Last Week In The Big West
UC Irvine was the unofficial team of the week as it won both its conference games in a single week for the first time since 2008. The conference leaders also picked up wins as UC Davis held off UC Riverside, while Cal Poly picked up a win over perennial league power UC Santa Barbara. Long Beach State also snapped its three-game losing streak with a win over Cal State Northridge, while UCR was able to shake off its loss to Davis with a win over Pacific.
Showdown At the Top Highlights Weekly Schedule
A "super" matchup is on the horizon for Big West women's hoops as first place UC Davis (6-1) travels to San Luis Obispo for a showdown against second place Cal Poly (6-2). UCD is running through a tough stretch in its league slate, having just defeated third place UC Riverside prior to this week's matchups against the Mustangs and UC Santa Barbara (4-4).
Big West fans might need a scratch pad over the next few weeks to figure out the logjam in the middle of the standings. This week Long Beach State (4-3) heads to Cal State Fullerton (4-4), CSF heads to UC Riverside (5-3) and UCSB hosts Pacific in addition to its showdown with the Aggies. The other .500 team in league play, UC Irvine (5-5), won't play any conference games this week, stepping away from the Big West to take on Cal State Bakersfield.
Double-Doubles Galore
Mikah Maly-Karros of UC Irvine missed the first eight games of the season as part of NCAA DI transfer rules, but the newest Anteater has been tearing apart the competition. In her 14 games played, she has a league-high nine double-doubles, including an impressive 35-point, 17-rebound performance in last week’s UCI win over Pacific. Her 35 points also marked the first time a Big West player had hit that mark since former UCI star Angie Ned dropped 37 on December 1, 2006 against Maly-Karros' former school Loyola Marymount. In all, Maly-Karros has nine of the 38 double-doubles recorded in the Big West this season.
Get Her to Double Figures Already!
Cal Poly's Kristina Santiago has a pretty good formula for Mustang success, scoring in double figures. In the last 62 games that Santiago has hit 10+ points, Cal Poly is an astounding 41-21. The squad usually doesn't have to worry about Santiago getting to double figures as she ranks 18th in the NCAA in scoring at 19.5 per outing.
Maybe it Was a Good Thing
On January 14, UC Irvine was throttled at home by league-leading UC Davis by 33 points. Since then, the Anteaters have been one of the hottest teams in the Big West with four wins in five outings. The recent hot streak has upped UCI's Big West record to 5-5, the first time the squad has hit the .500 mark in league play at any time since 2007.
Not in This House
Anyone attacking the paint against UC Santa Barbara has to keep one eye on the rim and the other for the looming presence of junior center Mekia Valentine. The defensive force now has 70 blocks on the season, setting the UCSB single-season record for rejections. To consider how dominate she has been protecting the hoop, the combined number of blocks for the top 10 in the league is 250, giving Valentine nearly a third of the total. In addition, if Valentine continues at her current pace over her remaining nine regular season contests, she will become just the 11th player in Big West history to record 100 or more blocks in a single season.
Mountain Top to the Valley
Back on January 9, Cal State Fullerton was flying high. The squad had just completed a 4-0 start in league play with a victory over UC Riverside, but its been a tough run for the club since then. The Titans have lost four in a row in league play since that start, mostly in hearbreaking fashion. They’ve lost two of the games in overtime, including one in double OT, had their shooting touch abandon them in the second half of a loss to Cal State Northridge and fell to their Orange County rival UC Irvine. If it wasn’t for an overtime victory over non-conference foe Seattle, CSF would be looking at a five-game skid.
Share with Care
Cal Poly is one of the premier clubs in the country when it comes to sharing the rock, averaging 17.8 assists per game which ranks sixth in the NCAA. The Mustangs also have the top the two assist-to-turnover ratio players in the Big West in Ashlee Stewart (2.3-1) and Desiray Johnston (2.0). Those are the only two players in the league to boast a 2.0-to-1 or better assist-to-turnover ratio.
Bombs Away!
With the graduation of one of the top post players in the league and the addition of some stellar shooters, Pacific changed its style to an up-tempo look that is friendly to the three. How friendly? The Tigers have put up 424 attempts from downtown, 45 more than the next closest school in the conference. With this new style, Pacific is the lone club in the Big West to have attempted more 3's than free throws (424-337), but amazingly the Tigers are third in the league in offensive rebounds (268).
Super Senior
Long Beach State's Karina Figueroa opened the season with a 23-point performance that pushed her past the 1,000-point barrier. Figueroa has not slowed down since then as she has compiled one of the best all-around stat lines in the Big West. She is averaging 17.0 points, 5.9 assists and 4.7 rebounds in 31.6 minutes. She also leads the Big West in free throws made (106) and attempted (131), and ranks in the top 10 in the league in steals (1.8). Figueroa, who has missed considerable time in her career with a chronic foot injury, has also played and started in each of the 49ers’ 20 games. Figueroa also has five points-assists double-doubles this season, the only player in the Big West to record that particular double-double.
Streaking Like We Never Have Before
UC Davis' tight win over UC Riverside last week gave the Aggies their seventh consecutive victory, equaling the longest winning run by the program in its DI history. Back in its first season of full DI membership (2007-08), UCD ripped off a seven-game victory run from February 2-23.
Made of Iron
After losing a combined nine starters from the 2008-09 season, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara have been forced to play some returning veterans a lot of minutes. The Highlanders, who lost all five starters, have three players in the top five of minutes played per game in the conference. UCSB, which had to replace four starters, has two players in the top five. The Gauchos also boast the league’s top player in minutes played per outing as sophomore Emilie Johnson is averaging a mindboggling 37.0 minutes, up from 23.8 in her freshman campaign.
Margaritis Earns 200th Career Win
UC Riverside's 74-61 win over Cal State Northridge not only secured the Highlanders their first Big West victory of the season, but lifted head coach John Margaritis to his 200th career victory. Margaritis is also eyeing his 100th UC Riverside victory as he currently owns 94 wins at the helm of the Highlanders program.
UC Santa Barbara Tabbed Preseason Favorite
The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara were selected to claim their third consecutive, 14th overall, Big West Conference women's basketball regular season title, as voted on by the media. The Gauchos captured 10 of a possible 20 first-place votes and 162 total points. They were closely followed by second place UC Davis, who received six first-place nods and 155 points. Rounding out the top three was Cal Poly with three first-place selections and a point total of 146.
Two-time Big West Champion UC Riverside was selected fourth with one first-place vote and a total of 112 points. Garnering the fifth slot in the preseason poll with 99 points is Long Beach State, who begins a new era under first-year head coach Jody Wynn. Pacific earned the sixth spot after acquiring 87 points and was followed by Cal State Fullerton (59), Cal State Northridge (41) and UC Irvine (39).
Long Beach State Showcases New Face At The Helm Of Its Program
Jody Wynn, who spent the last five seasons as the senior assistant, recruiting coordinator and head of scouting at USC, becomes the sixth head coach in LBSU women’s basketball history. Wynn comes to LBSU 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.
Foster Takes Over Reins At Fullerton
Former associate head coach Marcia Foster at Cal State Fullerton was promoted to head coach after Dr. Maryalyce Jeremiah relinquished her duties at the end of last season. Foster begins her seventh year with the Titans women's basketball program. She also spent one year as head coach at Cal Tech and six years as an assistant at Cal Poly.
Teams Showcase New Lineups
With the departure of such a large group of talented women’s basketball players, fresh faces will be seen on the court this year. Three teams with the tough task of constructing a successful lineup this season are UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific. The Highlanders must start from scratch after losing all five of their starters to graduation. The Tigers and Gauchos aren't far behind, welcoming back just one starter from last season.
Honda Center To Become Official Home Of Big West Basketball Tournament Beginning in 2011
Honda Center has announced a five-year partnership with the Big West Conference to host its annual men's and women's post-season basketball tournament beginning in 2011. The Big West and Honda Center have teamed up for "March Madness" and "The Road To The Final Four" on numerous occasions including men's basketball regionals in 1998, 2001 and 2003 and first and second round action in 2008.
In addition, the Big West and Honda Center was selected as host of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball West Regional.
Live On The Net
The Big West Conference and the CBS College Sports Network are partnering to bring you exclusive coverage of Big West sports, press conferences, interviews and features into your home via the Internet! Now in its fifth year, BigWest.TV covers every home and conference contest in women's volleyball as well as men's and women's basketball. Also covered are select contests in men's and women's soccer, baseball, softball, and Big West Conference Championships. A monthly subscription of $9.95 or an annual subscription of $79.95 delivers exclusive coverage to you. If you cant make it to the gym or the field, you can still catch all the action on BigWest.TV!