Mt. SAC, Sequoias, Orange Coast highlight State Women's Basketball Pre-Season Top 25
2025-26 TOURNEY BRACKETS/SCHEDULES
PRE-SEASON POLL WITH VOTING RESULTS
After a record nine state championships including this past season's 2024-25 3C2A title, Mt. San Antonio College received eight of the 10 first-place votes for the #1 ranking on the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association (CCCWBCA) Pre-Season State Top 25.
Mt. SAC edged out North leader and #2 College of the Sequoias (two first-place votes) with 248 total points to COS 234 in votes made by regional representatives. Orange Coast, winners of back-to-back state titles from 2022-2024, grabbed #3 at 233 while San Joaquin Delta comes in at #4 as the only other team to earn more than 200 voting points at 209.
The rest of the pre-season top 10 is made up of #5 Moorpark, a tie for #6 between Glendale and Palomar, #8 Sierra, #9 Folsom Lake and #10 Laney.
The Big 8 Conference behind Delta, Sierra, Folsom Lake and #18 Santa Rosa JC tied with the Orange Empire for most teams on the top 25 as the OEC boasts four squads in Orange Coast, #14 Cypress, #22 Santa Ana and #25 Irvine Valley.
The only team that made the rankings that had a below .500 record a season ago was Lemoore, 8-19 in '24-25, as the Golden Eagles got rated #17.
In a surprise, last season's #19 Cerro Coso dropped the sport while Grossmont (final #13), Fullerton (#23) and West Los Angeles (#25) didn't make the cut for the '25-26 first poll. That allowed newcomers in Lemoore, #18 Santa Rosa JC, #21 Butte, and #24 Hartnell to join the first rankings.
Mt. SAC hosts the Linda Smith Memorial Tip-Off Classic featuring seven top 25 teams including the big 3--the Mounties, Sequoias and Orange Coast. Delta hosts the annual Jocelyn Mancebo Classic with five ranked teams. Both tourneys run Friday, Oct. 31 to Sunday, Nov. 2.
CCCWBCA STATE PRE-SEASON TOP 25 #1
| RANK | TEAM, CONFERENCE | 2024-25 FINAL RECORD | NOTES | REGION TOP 15 | LAST SEASON FINAL RANK |
| 1. | Mt. San Antonio, South Coast North | 29-4 | Three starters from the Mounties' 3C2A state championship final return, led by All-State Tournament selections in Taliyah McFerson (All-State First Team) and Elizabeth Udeze. | South #1 | State #1 |
| 2. | Sequoias, Central Valley | 31-1 | The Giants are poised to make another bid to return to the state tourney with the addition sophomore transfer 3-point shooting wizard in Sydney Chestnut and McDonald's All-American prep point guard Nyla Anderson. | North #1 | State #3 |
| 3. | Orange Coast, Orange Empire | 27-6 | With two state titles and trips to three straight 3C2A finals, the Pirates want to make it four in a row as two key players from the '24-25 squad return in Melaiah Joseph and Kayla Borgelt. | South #2 | State #2 |
| 4. | San Joaquin Delta, Big 8 | 22-9 | A '24-25 state quarterfinalist, the Mustangs return three starters including All-State 3rd Team Fajr Cuthbertson, who scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a state tourney loss to Glendale | North #2 | State #6 |
| 5. | Moorpark, Western State North | 25-5 | The Raiders return All-WSC North 1st Team talent Alyssa Saldana and continue to be a South power. | South #3 | State #9 |
| T6. | Glendale, Western State South | 26-5 | Twice advancing to the Final Four the past two seasons, the Vaqueros bring back All-State 1st Team forward Shadel Ffrench | South #4 | State #4 |
| T6. | Palomar, Pacfic Coast Athletic | 24-7 | The Comets, a '24-25 state quarterfinalist, was expected to return All-State 2nd Team talent Kylie Trujillo | South #5 | State #5 |
| 8. | Sierra, Big 8 | 25-5 | The Wolverines ran a streak of 32 straight appearances in the postseason in '24-25 and made it to the state quarterfinals. They are one of three Big 8 teams in the top 10. Krissy Kelly, a solid role player last season, is back as Sierra will have a new starting 5 | North #3 | State #7 |
| 9. | Folsom Lake, Big 8 | 25-6 | The Falcons return All-Big 8 performer Lexi Peters, who averaged 11.6 points, 4.4 assists in helping FLC make it to its second consecutive state quarterfinals | North #4 | State #8 |
| 10. | Laney, Bay Valley | 26-4 | After a spirited run of high finishes under Ramaundo Vaughn (now a Fresno State assistant), the Eagles rebuild under new HC Bryan Gardere as most of Laney's assistant staff remains. | North #5 | State #11 |
| T11. | CC San Francisco, Coast North | 19-9 | The Rams have some early buzz that places them nine spots ahead of their '24-25 state final rank. Coast North Freshman of the Year Allesandra Nelson averaged 14.3 points | North #6 | State #20 |
| T11. | Fresno City, Central Valley | 20-10 | The Rams return Destiny Edwards, who was a key player off the bench as a freshman as they will likely be in the race for 2nd place in the CVC. | North #7 | State #12 |
| 13. | Mt. San Jacinto, Inland Empire Athletic | 24-5 | The Eagles bring back Kohen Marshall who averaged 10.5 points on last season's IEAC champion squad | South #6 | State #14 |
| 14. | Cypress, Orange Empire | 21-9 | The Chargers return All-State 2nd Team choice Christaesha Jackson | South #7 | State #10 |
| 15. | Long Beach City, South Coast South | 21-8 | The Vikings have won the last five SCC South Division crowns and return All-SCC First Team selection Yesenia Garcia | South #8 | State #17 |
| 16. | San Jose City, Coast South | 27-3 | The Jaguars won 53 of their last 60 games over the past two seasons with two Coast South titles to their credit. They return 16.4 points per game scorer in Synise Byrd | North #8 | State #16 |
| 17. | Lemoore, Central Valley | 8-19 | The surprise of the pre-season poll, the Golden Eagles are here thanks to the addition of new head coach Keshawn Johnson, who led a now defunct Cerro Coso program to a state #19 slot last season at 24-6. Transfer Savannah Rowland averaged 12.3 points a game as a freshman. | North #9 | Not Ranked |
| 18. | Santa Rosa JC, Big 8 | 17-13 | The Bear Cubs have joined the rankings after missing out on last season's top 25. They return three starters including Kaia Eubanks, who averaged 12.4 points. | North #10 | Not Ranked |
| 19. | Victor Valley, Inland Empire Athletic | 22-7 | With four straight 20-win seasons, the Rams return just one starter in Myla Gibson, who averaged 8.5 rebounds as a freshman | South #9 | State #24 |
| 20. | Santa Barbara City, Western State North | 22-7 | The Vaqueros return WSC North Defensive Player of the Year in Kaylee Lawson as they hope to challenge Moorpark for this season's division crown | South #10 | State #18 |
| 21. | Butte, Golden Valley | 19-10 | The Roadrunners have won each of the last five GVC championships and hope to make it six in a row. They have completely reloaded with an all 15-player freshmen squad in '25-26 | North #11 | Not Ranked |
| 22. | Santa Ana, Orange Empire | 20-9 | The Dons bring back four starters, including Anaya Beard, who averaged 16.1 points, 9 rebounds per game as an All-OEC selection. | South #11 | State #21 |
| 23. | San Diego Mesa, Pacific Coast Athletic | 20-10 | The Olympians bring back All-PCAC 1st Team choice Stevie Lundquist as they are under new leadership with interim HC Careth Herron | South #12 | State #15 |
| 24. | Hartnell, Coast South | 17-12 | The Panthers join the pre-season top 25 and have a talented return in Bailey Cotter, who averaged a line of 10.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists. | North #12 | Not Ranked |
| 25. | Irvine Valley, Orange Empire | 16-14 | The Lasers are paced by returning All-OEC 2nd Team talent Samantha Barnett | South #13 | State #22 |
| OTHERS | |||||
| Grossmont, Pacific Coast Athletic | 24-6 | South #14 | State #13 | ||
| Fullerton, Orange Empire | 19-11 | South #15 | State #23 | ||
| West Los Angeles, Western State South | 19-11 | State #25 | |||
| Antelope Valley, Western State South | 17-12 | ||||
| Chabot, Coast North | 18-12 | North #13 | |||
| Shasta, Golden Valley | 18-12 | North #14 | |||
| Chaffey, Inland Empire Athletic | 18-10 | ||||
| San Mateo, Coast North | 17-12 | North #15 | |||
| East Los Angeles, South Coast North | 16-13 | ||||
| LA Valley, Western State South | 15-15 | ||||
| Citrus, Western State South | 18-11 | ||||
| Chaffey, Inland Empire Athletic | 18-10 | ||||
| Cuesta, Western State North | 17-11 | ||||
| Taft, Central Valley | 16-13 | ||||
| Solano, Bay Valley | 17-11 | ||||
| LA Trade-Tech, South Coast North | 14-15 | ||||
| Cosumnes River, Big 8 | 16-14 | ||||
| Redwoods, Golden Valley | 11-17 | ||||
| Skyline, Coast North | 11-19 | ||||
| Modesto JC, Big 8 | 14-15 | ||||
| Riverside City, Orange Empire | 12-16 | ||||
Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWBCA Publicist