LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's women's basketball team, which is finishing up a three-game swing through major NCAA Division I program this evening in Arizona, has been picked to finish second in the California Collegiate Athletic Association in a conference poll of head coaches released on Thursday.
Cal State LA is coming off another successful season in 2024-25 that included a fourth straight trip to the CCAA Tournament and an 18-10 overall record. The Golden Eagles were ranked ninth in the final West Region poll and narrowly missed a first-ever third straight trip to the NCAA playoffs.
The Golden Eagles finished second in the poll with 122 points and a pair of first-place votes. Cal Poly Pomona was picked to win the conference with seven first-place votes and 139 points. Chico State was third in the poll with three first-place votes and 116 points, Cal State San Bernardino was fourth with 109 points, defending conference champion and national runner-up Cal State Dominguez Hills was fifth with 81 points and Cal State San Marcos was sixth with 79 points.
Cal Poly Humboldt (77 points), Cal State East Bay (70), Stanislaus State (49), San Francisco State (39), Cal State Monterey Bay (28) and UC Merced (26) round out the poll.
Cal State LA has 10 returners, including second-team All-CCAA forward
Amaya Fuentes and All-CCAA honorable mention guards
Nevaeh Asiasi and
Sofia Fidelus.
Ronyae Jackson,
Mariah Blake,
Gabriella Rones,
Jaden Newman,
Kyara Walter,
Nia Johnson and
Mary Cotton also return.
Ariyah Smith, who earned All-CCAA honorable mention last year at Cal State East Bay and
Mason Oberg, a senior guard from Western Washington are among the group of newcomers that include freshmen
Destiny Walker,
Brianna Thomas,
Jocelynn Townsend and
Paige Worthem.
Cal State LA is playing an exhibition game at the University of Arizona to conclude a three-game in four-days trip that started with stops at SMU and Stanford.
Cal State LA will open its 2024-25 on Nov. 14 at Seattle Pacific in the opening day of the CCAA/GNAC Challenge.
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