The Big West enters 2026-27 as a reshaped 12-team league: Hawai'i and UC Davis are now in the Mountain West, while California Baptist, Sacramento State, and Utah Valley have joined as full members from the WAC and the Big Sky. Those departures stripped away the middle of last year's standings and took several All-Big West honorees with them. The graduation of Player of the Year Hunter Hernandez, plus the transfer of the league's leading scorer, UC Riverside's Hannah Wickstrom, to Purdue, only hurt the conference's talent even more. The two co-regular-season champions, UC San Diego and UC Irvine, both return enough to stay near the top, even as UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara play what will be their final Big West season before heading to the West Coast Conference in 2027.
The Big Picture
Realignment is the preseason storyline here. With Hawai'i and UC Davis gone, the conference loses last year's third- and fourth-place finishers along with First-Team center Megan Norris, Second-Teamers Ryann Bennett, Saniyah Neverson and Imani Perez, and Freshman of the Year Bailey Flavell, which is an enormous chunk of proven production that isn't in this league anymore. On top of those players, reigning Player of the Year Hunter Hernandez and Newcomer of the Year Jada Wynn both used up their eligibility at UC Irvine; First-Team forward Filipa Barros left California Baptist for Utah, and UC Riverside's Hannah Wickstrom, who finished fifth in the country in scoring at 23.0 points per game, is now at Purdue. Long Beach State lost its leading scorer, JaQuoia Jones-Brown, to James Madison, and Cal State Bakersfield didn't just lose its top scorers this offseason. Every player who suited up for the Roadrunners last year is gone.
Coaching turnover is another storyline this year. Long Beach State is the biggest change among the holdover programs: Amy Wright left after a 5-25 season to become associate head coach at Alabama, and they hired Minyon Moore, who helped build turnarounds at Sacramento State and then TCU. Cal State Fullerton also changed coaches, as John Bonner took the Seattle job after one season and brought in Sammy Doucette. Cal State Bakersfield also made a change: Ari Wideman resigned after a 9-51 two-year run, and Bakersfield promoted Ray Alvarado, a longtime junior college head coach, into the job. The three incoming programs bring stability at the top, with California Baptist's Jarrod Olson, Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff and Utah Valley's Dan Nielson all returning. Still, each also arrives having lost most of its scoring punch on the way in. Look at the full picture, and you get a league with a clear top tier, a crowded and unsettled middle, and more uncertainty than usual about how several programs will look come November.
Skim Milkey's Predicted 2026-27 Order of Finish
1 - UC San Diego
2 - UC Irvine
3 - UC Santa Barbara
4 - California Baptist
5 - Sacramento State
6 - Utah Valley
7 - Cal State Fullerton
8 - Cal State Northridge
9 - UC Riverside
10 - Long Beach State
11 - Cal Poly
12 - Cal State Bakersfield
Skim Milkey's Preseason All-Conference Team
Maddy Tauro, G, Cal Poly
Dylan Swindle, G, Cal State Fullerton
Saray White, G, Cal State Northridge
Lauren Olsen, G, California Baptist
Natalie Picton, G, Sacramento State
Ahrray Young, G, UC Irvine
Nohe'alani Stores, F, UC Irvine
Kaylani Polk, G, UC Riverside
Erin Condron, F, UC San Diego
Jite Gbemuotor, F, UC San Diego
Rosa Smith, G, UC San Diego
Madison Naro, G, UC Santa Barbara
Nicole Steiner, F, UC Santa Barbara
Zoe Borter, F, UC Santa Barbara
Cambree Blackham, G, Utah Valley
UC San Diego
Record: 24-9, 17-3 Big West (1st, tie, NCAA Tournament appearance)
Coach: Heidi VanDerveer, 15th season, 276-139 (22nd overall, 384-219)
The Tritons head into their last Big West campaign as the team to beat, and it's not close. VanDerveer's group shared the regular-season crown, won a second straight conference tournament, and reached the NCAA Tournament again before running into a No. 3 seed in TCU. The centerpiece is back for one more run: All-Big West First-Team forward Erin Condron put up 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds a year ago and dropped 32 on Long Beach State in February for the program's Division I single-game scoring record. Guard Rosa Smith is back too, coming off a 10.9-point season in which she shot 35.4 percent from three, and floor general Dymonique Maxie paired 7.8 points with 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals a night. Guard Lev Feiman shot 41.7 percent from deep in a reserve role as a freshman and now has an opportunity for more minutes, while Niya Price, Michaela Fairwell and Tatum Jones round out a returning group that brings continuity to the program.
The losses, however, will be tough to replace early in the season. Defensive Player of the Year Makayla Rose, who averaged 12.7 points a game, and fellow senior Sabrina Ma, who averaged 11.1, both graduated; guard Gracie Gallegos transferred within the league to UC Irvine; and three more depth players also left the program. VanDerveer looked outside the program to plug some of those holes, landing forward Jite Gbemuotor, an All-Big West Honorable Mention pick who put up 9.4 points and 8.0 rebounds a year ago at Cal State Northridge and gives UC San Diego a second proven post presence next to Condron. Guards Coryn Watts and Alexandra Cummins round out the transfer haul, and four freshmen join them: Emma Cook, Noelle Mulvanny, Sadie Sin and Megan Roberts.
This was one of the league's more balanced rosters a year ago, and the defensive habits don't just disappear because they lost the conference's best defender. The real question is whether a retooled backcourt can create enough offense in the half-court to keep pace with Condron, but with Feiman ascending, Smith and Maxie both back, and Gbemuotor adding rebounding up front, the pieces are in place. Motivation for the season shouldn't be an issue: this is UC San Diego's last year in the Big West before it jumps to the West Coast Conference, and a program that has reached the NCAA Tournament in both of its years of Division I eligibility knows what a third straight title would mean.
Players to watch: Erin Condron, Jite Gbemuotor, Rosa Smith, Lev Feiman
UC Irvine
Record: 26-7, 17-3 Big West (1st, tie, WBIT appearance)
Coach: Tamara Inoue, 11th season, 187-123
Losing the conference's two best players in one summer would sink most programs. Inoue, the reigning Big West Coach of the Year, guided the Anteaters to a program-record 26 wins and the best winning percentage in school history before an overtime semifinal loss to Hawai'i and a trip to the WBIT. Now she has to figure out how to get back to the top without Player of the Year Hunter Hernandez, who put up 19.8 points and set a school scoring record before graduating, and Newcomer of the Year Jada Wynn, who chipped in 15.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists a night before exhausting her own eligibility.
Despite losing these two players, UC Irvine retained plenty of talent. All-Freshman forward Nohe'alani Stores steps into a featured frontcourt role as a sophomore, guard Lauryn Madsen returns after starting all 33 games and averaging 7.0 points and 2.2 steals, guard Shirel Nahum is back after a 7.3-point, 3.0-assist season as a 31-game starter, and forward Summah Hanson adds another 6.6 points and 6.0 rebounds to the mix. Guards Ameerah Grant, Reese Noa, and Haley Hernandez and forward Daniela Falcon Hernandez all played rotation roles last season and return as well; beyond Hernandez and Wynn, only three reserves who saw spot minutes didn't come back. Inoue used the portal to add scoring to that returning group: guard Ahrray Young arrives from Nevada, guard Sarah Miller from Penn, guard Makiah Asidanya from UNCG, and guard Gracie Gallegos crossed over from UC San Diego. Freshmen Alleah Hanson, Delaney White, and Ellery Burke-Brown are also in the mix.
This team hangs its hat on defense. UC Irvine allowed the fewest points per game in the league a year ago, posted a strong net rating, and comfortably out-rebounded opponents. Inoue's teams have a habit of guarding, sharing the ball, and limiting mistakes no matter who's in the lineup. That kind of culture tends to survive roster turnover, especially when so much of the rotation has already lived through a title-contending season together. The offense will look different without Hernandez creating shots and Wynn setting the table. Still, with Stores, Madsen, Nahum, and Hanson back, plus Young and Miller bringing proven Division I scoring, the Anteaters have what they need to stay a top-two team.
Players to watch: Nohe'alani Stores, Lauryn Madsen, Shirel Nahum, Ahrray Young
UC Santa Barbara
Record: 20-10, 12-8 Big West (6th)
Coach: Renee Jimenez, 3rd season, 38-22 (18th overall, 308-173)
Twenty wins from a team that finished sixth doesn't happen often in the mid-majors, and the Gauchos land higher in this projection because of how much talent they're bringing back. Second-Team All-Big West forward Zoe Borter is the headliner: she started all 29 games, averaged 15.0 points, shot a league-best 41.2 percent from three, and reached career highs across the board as a junior. Guard Zoe Shaw is back too after a 9.0-point, 29-start season, and guard Madison Naro returns as one of the league's better all-around table-setters after posting 7.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists a night. Guard Chauncey Andersen, who chipped in 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds, and Ava Rawlins add further depth off the bench.
There's a clear hole to fill down low, though. Leading rebounder Olivia Bradley, who posted 13.0 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 57.4 percent inside the arc as a 29-game starter, is no longer on the roster; guard Skylar Burke, who averaged 8.0 points a night, is gone as well, and six more players from last year's rotation didn't return. Jimenez plugged the biggest part of that hole notably: Nicole Steiner, an All-Freshman pick at crosstown rival Cal State Fullerton who turned in 10.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals a year ago, transferred in and will be one of the league's better interior players. The rest of the incoming class runs deep, too. Guard Mauriana Hashemian-Orr comes over from Saint Mary's, forward Olivia Anderson from Washington, guard Naomy Zonzon-Huyghe from UC Irvine, and freshmen Karisma Flores, Sarah Heyn, Ava Albanese and Charlotte Lipkin round things out.
Defense was the calling card a year ago, and nothing suggests that will change. UC Santa Barbara held opponents under 60 points a game. They defended the three-point line as well as anyone in the country. That perimeter discipline paired with Borter's shooting, Naro's playmaking, Shaw's scoring, and Steiner's new presence inside gives Jimenez a roster that's both deep and talented even with Bradley gone. Like UC San Diego, this is UC Santa Barbara's final year in the Big West before the jump to the West Coast Conference, which adds a little extra juice to the season. With this much coming back and coming in, an upper-half finish in the conference is likely.
Players to watch: Zoe Borter, Nicole Steiner, Madison Naro, Zoe Shaw
California Baptist
Record: 23-11, 15-3 WAC (1st, NCAA Tournament appearance)
Coach: Jarrod Olson, 14th season, 319-127 (22nd overall, 455-223)
The Lancers arrive as the most accomplished of the three newcomers. They swept the WAC's regular-season and tournament titles and reached the NCAA Tournament before running into top-seeded UCLA in the first round. Olson, in his 14th season, has built a program that wins consistently, and that infrastructure should translate now into a new league. Filipa Barros, a redshirt junior guard from Portugal, was a First-Team All-WAC pick and the WAC Tournament MVP after averaging 11.0 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.7 steals while shooting 40.7 percent from three, numbers that made her the only player in Division I averaging at least 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 40-plus percent three-point shooting. She's off to Utah now. WAC Defensive Player of the Year Emma Johansson, who averaged 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds, graduated; forward Grace Schmidt, who scored 9.8 points a game; guard Shawnee Nordstrom, who averaged 8.7; and guard Khloe Lemon, who averaged 9.6, also left via the portal. Three more reserves who barely saw the floor also moved on.
That leaves sophomore guard Lauren Olsen holding it all together. Olsen, the 2026 WAC Freshman of the Year, led the team in scoring at 14.8 points a game on 36.0 percent three-point shooting while starting 28 of 34 games as a true freshman, and she's an All-Big West candidate this year, just without the veterans who used to run everything around her. Guard Sofia Alonso, who averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 assists, forward Paula Haw, guard Reyleigh Hess, and guard Marta De La Fuente are the only other returners on the roster, so Olson leaned hard on the portal and the prep ranks to rebuild around his young star. Novelle McQuiston, Josie Agnew, Ella Linder, Sienna Grieger, McKinley Willardson, Bella Klages, Chloe Briggs and Spela Brecelj all join the program either via the portal or as an incoming freshman.
Losing Barros changes the math here more than any other single departure in the league. A program with this kind of coaching stability and recent track record still belongs in the top-half conversation, but replacing a national-caliber, do-everything guard while adjusting to a brand-new conference with an almost entirely rebuilt supporting cast is a lot to ask in one offseason. If Olsen can mesh the newcomers right away, this team could easily play its way into a top-three finish.
Players to watch: Lauren Olsen, Sofia Alonso, Paula Haw, Chloe Briggs
Sacramento State
Record: 15-18, 8-10 Big Sky (5th)
Coach: Aaron Kallhoff, 4th season, 36-61
The Hornets come in from the Big Sky off a fifth-place finish and a quarterfinal run in a season marred by injuries. Kallhoff, entering his fourth season, has steadily pulled a struggling program back to respectability, and he'll build the Big West debut around senior guard Natalie Picton, back after a 12.7-point, 2.0-steal season a year ago and returning as the team's clear leader. Around her, forward Elizabeth Abiara, who put up 2.2 points and 4.2 rebounds, guard Jaety Mandaquit, who added 3.2 points and 1.2 assists, forward Pinja Paananen, forward Ajong Lual, guard Tali Fa'i, and guard Jamiah Fontenberry all return as rotation pieces.
The top of last year's team, though, didn't make the trip to the Big West. Leading scorer Rubi Gray, who averaged 14.3 points, left via the portal; Big Sky All-Defensive Team guard Benthe Versteeg, who closed her career with 12.4 points and a team-best 4.7 assists, graduated; and forward Fatoumata Jaiteh, who put up 6.5 points across 20 starts, departed too, along with three more players off last year's bench. To fill in around Picton, Kallhoff hit the portal hard: Jeniece Harmon comes from Hawai'i-Hilo, Brooklynn Charlo from Memphis, Achol Magot from Arizona, Koko Akridge from Long Island University, Jenessa Cotton from Kansas State, Jelena Savic from Evansville, and Alexis Hess also from Kansas State, plus freshman Jordan Barlow.
Sacramento State was a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big Sky, and how fast these new faces mesh will decide whether the Hornets can hang around the upper half of their new league right away. Picton gives them a reliable anchor and a proven winner, and there's more returning depth behind her than the list of departures might suggest, but this is still a group learning a new conference with most of the rotation rebuilt around her. This group is talented enough for a top half finish in the league.
Players to watch: Natalie Picton, Jenessa Cotton, Elizabeth Abiara, Achol Magot
Utah Valley
Record: 16-15, 9-9 WAC (4th, WNIT appearance)
Coach: Dan Nielson, 8th season, 92-109
The Wolverines finished fourth in the WAC and also had a trip to the WNIT last year. Now, Nielson enters his eighth season with one obvious building block and a whole lot of new faces around her. Guard Cambree Blackham is that building block, an excellent two-way player who turned in 9.9 points, 4.0 assists, and 2.7 steals a year ago and stands as one of the better returning guards in the league. Guards Naia Tanuvasa and Anna Shreeve and forward Evie Leeson return in limited roles behind her.
Nearly everyone else is out of the mix. Leading scorer Amanda Barcello, who averaged 13.6 points; forward Kaylee Headrick, who averaged 9.4; forward Tessa Chaney, who averaged 8.4; and guard Halle Nelson, who averaged 6.7 points across 27 starts, are all gone. Graduated guard Kylee Mabry, who started 19 games and averaged 6.6 points before joining the coaching staff, is also gone. Five more players who saw solid playing time departed with them, and outside of Blackham, essentially the entire top of last year's rotation is not returning to the roster. That's a brutal amount of production to replace in one summer. Nielson responded by hitting the portal hard: forward Elizabeth Gentry comes from Creighton, forward Gracie Johnson from Utah State, guard Maren McKenna from Wyoming, forward Lauren Johnson from Utah Tech, and guard Heather Stedman, an Arizona prep standout who originally signed with Cal State Northridge but never appeared in a game there before landing in Orem. Freshmen Olivia Stephens, Tabi Clark, Kendra Kitchen and Gabi Moultrie make up the rest of the newcomer group.
Given how much talent walked out the door, Utah Valley's season basically rests on Blackham's shoulders and how quickly this transfer class can learn to play together in a new conference. Nielson has a track record of putting competitive teams on the floor, and Blackham alone is enough to keep the Wolverines respectable, but sorting out a supporting cast in a rebuild this big takes time. A star to build around, and plenty of questions about everything surrounding her, land the Wolverines fighting for a spot in the upper half of the conference.
Players to watch: Cambree Blackham, Elizabeth Gentry, Maren McKenna, Lauren Johnson
Cal State Fullerton
Record: 18-14, 13-7 Big West (5th)
Coach: Sammy Doucette, 1st season (8th overall, 131-42)
Fullerton's excellent 2025-26 season, an 18-win, fifth-place finish under first-year coach John Bonner, turned out to be a one-year thing rather than the start of something. Bonner moved on to Seattle, and the top of last year's team went with him. Cristina Jones, the Co-Big West Hustle Player of the Year and a First-Team, All-Defensive Team pick who posted 16.0 points and 10.1 rebounds while leading the conference in steals, followed him to Seattle. All-Freshman forward Nicole Steiner, who averaged 10.3 points and 7.7 rebounds, left for conference rival UC Santa Barbara; guard Maddy Tauro, who scored 10.2 points a game, headed up the coast to Cal Poly, and guard Kya Pearson, who put up 8.5 points, is gone too, with three more reserves following them out the door. New coach Sammy Doucette inherits a program that needs rebuilding almost from scratch.
What she does have is a solid returning core to work with: guard Dylan Swindle, who started 25 games and averaged 7.5 points and 1.9 assists; forward Talia Maxwell, who averaged 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds; guard Jana Falsdottir, who chipped in 5.3 points and 2.5 assists, and depth pieces in Maxine Sutisna and Mimi Moon. To fill out the rest of the roster, Doucette signed a large incoming class headlined by guard Ashari Cassell, who played for her previously at Orange Coast College before stops at Cal State LA and Concordia Irvine, along with Shadel Ffrench, Nyemah King, Alyssa Dreesen, Alexis Price, Juliana Aragon, and Anasia Wilcox. Freshmen Jennifer Hawkins and Bernadette Carranza round out the newcomer class.
Fullerton led the Big West in scoring and rebounding a year ago, so there's a recent blueprint for what this program looks like at its best, but recreating that with a mostly new roster and a first-time Division I head coach won't happen overnight. 2026-27 is a transition year, with Swindle, Maxwell and Falsdottir carrying the returning identity while Doucette's newcomers find their footing around them. A step back from fifth place looks likely while the program gains its footing under new leadership.
Players to watch: Dylan Swindle, Talia Maxwell, Jana Falsdottir, Ashari Cassell,
Cal State Northridge
Record: 10-20, 6-14 Big West (8th)
Coach: Angie Ned, 3rd season, 14-45
The Matadors doubled their conference win total in Ned's second season, climbing to eighth after a rough opening year. Forward Jite Gbemuotor, an Honorable Mention All-Big West pick who averaged 9.4 points and 8.0 rebounds, transferred to UC San Diego, and guard Erika Aspajo, who averaged 7.7 points per game, also left the program. Forward Mariona Cos-Morales, who averaged 4.3 points over 23 starts, also departed, along with four other players off last year's bench.
Guard Saray White is back for her senior year after averaging 10.2 points and 4.0 rebounds, and guard Rita Nazário returns too after adding 10.0 points on 33.7 percent three-point shooting, giving Ned two double-figure scorers to build around. Forward Nadia Bernard, who put up 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds, and younger holdovers Jana Canadell, Maya Contreras and Amya Moody are all back with a year of experience under them now, too. Ned went to the portal to round out the roster: guard Sibelle Zambie arrives from Lehigh, guard Hodaya Kabada from UNLV, guard Kira-May Filemu from Hawai'i, and forward Princess Okafor Nweze from South Alabama, joined by freshmen Sophia Dignadice and Carlotta Cocuzza.
Turnovers were CSUN's biggest issue a year ago, and cleaning that up remains the priority for a program trying to build something sustainable. With White and Nazário both back as established scorers and a portal class adding depth behind them, the Matadors are in better shape than most rebuilding teams in this league, even after losing Gbemuotor.
Players to watch: Saray White, Rita Nazário, Nadia Bernard, Kira-May Filemu
UC Riverside
Record: 11-21, 8-12 Big West (7th)
Coach: Brad Langston, 4th season, 46-50
No returning program took a harder hit from a single player leaving than the Highlanders. Hannah Wickstrom, a First-Team All-Big West pick who finished fifth in the country in scoring at 23.0 points a game while adding 7.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.4 steals, is now at Purdue. She carried one of the highest usage rates in the country, showing that she was the engine of nearly everything this offense did, and there's no replacing that kind of load in a single offseason. Guard Seneca Hackley, who averaged 9.7 points across 28 starts, and forward Bria Shine, who put up 4.6 points in 30 starts, also moved on, and five more rotation players departed with them.
Langston, entering his fourth season overall, has to rebuild the offense around returning guard Kaylani Polk, back after a 7.9-point, 3.7-assist season, and guard Taylor Swanson, who started 27 games and chipped in 5.0 points. Guard Aaliyah Stanton, who scored efficiently in a small five-game sample last season at 9.4 points a night, is back as well, joined by depth pieces Maria Mejia and Lucia Moreno Tallon. Graduate guard London Gamble leads the incoming class from Northern Colorado; forward Harisa Mehmedovic from San Jose State; guard Amy Pateman from San Francisco; guard Dylan Tse from Mt. SAC; forward Kyori Lloyd from Cal Poly Humboldt; guard Morgan Mack from Long Beach State; plus freshmen Graecyn Parahi and Celeste Mack.
The record before Wickstrom left was already not great, and losing your only real star tends to push a team backward rather than forward. Langston has shown he can get more out of a roster than the raw talent on paper might show, and a productive portal cycle could soften the blow. Still, the more likely outcome here is a step back into the lower half of the league while the Highlanders retool around Polk and Swanson.
Players to watch: Kaylani Polk, Taylor Swanson, London Gamble, Dylan Tse
Long Beach State
Record: 5-25, 4-16 Big West (9th)
Coach: Minyon Moore, 1st season
Long Beach State is starting over, and they made one of the league's more ambitious hires to do it. After Amy Wright left following a 5-25 season to become associate head coach at Alabama, Long Beach State brought in Minyon Moore, who helped build the turnarounds at Sacramento State and then TCU as part of Mark Campbell's staff. It's her first head coaching job, and she inherits a program that bottomed out last season and then watched almost everyone leave.
Leading scorer JaQuoia Jones-Brown, an Honorable Mention All-Big West guard who averaged 17.4 points and 6.4 rebounds a year ago, is now at James Madison, and guard Khylee Pepe, who averaged 9.4 points across 29 starts, forward Kennan Ka, who put up 6.7 points in 29 starts, and guard Brynna Pukis, who chipped in 5.8 points across 21 starts, all left as well; six more players who saw meaningful minutes last season went with them. Sophomore forward Rosie Akot, who averaged 6.7 points and 5.1 rebounds, is the only holdover from that rotation. Moore rebuilt the roster almost entirely through the portal and the prep ranks: forward Danijela Kujovic arrives from Hawai'i, forward Kailyn Berry from Howard College, forward Noemi Arvai from Sacramento State, forward Selene Romero Olvera from Florida International, guard Amber Furch from Saint Michael's, forward Fia Proctor from Seattle, and guard Ashanti Dias from Laney College. Lara Perian, Malia Tualani, Ebony Taylor-Smith, Lucia Chico Fernandez, and Aryanna Reyes round out the rest of the incoming group.
The underlying numbers were not very good a year ago. Long Beach State ranked among the league's worst on both ends of the floor. This is a multi-year project, not a one-year fix, and a first-year coach installing a brand-new system with an almost entirely new roster isn't likely to leap up the standings right away. Moore's track record and recruiting pull give the program real long-term upside, but this season is about the program finding its footing from scratch.
Players to watch: Rosie Akot, Danijela Kujovic, Amber Furch, Fia Proctor
Cal Poly
Record: 4-26, 2-18 Big West (10th, tie)
Coach: Shanele Stires, 5th season, 45-76 (11th overall, 139-129)
The Mustangs are the projected cellar-dwellers after a 4-26 season that tied for last in the league, and the top of last year's roster turned over almost completely. Leading scorers Vanessa McManus, who averaged 15.6 points, and Charish Thompson, who averaged 14.6 points, are both gone, and so is floor general Alana Goosby, who ran the offense with 3.5 assists per game across 26 starts. Five more reserves didn't come back either, giving Cal Poly quite the climb uphill.
What Stires does have going for her is a deep group of returning role players: forward Nora Perez, who put up 5.3 points and 3.9 rebounds; forward Dulci Vail, who scored 5.8 points while shooting 43.8 percent from three; guard Madison Butcher, who added 5.5 points on 42.9 percent three-point shooting; forward Avery Knapp, guard Jordan Billing, guard Katie Peiffer, guard Gabby Robinson and guard Ella Skrzyniarz. None of them were focal scorers a year ago, but together they give Stires more returning continuity than most bottom-tier teams in this league can claim. The most important piece added is guard Maddy Tauro, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton who averaged 10.2 points last season and instantly becomes the most proven scorer on this roster. JUCO transfer Dessi Ulmer, who averaged 11.8 points and 7.1 rebounds over two seasons at Colby Community College, adds scoring inside, and Ysabella Von Seipler from San Diego, Sumer Lee from DePaul, and Mecca Alexander from San Jose State add further transfer depth, joined by freshmen Lena Most, Bianca Slone, and Atlanta Bass-Sulpizio.
Losing McManus, Thompson, and Goosby all in the same offseason is a lot to overcome. Still, Tauro's arrival gives Cal Poly a legitimate go-to scorer it otherwise wouldn't have, and the sheer volume of returning rotation pieces means Stires isn't starting from zero like some other bottom-tier teams in this league. Still, replacing that much production at once is a heavy lift, and a fifth-year coach who's had one strong season sandwiched between rough ones is under pressure to show something. Cal Poly lands near the bottom of this projection, with Tauro as the biggest variable that could push it higher.
Players to watch: Maddy Tauro, Dessi Ulmer, Dulci Vail, Nora Perez
Cal State Bakersfield
Record: 7-23, 2-18 Big West (10th, tie)
Coach: Ray Alvarado, 1st season (3rd overall, 17-35)
Cal State Bakersfield didn't just lose its top scorers this offseason as most other teams did. Every single player who suited up for the Roadrunners a year ago is off the roster, including leading scorer Chrishawn Coleman, an Honorable Mention All-Big West pick who averaged 15.5 points and could score from all three levels, plus forward Marley Langi, who put up 10.6 points, guard Maria Dias, who scored 9.8, guard Morgan Hawkins, who added 8.8, and forward Tena Ikidi, who averaged 5.9 points and 8.5 rebounds across 26 starts. Ari Wideman resigned in April after going 9-51 across two seasons, and CSUB promoted associate head coach Ray Alvarado to interim head coach before making the hire permanent in July. It's about as complete a teardown as a program can go through.
Alvarado, a Central Valley native who spent 13 years as head coach at College of the Sequoias, rebuilt from the ground up with a wide-ranging transfer and freshman class: guard Aloni Oliver comes from Fresno State, forward Dresha Moore from San Diego, forward Mydrea Moore from Cal Poly Pomona, guard Elyse Mitchell from Azusa Pacific, forward Hunter Hudson also from Cal Poly Pomona, guard Vanna Quintana from Weber State, forward Sofia Ahmed from Dodge City Community College, guard Faith Curry from Northern Arizona, guard DJ Kendrick from Lewis & Clark College and guard Madison Johnson from MSU Denver, and fifth-year guard Nseije Ortiz from Chico State, along with senior guard Gianna Ghio and freshmen Silvana Maldonado, Elizabeth Johnson and Malohni Warren.
With nothing returning to lean on, this projection comes down almost entirely to a guess about chemistry and how fast a completely new group can learn to play together. Alvarado clearly prioritized portal experience over going all-freshman, which should help some, but a team with zero returning minutes anywhere on the roster has a low floor no matter how the individual pieces look on paper. Anything higher than a bottom-two finish should be applauded.
Players to watch: Dresha Moore, Nseije Ortiz, Hunter Hudson, Mydrea Moore
Big West Round-Up
Realignment is the story of the whole league this year, not just one program's turnover. UC San Diego and UC Irvine still look like the class of the conference, and both are bringing back most of their supporting cast, even after losing the biggest names on their rosters. The three newcomers arrive with real pedigree, but almost none of the rosters come with them, and how fast California Baptist, Sacramento State and Utah Valley settle into a new league will shape the middle of the table all season long. Don't be shocked if this order looks completely different by March, especially near the bottom, where Cal State Bakersfield's total roster overhaul and Long Beach State's rebuild under Minyon Moore are the conference's two most-watched projects.
Editor's Note: Records and conference standings reflect the final 2025-26 Big West regular season and postseason. Player stats reflect 2025-26 production, unless noted. All 12 rosters have been confirmed against official, live 2026-27 team pages as of September 22nd. Coaching and roster notes reflect known offseason moves as of September 22nd. Roster additions may shift rosters before the season opens in November and may affect the order as of this writing.
Check out the previous conference previews: America East, American, Atlantic Sun, Atlantic 10, Big Sky, Big South
