UC Davis
Mustangs Face Two of the Top Big West Teams This Week
1/15/2025 3:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly women’s basketball tough schedule to start conference play continues this week as the Mustangs will face two of the top three teams in the Big West standings.
The Mustangs (8-8, 3-3 Big West) will hit the road to face second place UC Davis Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. Then on Saturday, Jan. 18 the Mustangs host third place UC Irvine at 2 p.m. Fans can watch both games on ESPN+ and follow live stats on GoPoly.com. Links to both of those can be found on the schedule page.
Cal Poly is coming off a strong week last week in which they beat both UC San Diego and rival UC Santa Barbara. Against the Tritons, senior guard poured in a career-high 27 points on seven made threes. Then on Saturday, Cal Poly beat the Gauchos in dramatic fashion as graduate guard Ashley Hiraki made a game-winning and-one layup with four seconds left to give Cal Poly a 51-50 on the road.
The Mustangs’ defense has been strong all season. They currently rank 19th in the country in defending the three, with opponents only shooting 25 percent from beyond the arc against them. In all eight of Cal Poly’s win this year, they have held opponents under 60 points. The Mustangs are also one of the best three point shooting teams in the Big West, ranking second in the conference in three point percentage.
Shah has been leading the offense all season. Having gone for over 20 points four times this season, she has raised her average to 14.6 points per game which ranks fourth in the Big West. She leads the Big West and ranks ninth in the nation in threes made per game at 3.06. Shah has been very efficient with her scoring as she ranks second in the Big West in field goal percentage and first in three point percentage. In addition to scoring, she also leads the team in assists, threes made, and free throw percentage. Shah has scored in double digits in 12 of the 16 games so far this season.
Sophomore forward Mary Carter, a Big West All-Freshman Team honoree last season, has taken a big leap forward this season. Carter is second on the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game which ranks eighth in the Big West. She is second on the team and ranks sixth in the Big West in three point percentage at 38 percent. Carter also leads the team in blocks and is second in rebounding. She has recorded 12 double digit scoring games and has two doubles-doubles so far this season.
The Mustangs are coming off their best season in a decade in 2023-24. 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 DAVIS: This will be final of two regular season meetings with the Aggies. UC Davis won the first meeting in San Luis Obispo Dec. 5 66-60. Last season, Cal Poly swept the regular season series over the Aggies for the first time since the 2014-15 season. UC Davis then beat the Mustangs in the first round of the Big West Championship. Overall, the Aggies lead the all-time series 41-25.
MUSTANGS VERSUS UC IRVINE: Cal Poly and UC Irvine will close out the regular season series after meeting less than three weeks ago in Irvine. The Anteaters won the first meeting a few weeks ago 60-38. Cal Poly is 37-34 all-time against the Anteaters. However, the Mustangs are seeking to beat UC Irvine for the first time since 2020 with the Anteaters having won the last eight meetings.
SHAH SCORES: Senior guard Annika Shah comes into Thursday’s game with 873 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 92.7 percent for her career. The current leader in that category is Dynn Leaupepe, who was 81.8 percent for her career.
TURN AROUND: In her third season as head coach, Shanele Stires has accumulated a record of 35-40 overall and 23-22 in Big West play. She has improved Cal Poly’s 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 138-86 (.620) in games played at Mott Athletics Center.
LOOKING AHEAD: Next week, Cal Poly hits the road to face first place Long Beach State on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
