Basketball is Back
Photo by Mōhai Peloso
Pacific Set to Tip Off Against UC San Diego Nov. 3rd
Collegiate basketball is finally back in Stockton after its yearly hiatus, as the University of the Pacific women’s basketball team opens its 2025-2026 campaign at home tomorrow, November 3rd, against UC San Diego. The Monday night showdown between the Tigers and the future West Coast Conference (WCC) members will tip off at 6 p.m. to a rowdy public at the Alex G. Spanos Center, with both squads eager to start the long season with a mark in the win column. Pre-season polls rank the Tigers at eighth in the conference, one spot below their seventh-place finish from last season. The team will look to prove early that the ranking is a severe underestimation, and this test against the Big West’s preseason number four is the perfect opportunity to do so.
Last season’s seventh-place conference finish saw the Tigers display flashes of competitive brilliance, with notable wins throughout the season. The squad knocked off the eventual WCC tournament champions, fourth-seeded Oregon State, in an overtime thriller at home, and dominated both Long Beach State and Pepperdine University. For the most part, however, Pacific’s results mirrored their mid-table conference position, as they managed to secure wins against lower-ranked teams, but came up short against the conference’s top contenders.
The Tigers will need to rely on the experience of their eight returners in their home opener, as they take on Big West Champions UC San Diego, led by pre-season Big West team selection Erin Condron. The Tritons, fresh off a berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament, have the pre-season momentum behind them. However, Pacific is no stranger to postseason action, making an appearance in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) this past spring as one of the few University of the Pacific athletic programs to qualify for a national tournament last season.
The women’s basketball squad will have big shoes to fill this year after the departure of leading scorer Elizabeth Elliot, who averaged 14.2 points per game in the final season of her collegiate career, finishing with the highest shooting percentage of any Tiger in the 21st century. Elliot also led the team in rebounds, with 6.4 per game. Pacific’s assist leader, Anaya James, who dished out a total of 158 in her final year, also left a legacy not easily matched.
However, this year’s squad is stacked with young ballplayers hungry to prove themselves and continue the legacy built by their predecessors. Marina Radocaj, the top-scoring returner, will look to step into the spotlight for the first time. Meanwhile, newcomers like Winner Bartholomew, a top-four player in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in shooting percentage and an All-Rookie team member, will aim to make an immediate impact on the court.
When the game tips off at center court on the 3rd, a very different team will take the ball up the floor than the one that met New Mexico State in the WNIT this past spring. A talented pool of newcomers and an experienced group of returners look poised to make an even deeper run into the postseason than the last. It has been a long offseason, but another season of Tigers basketball is finally upon us.