UC Merced
Mustangs Open 2024-25 Regular Season Wednesday Hosting UC Merced
11/5/2024 12:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After taking down Sonoma State last week in its lone exhibition game of the preseason, Cal Poly women’s basketball will officially open the 2024-25 season Wednesday by hosting Division II UC Merced at Mott Athletics Center before going on the road Saturday to face No. 3 USC.
Tip time against the Bobcats is set for 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Chris Sylvester providing play-by-play. Live stats will also be available for fans to follow. Links to both of those can be found on the schedule page.
The Mustangs are coming off their best season in a decade. Last year, head coach Shanele Stires directed the team to a 17-14 overall record in her second season at the helm, finishing tied for third in the Big West regular season standings and went to the program’s first WNIT postseason tournament since 2014.
Cal Poly returns six letterwinners from that team, including three starters. They are headlined by senior guard Annika Shah, who earned Honorable Mention All-Big West honors last season after being second on the team in scoring and leading the team in three pointers made and three point percentage. She also set the program record last year for highest free throw percentage, shooting 94.4 percent.
Two starters also back are redshirt sophomore forward Sierra Lichtie, who was fourth on the team in scoring last year, and senior guard Sydney Bourland who was fifth on the team in scoring and led the team in minutes. They also return their top two scorers off the bench in sophomore forward Mary Carter who was named to the Big West All-Freshman team last year and was second on the team in threes made as well as senior guard Sidney Richards who averaged 6.2 points per game last year.
The Mustangs have nine newcomers for the second straight year, eight freshmen and one grad transfer. The transfer is Ashley Hiraki, who played four years at Santa Clara and averaged 6.1 points per game in 118 career games there.
MUSTANGS VERSUS UC MERCED: This will be the first ever meeting between Cal Poly and UC Merced. The Bobcats were 11-16 last season.
MUSTANGS VERSUS USC: Cal Poly is 0-3 all-time against the Trojans. The first two meetings took place in the 1970’s and the two teams were idle against each other until last season when the Mustangs traveled down to Los Angeles with USC winning 85-44.
SHAH SCORES: Senior guard Annika Shah comes into the season with 656 career points scored, the most by any Mustang on the team. She will seek to become the 16th player in program history to hit the 1,000 career points milestone. She is also on track to become the program’s leader in career free throw percentage as she currently sits at 91.9 percent for her career. The current leader in that category is Dynn Leaupepe, who was 81.8 percent for her career.
CAL POLY IN HOME OPENERS: Cal Poly is 3-1 in its last four regular season home openers, including 2-0 since third year head coach Shanele Stires took over.
TURN AROUND: In her first two seasons as head coach, Shanele Stires has accumulated a record of 27-32 overall and 20-19 in Big West play. She has improved Cal Poly win total in each year, taking a three win team in 2022 to 10 in 2023 and 17 last year.
HOME COOKIN’: Since 2008, Cal Poly is 135-83 (.619) in games played at Mott Athletics Center.
LOOKING AHEAD: Cal Poly embarks on a three-game road stretch, starting Saturday at No. 3 USC followed by Montana State and Montana next week.
