A week after junior guard Anete Klintsone collected UC Irvine's first Big West honor of the 2011-12 season, senior guard Kassandra McCalister was named Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week, for the week ending January 15.

McCalister led the Anteaters to their first sweep of the central coast since the 2005-06 season with wins over co-defending Big West Champions UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. The Sunnyvale, Calif., native opened the week with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds to lift UC Irvine to a 63-51 win over the Gauchos. McCalister shot 6-of-10 from the field, including a 4-for-5 performance from three-point range, while also adding six assists and two steals to her total. The win snapped a 10-game losing streak against UCSB and was only the second victory in the last 22 attempts.

Two days later at Mott Gym, McCalister recorded a team-high 16 points in UC Irvines 62-60 win over league-leading Cal Poly. She also tallied four rebounds, four assists, a career-high two blocks and a steal. Like the victory over the Gauchos, UC Irvines win over the Mustangs also snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Mustangs.

For the week, McCalister averaged 18.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting .481 from the field and .600 from long distance.

Others nominated: Kristina Santiago (Cal Poly), Mya Olivier (Cal State Fullerton), Violet Alama (Cal State Northridge), Kasey Riecks (UC Davis), Sweets Underwood (UC Santa Barbara)