UCSB
Mustangs Host Blue-Green Rival UCSB Thursday
2/26/2025 3:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — With four games left to play in the regular season, Cal Poly women’s basketball will continue its battle for a spot in the upcoming Big West Championships this week with a pair of games.
The Mustangs (11-15, 6-10 Big West) host Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara Thursday at 6 p.m. in Mott Athletics Center. It is a ‘whiteout’ game with fans encouraged to wear white. They then hit the road Saturday to face Cal State Bakersfield 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.
The Mustangs are looking to bounce back after falling on the road last week to both UC San Diego and UC Riverside. Cal Poly is looking to hold its eighth place spot in the Big West standings as they currently hold a one game lead over ninth place Cal State Fullerton. The top eight teams from the regular season all go to Henderson, Nevada to compete in the Big West Championships March 12-15.
Defense has been the calling card all season for the Mustangs. They currently lead the country in defending the three, with opponents only shooting 24.8 percent from beyond the arc against them. They also rank fourth in the Big West in steals. In 10 of Cal Poly’s 11 wins this year, they have held opponents under 60 points.
Senior guard Annika Shah has been leading the offense all season. Having gone for over 20 points six times this season, she has raised her average to 13.7 points per game which ranks sixth in the Big West. She leads the Big West and ranks 25th in the nation in threes made per game at 2.7. Shah has been very efficient with her scoring as she ranks second 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 16 of the 26 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 12.2 points per game which ranks eighth in the Big West. She is second on the team and ranks ninth in the Big West in three point percentage at 35 percent and is second in the Big West in field goal percentage at 43 percent. Carter also leads the team in blocks (fifth in the Big West) and is second in rebounding. She has recorded 19 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 UCSB: UCSB leads the Blue-Green rivalry all-time series 61-30. However, Cal Poly has won three of the last four meetings. That included the first meeting earlier this season which saw graduate guard Ashley Hiraki winning the game with a last second and-one layup to give Cal Poly a 51-50 win on the road Jan. 11.
MUSTANGS VERSUS CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD: Cal Poly leads Bakersfield in the all-time series 12-7. The Mustangs have won the last five meetings overall, including a 51-42 victory earlier this season at home over the Roadrunners.
SHAH SCORES: During Cal Poly’s road game Jan. 25 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. Her career total coming into Thursday’s game at 1,088 which ranks ninth most in program history and just two points behind ninth place. 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.
BOURLAND BOARDS: Last week against UC Riverside, senior Sydney Bourland reached 500 rebounds for her career which ranks in the top 20 in program history. She also ranks 20th in program history in career steals.
TURN AROUND: In her third season as head coach, Shanele Stires has accumulated a record of 38-46 overall and 26-28 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 140-89 (.620) in games played at Mott Athletics Center.
LOOKING AHEAD: Next week, Cal Poly will play its final two games of the regular season. First they will go on the road to face Cal State Fullerton Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m. They then will host Long Beach State Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m. for the final home game of the season.
