A Sneak Peek Into The 2009-10 Women's Basketball Season

Files associated with this release:
2009-10 Big West WBB Prospectus.pdf

The 2008-09 Big West Freshman of the Year, Lauren Juric, is one of five starters returning for the UC Davis Aggies.

The 2009-10 Big West women's basketball prospectus, which highlights the upcoming season, as well as recapping the 2008-09 season, is now available.

Cal Poly

• Cal Poly’s 2008-09 campaign ranks as the finest effort during the program’s 35-year history. Cal Poly established a new program record with a .656 winning percentage while the 21 victories accumulated matched the 1981-82 Mustang squad for the highest single-season victory total in program history. Cal Poly’s 11 losses ranked as the second-lowest amount in program history while the Mustangs finished the year 10 games above a .500 winning percentage for the first time. The Mustangs, who finished third in the conference standings for just the second time in program history, also set new Big West program records for victories (11), fewest losses (5) and overall winning percentage (.688).

• The Mustangs look to fill the void of Megan Harrison in 2009-10. Harrison, arguably the most notable Mustang during Cal Poly’s 15-year Division I tenure, departed the program ranked second all-time for total points (1,454) and points per game (12.3) and third with 684 rebounds. She became just the second three-time All-Big West selection in program history. Junior Kristina Santiago is primed to take over the lead role as she is the top Cal Poly stat returner in almost every category, including scoring (15.2 ppg), rebounds (5.3) and minutes played (25.8). For her efforts last season, Santiago received All-Big West First Team accolades after collected all-freshman honors in 2007-08. In all, Cal Poly welcomes back 12 letterwinners and three starters to its roster.

Cal State Fullerton

• Former associate head coach Marcia Foster at Cal State Fullerton was promoted to head coach after Dr. Maryalyce Jeremiah relinquished her head coaching duties at the end of last season. Foster begins her seventh year with the Titans' women's basketball program. Her previous coaching duties include one year as head coach at Cal Tech and six years as an assistant at Cal Poly.

• The 2009-10 Cal State Fullerton roster showcases nine letterwinners and three starters. Unfortunately the Titans will be without Toni Thomas, one of the most prolific players to ever don a Fullerton uniform, scoring 1,786 points and grabbing 897 rebounds to rank second all-time in school history on both lists. Her impressive career point total placed her eighth all-time in the Big West record books.

• The Cal State Fullerton Titans open the 2009-10 season playing their first six contests on the road, which includes a three-day Thanksgiving tournament at the University of Oregon. Following their season-opening road stretch, the Titans play six of the next eight contests in the familiar confines of Titan Gym. In all, Cal State Fullerton welcomes 13 opponents to its Orange County home.

Cal State Northridge

• Having posted an 8-23 overall record, the Cal State Northridge women's basketball team successfully navigated one of the nation's best turnarounds during the 2008-09 season. The Matadors earned both a berth and victory in the Big West Tournament.

• Cal State Northridge returns several top players for the 2009-10 season, including Jasmine Erving, Katrina Thompson and Analee Viena-Lota. Erving finished second on the team with an 8.9 points per game average and enters the new season as the top returner in scoring, free throw percentage and blocks. Thompson will also make her presence felt on the court this year as she paces the roster in rebounds (6.1 rpg), assists (1.5 apg) and steals (2.0 spg).

• The Cal State Northridge women's basketball team has added two transfers for the 2009-10 season in Brittany Lloyd and Shannon Austin. The pair joins Amanda Thomson, Violet Alama, Jonelle Nomura and Felicia Walker as newcomers to the Matadors. The six newcomers join eight returning letterwinners, two of which were staters last season.

Long Beach State

• Jody Wynn, who spent the last five seasons as the senior assistant, recruiting coordinator and head of scouting at USC, was named the sixth head coach in Long Beach State women's basketball history over the spring. Wynn comes to The Beach with 13 years of collegiate coaching experience under her belt. While at USC, she was in charge of bringing in four nationally-ranked recruiting classes, including the No. 1-ranked group in 2006. On the court, Wynn coached seven All-Pac 10 performers, a conference freshman of the year and a WNBA draft pick.

• Long Beach State, who welcomes back four starters and 11 letterwinners, showcases a senior-laden roster for the upcoming season. The 49ers will pair eight seniors with three juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen on their 2009-10 roster. Leading the way will be senior and three-time All-Big West Conference selection Karina Figueroa, who redshirted last season. Figueroa has averaged 13.5 points per game over her career at LBSU. Joining Figueroa will be Whitney Fields, who led LBSU in scoring (12.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg) in 2008-09. Lauren Sims and Adelle Walton also return to LBSU after earning Big West Honorable Mention and all-freshman team honors, respectively.

• Figueroa enters her final season as a 49er with 984 career points. Once she drains her 16th point this season, Figueroa will become the 101st Big West player to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

UC Davis

• Following a season in which UC Davis featured a roster filled with young players, including seven freshmen, the Aggies have one of the most veteran teams in the league this year. UC Davis welcomes back 12 letterwinners and five starters. Leading the way are Paige Mintun, Lauren Juric and Kasey Riecks. Mintun, an All-Big West First Team member, led the Aggies in both scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg) in 2008-09. Juric is coming off a stellar season during which she was named Big West Freshman of the Year and collected All-Big West Honorable Mention accolades. She is also the top returner in three-point percentage (.407). Like her fellow teammates, Riecks also received All-Big West honors with an honorable mention and all-freshman team selection last year.

• UC Davis plays a majority of its contests in the familiar confines of The Pavilion. The home portion of its schedule begins with a four-game homestand from Nov. 17-Dec. 1. During that span, the Aggies will face San Francisco, Stanford, Creighton and St. Mary's. They continue with three more nonconference games in December before opening conference play in January.

UC Irvine

• UC Irvine returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last season's team that tied for seventh in the Big West Conference. Among the mix are the top two scorers from the 2008-09 season - All-Big West Honorable Mention selection Rebecca Maessen and Mary Has. Maessen averaged a team-high 12.7 points per contest to place seventh in the Big West Conference. The Netherlands native also ranked in the league's top 10 in three-point field goal percentage, three-pointers made and offensive rebounds. Has, who missed part of the season due to an injury, tallied a 12.1 points per game average in her 16 contests.

• The Anteaters will be spending a majority of their time at home this season as they are scheduled to play 16 of their 29 games at the Bren Center. UC Irvine kicks off the season hosting San Diego State on Nov. 13 and closes out the year with a pair of home conference games against UC Santa Barbara (3/4) and Cal Poly (3/6).

• Four newcomers have been added to the lineup this year: three freshmen and one transfer from Loyola Marymount. Two of the four newcomers stand six-feet or taller, giving UC Irvine some much needed height after losing three players in the offseason. Sophomore transfer Mikah Maly-Karros measures in at 6-1 and freshman Lauren Spinazze is 6-0. A third newcomer, Cheyenne Cathey, just misses the six-foot threshold with a height of 5-11.

UC Riverside

• The UC Riverside women's basketball team begins its sixth season under the helm of head coach John Margaritis. During his time at UCR, Margaritis has guided the Highlanders to two Big West Tournament championships, one Big West regular season title and three postseason appearances (2 NCAA, 1 WNIT).

• The upcoming 2009-10 season looks to be a rebuilding year for the UC Riverside program with only three letterwinners returning to the roster. All five starters last season graduated so the Highlanders will be showcasing a lineup filled with fresh faces this season. Losing a majority of the team in the offseason forced UC Riverside to recruit an array of new talent and the Highlanders did so by adding seven freshmen and four junior/senior transfers to their roster.

• In 2008-09, UC Riverside posted a 14-2 record in Big West play and an overall mark of 19-12. The Highlanders found a hot streak late in the season when they registered a school-best 13-game win streak. The streak was bookended by their only conference losses of the season, both to conference champion UC Santa Barbara. Another notable accomplishment last season: the Highlanders opened the home portion of their schedule with a 50-47 upset win over No. 16 Vanderbilt, marking the first time in UCR's eight-year Division I history that they defeated a ranked opponent. A rematch between the Highlanders and Commodores is set for Nov. 20, 2009, in Nashville, Tenn.

UC Santa Barbara

• The defending Big West Conference regular season and tournament champion UC Santa Barbara returns just one starter and eight letterwinners to the 2009-10 roster. Second-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb will have the challenge of constructing a new lineup to help the Gauchos maintain their rich tradition and claim their third straight regular season and tournament title.

• Last season the Gauchos collected their 14th league title with a 15-1 Big West mark. UC Santa Barbara's lone conference loss was to the Pacific Tigers on February 19 (59-50). A 22-10 overall record gave UC Santa Barbara back-to-back 20-plus win seasons.

• Since the 1995-96 season, UC Santa Barbara has posted a 205-19 (.915) record against league foes.

• With last year's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, the Gauchos extended their postseason streak to 14 (11 NCAA, 3 WNIT).

Pacific

• The Pacific Tigers will play half of their women's basketball games in the familiar confines of the Alex G. Spanos Center where they were 12-2 a season ago. The home portion of their schedule begins Saturday, Nov. 15 when the Tigers entertain Montana State to kickoff the season.

• Pacific welcomes back seven letterwinners, but only one starter from last year's team that went 8-8 in conference play and 14-16 overall. All-Big West Honorable Mention Gretchen Tiernan and Emma Head are the top stat returners for the Tigers. Tiernan's 8.4 points per game and .331 three-point percentage leads the squad, while Head's .493 field goal percentage paces the Tigers.

• Joining the Tigers in 2009-10 will be Eliza Dy (Pomona, Calif.) and Arielle White (Los Angeles, Calif.). The junior college transfers will join Erica McKenzie (Sparks, Nev.), Kendall Rodriguez (La Habra, Calif.), Jordan Rogers (Sparks, Nev.) and Shantel Thomas (Sacramento, Calif.) as new recruits for the Tigers' next season.