CSU Bakersfield
Mustangs Back Home for Pair of Games in Mott This Week
1/29/2025 3:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — For the first time in conference play this season, Cal Poly women’s basketball will play back-to-back games as home as they host a pair of gaes inside Mott Athletics Center this week.
The Mustangs (9-10, 4-5 Big West) will host Cal State Bakersfield Thursday at 6 p.m. and UC Riverside Saturday at 2 p.m. Fans can watch the games on ESPN+ as well as follow live stats on GoPoly.com. Links to both of those can be found on the schedule page.
Cal Poly is coming off one of its biggest wins of the season on Saturday when they went on the road and took down Long Beach State 78-71 to hand the Beach their first conference loss at home this season. Four Mustangs scored in double figures, led by senior guard Annika Shah’s 24 points. Shah also reach 1,000 career points scored in her career during the game to become the 16th Mustang to reach the milestone.
The Mustangs’ defense has been strong all season. They currently rank 10th in the country in defending the three, with opponents only shooting 24.6 percent from beyond the arc against them. In eight of Cal Poly’s nine wins 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 five times this season, she has raised her average to 14.9 points per game which ranks third in the Big West. She leads the Big West and ranks 15th in the nation in threes made per game at 2.9. Shah has been very efficient with her scoring as she ranks third in the Big West in three point percentage and fourth in field goal 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 14 of the 19 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 12.3 points per game which ranks eighth in the Big West. She is second on the team and ranks 11th in the Big West in three point percentage at 36 percent and is third in field goal percentage. Carter also leads the team in blocks and is second in rebounding. She has recorded 15 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 CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD: Cal Poly leads Bakersfield in the all-time series 11-7. The Mustangs have won the last four meetings overall and the last five times the teams have played in Mott Athletics Center.
MUSTANGS VERSUS UC RIVERSIDE: This will be the 83rd all-time meeting with UC Riverside with the series tied 41-41. Cal Poly will be looking to snap a three-game losing skid to the Highlanders. The last time the Mustangs beat UC Riverside at home was a 2023 buzzer beater by Oumou Toure.
SHAH SCORES: During Cal Poly’s road game last weekend at Long Beach State, senior guard Annika Shah became the 16th player in program history and first since 2018 to reach 1,000 career points scored for her career. She scored 24 points in that game to put her career total coming into Thursday’s game at 1,016 which ranks 16th most in program history. She is also on track to become the program’s leader in career free throw percentage as she currently sits at 93.1 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 36-41 overall and 24-24 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 138-87 (.619) in games played at Mott Athletics Center.
LOOKING AHEAD: Next week, Cal Poly heads across the Pacific to face Hawai’i Thursday, Feb. 6 at 10 p.m. PT in its lone game of the week.
