Big West Women's Basketball Preview

Editor's note: Yes, he does realize he's doing a full preview for all ten women's teams (as opposed to doing an individual videocast for each team).  Please understand that the season starts today.  The Blog thanks you for your forgiveness and cooperation and hopes that you continue visiting and making fun of their writing.

Big West Women's Basketball starts today and we'll look at who will be fighting for that magical spot to the Big Dance.  The women's teams can be separated into three main segments by preseason media voters: The Top, The Fighters, The Dark Horses and.  That being said, let's break down the teams:

The Top:
While the Matadors are picked to win the league, Pacific was only two votes behind in the preseason media poll and received five first place votes (Northridge got six).  The third team at The Top is UCSB, who looks to defend their title.  In terms of media votes, there's only eight total points separating them.  Northridge All-Conference Guards, Sophomores Ashlee Guay and Janae Sharpe look to be the stars of a decently experienced Matador team, while Senior Forward Kendall Rodriguez looks to lead Pacific through their farewell tour.  While the Gauchos don't have an All-Conference player on the roster, they'll look to Nicole Nesbit and Sweets Underwood (fantastic name) to lead the team.

The Fighters:
Only two teams fall in this category: Cal Poly and Long Beach State.  The Lady Mustangs lost Ashlee Burns and Kristina Santiago, however they have All-Conference player Kayla Griffin to lead a fairly experienced team.  LBSU on the other hand has 10 returning players, nine of which were newcomers last year.  Alex Sanchez (who was freshman of the year last season) and Mary Ochiltree will be the go-to girls for the 49ers.

The Dark Horses:
Hawaii, UC Davis and UCR are what I consider true dark horses in the conference this season.   Only seven votes separated all of them in the preseason poll, and remember that last season, the No. 5-7 seeds all made the semifinals of the Big West tournament, with the final ending up as No. 6 vs No. 7.  Hawaii has All-Conference Junior Forward Kamilah Martin leading the team while UCR has Senior Guard Tre' Shonti Nottingham to take the veteran role of a young Highlander team.  In the exhibition game versus Redlands, Sydnee Fipps took charge of a team seemingly missing an identity, thus establishing herself as the leader of this team.  I'm also going to throw UCI's name here, because they have the ability to pull off upset or two throughout the season.  Jasmine Bernard will be the player to look out for offensively, as UCI will play more of a defensive game to stop opponents.  Fullerton was ranked last by many points, however while not looking to be contenders this season, they could be spoilers.  Sophomore Kathleen Iwuoha looks to lead the team through a difficult non-conference slate and then a competitive rest of season.

My Preseason Poll:
1. Pacific
2. Northridge
3. Cal Poly
4. UCSB
5. LBSU
6. UCR
7. Hawaii
8. UC Davis
9. UCI
10. Fullerton

Get ready: season starts in one hour!


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