UC San Diego
Mustangs Return to Big West Play Thursday, Saturday
12/31/2025 1:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After finishing up non-conference play Sunday, Cal Poly women's basketball gets back into Big West play this week, ringing in 2026 with a pair of games.
The Mustangs (2-10) will head down to La Jolla to take on UC San Diego Thursday at noon. They will then return home Saturday to host Long Beach State at 2 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN+ with links to that as well as live stats on GoPoly.com.
Cal Poly has two players who rank in the top 10 in the Big West in scoring. Sophomore guard Vanessa McManus leads the Big West at 19.6 points per game. She has scored in double figures nine times this season, including over 20 four times.
Meanwhile, freshman forward Charish Thompson is having an exceptional start to her college career. She is second on the team and 10th in the Big West in scoring at 14.1 points per game. That ranks fifth in the amongst all Division I freshmen. She’s also second in the Big West in free throw percentage at 88.5 percent and is fifth in field goal percentage at 47.5 percent.
The Tritons, the defending Big West champions, are 6-5 overall and 1-0 in Big West play. UC San Diego's defense ranks as one of the best in the Big West in both steals and points allowed, averaging 60.2 points per game allowed and forcing over 20 turnovers per game. This will be a rematch of last year's Big West Championship Quarterfinal which saw the Tritons just edge the Mustangs 59-54. UC San Diego leads the all-time series by a close margin of 7-5.
Long Beach State is currently 1-11 on the season, earning their first victory of the season Monday against Hope International. The Beach have the fifth leading scorer in the Big West in JaQuoia Jones-Brown who is averaging 17.4 points per game. They average the third most turnovers in the Big West at 18.4.
Following Saturday’s game, the Mustangs will remain at home to host CSUN Thursday, Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center.
