McManus, Thompson Earn All-Big West Honors
3/10/2026 4:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – After each having stellar seasons, both Cal Poly women’s basketball sophomore guard Vanessa McManus and freshman forward Charish Thompson received All-Big West honors Tuesday.
McManus and Thompson were each named Big West Honorable Mention. Thompson was also named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.
McManus led the Mustangs and was fifth in the Big West in scoring at 15.9 points per game. She had 20 double figure scoring games, including six games over 20 and two over 30. She scored a career-high 34 points in a game against Southern Utah in which she made 13 field goals.
Thompson had an exceptional freshman season. She was second on the team and 11th in the Big West in scoring at 14.2 points per game. Amongst all Division I freshmen, she ranked 16th in scoring and was the led all Big West freshmen by four points. She had 22 double digit scoring games, six with at least 20, including a career-high 29 points against Seattle. She led the Mustangs in rebounding at 5.3 per game and ranked seventh in the Big West in field goal percentage at 45.3 percent.
McManus and Thompson led a Cal Poly team that was the youngest in all of Division I women’s basketball this year. The team had no seniors and 14 of the 16 players were either freshmen or sophomores.
