After 10 years, Cal Poly Women’s Basketball will make their return to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
This appearance is the Mustangs’ fourth in program history.
The WNIT announced the field of 48 Division I women’s basketball programs on Sunday, March 17.
Subsequently, the tournament announced the first round of games on Monday, March 18. The Mustangs will travel to the University of Pacific (18-14) and take on the Tigers.
In the second year of head coach Shanele Stires’ tenure, the Mustangs saw a seven-win increase. They now have a 17-13 overall record and a 13-7 record in Big West play after finishing last season 10-18.
The season before Stires arrived, the Mustangs won just three games. Two seasons later, the Mustangs found themselves with the fourth seed heading into the conference championship.
They received a first-round bye but were ousted by UC Davis in the second round 56-48 after defeating the Aggies in their previous two matchups.
However, the team’s season isn’t over yet, as the team received an At Large bid to the WNIT.
The Mustangs are one of two Big West teams selected for a spot, the other being UC Riverside, to whom the Mustangs fell twice during conference play.
Round one of the games will take place between March 20 and 22. The winners of their first-round matchups will move to round two of games between March 23 and 26.
The championship game of the WNIT will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network on Saturday, April 6, at 3 p.m. ET.
Who are the standouts for the Mustangs?
The team is led by guard-forward tandem of junior Annika Shah and senior Natalia Ackerman.
Ackerman was named to the All-Big West First Team. The Watsonville, Calif. native leads the conference in shooting percentage (.591) and recorded a Big West-leading 11 double-doubles.
On defense, Ackerman averaged 2.1 blocks per game, which is good for 25th in the country. She also broke the single-season block record in Cal Poly’s history after swatting away 68 shots.
Shah was named a Big West Honorable Mention after shooting 39.7% from three and averaging 11.8 points per game. The Palo Alto native led the conference in free throw percentage, knocking down 94.2% of her shots from the line.
Another crucial piece for the Mustangs is junior forward Sydney Bourland. She’s started in every game this season and has made the second-most field goals.
Bourland is a jack-of-all-trades forward who provides defensive versatility and can be a playmaker on offense. She is second on the team in assists with 78 while usually guarding the opponent’s best player.
Graduate guard Ania McNicholas, junior guard Sidney Richards and freshman forward Mary Carter are important offensive pieces. McNicholas leads the team in assists, while Richards is a spark plug scorer off the bench. She found her rhythm in the last portion of conference play.
Carter was named to the Big West All-Freshman team after making the second-most three-pointers on the team and averaging 6.6 points per game. Her combination of height—6 foot 3—and shooting ability makes her a tough matchup.
Scouting the Tigers
The Tigers play in the West Coast Conference and finished fifth with an 8-8 conference record.
The Tigers are a potent offensive team, averaging 71.8 points per game, but allow the most points in the WCC at 70.5 points per game.
Junior Elizabeth Elliot is the primary scorer for the Tigers. Elliot averages 13.2 points per game.
Four other Tigers average double figures, but Anaya James, at 12.3 points per game, is second in scoring behind Elliot.
The Mustangs will need to contain Elliot in the paint. However, Elliot only averages 20 minutes per game, so the team needs to capitalize on the moments she is off the floor.
Stires and the Mustangs will look to win their first WNIT game in program history on Thursday, March 21.