epps exploded for 27 points on 50 percent shooting (12-of-24) in Thursday’s win over the Matadors to pace the team’s offensive efforts for the week. Nearly automatic to provide a double-double, Megan Norris added two more to the tally to rise to 15 on the season which ranks fourth in NCAA Division I.
Cal State Fullerton (12-9, 8-3 BW)
Playing one game on the week, the Titans use a strong second half to claim a 62-60 win against UC Santa Barbara. Cal State Fullerton trailed by as many as eight in the fourth quarter after a three for Olivia Bradley with 6:14 remaining. The home team closed the contest on a 10-3 run in the final three minutes of game action and a Cristina Jones jumper with one second remaining off the assist from Kya Pearson sealed the win. Pearson posted a career-high 19 points in the win.
UC Riverside (7-14, 5-6 BW)
The Highlanders split the week, falling by three points at Long Beach State before securing the road win at Cal Poly. The Big West’s leading scorer Hannah Wickstrom powered UCR in both games, averaging 26.0 points and 7.0 rebounds to go along with 4.5 assists and 4.5 steals per game. Wickstrom’s 22.7 points per game average on the season ranks seventh in the country.
Long Beach State (3-18, 2-9 BW)
The Beach saw Big West Player of the Week JaQuoia Jones-Brown average 23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in a split weekend, highlighted by a season-high 29 points in a 75–72 win over UC Riverside. Jones Brown was 10-of-19 from the field, a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range and 6-for-6 at the free throw line while adding six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. LBSU held UCR scoreless for the final four minutes of the game to secure the comeback victory.
Cal State Bakersfield (7-14, 2-9 BW)
The Roadrunners picked up a 62-58 road win at Cal Poly behind a game-high 23 points from sophomore Chrishawn Coleman. Cal State Bakersfield was able to capitalize on 27 Mustang turnovers, converting them to 26 points in the win.
Let's Go Streaking
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.
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. 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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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 65% of the way towards reaching the goal, with $17,621 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. |