The archives will show the UC Irvine women’s basketball team won its first Big West Conference regular-season title in 2023.
Long Beach State coach Jeff Cammon will look back at this season through a different lens.
Long Beach (22-8 overall, 17-3 Big West) posted more conference victories than UCI this season, but the Anteaters (24-5, 16-2) were awarded their first regular-season title in program history based on a better winning percentage.
UCI played two fewer conference games than LBSU this season after canceling matchups last month against UC Davis and Cal Poly because its roster was depleted by injuries. The conference ruled the games no-contests, rather than forfeits.
“I don’t care what anybody says, we earned it on the court,” Cammon said. “It’s very disappointing that it comes down to this.”
Cammon, who was named the Big West Coach of the Year on Monday, said injuries are common in women’s basketball and most teams had to play short-handed at some point during the season, including Long Beach.
“We’ve been without our best players on numerous occasions,” he said. “When I was here as an assistant, there were two or three years where we had seven (players), with four starters out, but we never even thought about not playing. It’s why we’re here.”
By winning the regular-season title, the Anteaters are also the top-seeded team for the Big West Tournament that begins Tuesday afternoon at Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada and concludes with the championship game on Saturday afternoon.
UCI opens play Wednesday at noon against the winner of a game between 8th-seeded Cal State Northridge (7-23, 6-14) and No. 9 Cal State Bakersfield (6-22, 3-17).
The Anteaters won their final seven games, including their last four without three starters because of knee injuries. Hunter Hernandez was leading the team in scoring (12.0) when she went down against UCSB on Feb. 15. The sophomore guard scored 19 points in a 52-50 loss to Long Beach on Feb. 4 and averaged 19.5 points over her last four games.
Naomi Hunt, second on the Anteaters in scoring at 11.7 ppg, has been out since Dec. 31, and Olivia Williams (8.2) has been sidelined since Jan. 19.
“With our top three scorers out, I’m just so proud of this team for pulling together and truly playing for one another,” UCI coach Tamara Inoue said.
Diaba Konate and Nevaeh Parkinson have stepped up in Hernandez’s absence.
Konate is averaging 12.2 points in the five games since Hernandez was injured, and Parkinson has reached double figures in scoring in three of the past four games.
Second-seeded Long Beach is scheduled to open the tournament on Wednesday at 6 p.m. against either 7th-seeded Cal Poly (10-17, 7-12) or No. 10 UC Riverside (5-25, 3-17).
LBSU was well-positioned to clinch sole possession of the regular-season title on its home floor on Saturday afternoon, but lost 65-56 to UC Davis, a team it beat by 21 points earlier this season in Davis.
The loss ended a 15-game winning streak.
“We weren’t able to get it done,” Cammon said.
Cal State Fullerton (14-15, 9-11) won its final three games to secure its most conference wins since the 1990-91 season and earn the No. 6 seed for the tournament.
The Titans, who will open against No. 3 Hawaii (15-14, 13-7) on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., have an overtime win against UCI on their resume this season.
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Fullerton features two of the top three scorers in the Big West in guards Una Jovanovic and Fujika Nimmo, who each average 14.5 ppg.
Northridge is scheduled to play the first game of the tournament on Tuesday at noon against Bakersfield, which it beat both times this season.
“Our kids continue to compete, and we have the attitude of let’s go out and get the next one,” CSUN coach Carlene Mitchell said.
No. 4 seed UC Davis (16-13, 12-7) meets No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (19-11, 12-8) in the other Wednesday quarterfinal at 2:30 p.m.
BIG WEST WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
All games at Dollar Loan Center, Henderson, Nev.
First-round games, Tuesday (March 7)
No. 8 seed Cal State Northridge vs. No. 9 Cal State Bakersfield, noon PT
No. 7 seed Cal Poly vs. No. 10 UC Riverside, 2:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals, Wednesday (March 8)
No. 1 seed UC Irvine vs. 8-9 winner, noon
No. 4 seed UC Davis vs. No. 5 UC Santa Barbara, 2:30 p.m.
No. 2 seed Long Beach State vs. 7-10 winner, 6 p.m.
No. 3 seed Hawaii vs. No. 6 Cal State Fullerton, 8:30 p.m.
Semifinals, Friday (March 10)
Early quarterfinal winners, noon
Late quarterfinal winners, 2:30 p.m.
Championship game, Saturday (March 11)
Semifinal winners, 3 p.m.