A Big West Glance
Following a roller coaster weekend, Cal Poly and UC Davis are tied for first in the Big West Conference with a 4-1 mark. Former league-leader Cal State Fullerton slipped to third place at 4-2 following back-to-back losses last week. Defending champion UC Santa Barbara is in a distant sixth place with a 2-3 conference mark. UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge both erased their goose eggs in the 'W' column with the Highlanders registering a 2-0 week and the Matadors knocking off previous league-leading Cal State Fullerton.
CP's Santiago Eclipses 1,000-Point Milestone
Last week Cal Poly's Kristina Santiago became the second Big West athlete to reach the 1,000 career-point milestone after tallying a career-high 34 points in the Mustangs win over Cal State Fullerton. Santiago becomes the ninth player in Cal Poly women's basketball history to record 1,000 career points and the fourth Mustang to do so in as few as three seasons. She currently has 1,026 points.
Long Beach State's Karina Figueroa registered a 23-point performance to open the 2009-10 season that assisted in her in becoming the 100th Big West player to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Figueroa, redshirting last season due to injury, now has 1,273 career points, making her LBSU's 21st 1,000-point scorer and tying her for 50th in the Big West record book.
Fullerton Stumbles In Big West Road Trip
After opening Big West play with a 4-0 record to sit atop the Big West standings, Cal State Fullerton struggled last week on its trips to Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge. The Titans fell to Cal Poly in a 76-73 overtime contest and then dropped a 66-53 decision to the Matadors, which awarded CSUN with its first conference win of the year. The Titans now hold the third slot in the standings with a 4-2 record.
UC Riverside Captures First Conference Win, Follows With Second
UC Riverside was selected third in the preseason Big West Media Poll, but after going 0-2 to open league play it seemed as if the Highlanders were out of sync. Everything changed this week as they began a four-game homestand with a win over Cal State Northridge. UC Riverside followed that up with a decisive 77-60 win over defending champion and preseason favorite UC Santa Barbara to improve to 2-2 in the Big West standings. The Highlanders have now won back-to-back contests for the first time all season as they move to 5-12 overall.
CSUN Wins Big To Post First League Victory
Cal State Northridge struggled out of the gates this season posting a 0-4 league mark, but all that changed on Saturday, January 16 when the Matadors toppled Cal State Fullerton, league leader at the start of the week, 66-53. The victory awarded the Matadors their first conference win of the 2009-10 season and handed the Titans their second consecutive loss. Part of CSUN's success was due to its defense that forced Fullerton into 4-for-38 shooting (10.5 percent) in the second-half.
Long Beach State Trying Not To Repeat History
After missing out of the Big West Women's Basketball Tournament in 2008-09, Long Beach State, under the helm of first-year head coach Jody Wynn, is making sure history doesn't repeat itself. The 49ers are currently sitting fourth in the league standings with a 3-2 mark. Their latest victory was a 78-63 win over defending Big West Champion UC Santa Barbara, which snapped a seven-game skid to the Gauchos.
Big West........Stat!
Cal Poly's Kristina Santiago is having a season to remember, only halfway through the season and she has already tallied single-game career-highs in points (34) and rebounds (15) and topped the 1,000 career-point milestone in just her third season. Now she is leading the Big West Conference in both scoring and rebounding with 20.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest. She also sits second in field goal percentage and steals.
Gaucho Mekia Valentine continues to dominate in the blocks category with an average of 4.06 swats per contest, placing her in the top five in the country, and only trails Santiago in rebounds at 7.1. The next closest player to Valentine is Cal State Northridge's Jasmine Erving with a 1.50 block average. Valentine is not too bad on offense either, posting a league-leading .598 field goal percentage.
Different Lookin' Gauchos
UC Santa Barbara has performed to near perfection the past two seasons posting back-to-back 15-1 conference records to claim the Big West title. After five games in the record book in 2009-10, the Gauchos have already registered more losses than the past two seasons combined with a 2-3 record. The schedule doesn't get any easier for UC Santa Barbara as they travel to third-placed Cal State Fullerton Saturday. Second-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb knew that this season posed a challenge for UC Santa Barbara as they returned just one starter from a season ago in Jordan Franey.
Close...But No Cigar
In the young season, the Big West Conference members have played 25 contests that were decided by five points or less. Unfortunately the league has been on the losing end of most of the games, posting a 7-13 mark in nonconference games. UC Irvine leads the crop with three nail-bitting victories.
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 91 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 womens 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 womens 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 arent 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 mens 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 mens 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 can't make it to the gym or the field, you can still catch all the action on BigWest.TV!