Despite not playing, the UCSB women’s basketball had a lot on the line on Saturday afternoon.
After wrapping up their conference play Thursday with a 57-56 win over Hawaii, the Gauchos were in athe driver’s seat for the No. 2 seed in next week’s Big West Conference Tournament, however, they would need some additional help.
UCSB received that assistance from UC Irvine, who beat Cal State Fullerton Saturday, 68-52 and solidified the Gauchos No. 2 seed.
With the No. 2 seed, Santa Barbara, which finished the season 14-5 overall and 9-7 in conference play, will now have a pair of byes and will not play until the Big West semifinals on March 13.
The first round of the Big West Tournament will begin on March 10 and the quarterfinals will be played on March 11. As the No. 2 seed, UCSB would face the highest of the six remaining seeds in the bracket at 2:30 p.m. at the Honda Center.
The first round of the Big West Tournament will begin with the No. 5 seed, Long Beach State, taking on the No. 8 seed, Cal Poly, at Long Beach State’s The Pyramid Gym at 6 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton, who is the No. 6 seed, and Cal State Northridge, the No. 7 seed, will then play at 8:30 p.m.
On March 11, third-seeded UC Irvine will face the lowest remaining seed in the bracket at 6 p.m. while the No. 4 seed, Hawaii, will face the highest remaining seed in the bracket at 8:30 p.m. with both contests taking place at The Pyramid.
Honda Center action will begin with the semifinals on March 13.
UC Davis is the top seed in the conference tournament after finishing conference play with a record of 12-4. The Aggies semifinal game will be at noon on March 13 against the lowest remaining seed in the bracket.
UC Riverside, who finished with a 4-12 record in conference play, did not make the tournament as it finished in last place in the Big West.
Email: Jmercado@newspress.com
