2025–26 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball team

2025–26 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball
2025–26 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	11–2 (3–1 Big West)
Head coach	Renee Jimenez (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Chelsea Carlisle; Dario Frias; Tina Samaniego; Kelsey Forrester;
Home arena	The Thunderdome

2025–26 Big West women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
UC Irvine	17	–	3	.850	26	–	6	.813
UC San Diego †	17	–	3	.850	24	–	8	.750
UC Davis	15	–	5	.750	23	–	10	.697
Hawai'i	14	–	6	.700	22	–	11	.667
Cal State Fullerton	13	–	7	.650	18	–	14	.563
UC Santa Barbara	12	–	8	.600	20	–	10	.667
UC Riverside	8	–	12	.400	11	–	21	.344
Cal State Northridge	6	–	14	.300	10	–	20	.333
Long Beach State	4	–	16	.200	5	–	25	.167
Cal State Bakersfield	2	–	18	.100	7	–	23	.233
Cal Poly	2	–	18	.100	4	–	26	.133

† 2026 Big West tournament winner As of March 14, 2026

The 2025–26 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball team represents the University of California, Santa Barbara during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gauchos, led by second-year head coach Renee Jimenez, play their home games at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, California as members of the Big West Conference.

Previous season

The Gauchos finished the 2024–25 season 18–13, 12–8 in Big West play, to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.^[1] They were defeated by Cal Poly in the first round of the Big West tournament.^[2]

Preseason

On October 16, 2025, the Big West released their preseason poll. UC Santa Barbara was picked to finish fifth in the conference.^[3]

Preseason rankings

Big West Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Hawai'i	91 (4)
2	UC Irvine	90 (4)
3	UC Davis	83 (1)
4	UC San Diego	77 (2)
5	UC Santa Barbara	61
6	Long Beach State	57
7	UC Riverside	51
8	Cal Poly	34
9	Cal State Northridge	27
10	Cal State Fullerton	20
11	Cal State Bakersfield	14
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[3]

Preseason All-Big West Team

Preseason All-Big West Team
Player	Year	Position
Skylar Burke	Senior	Guard

Source:^[3]

Roster

2025–26 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	2	Zoe Borter	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Beaverton High School	Beaverton, Oregon
F	4	Júlia Puente-Valverde	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	RS Jr	McNeese	Barcelona, Spain
F	5	Olivia Bradley	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	RS So	Urrbrae Agricultural High School	Adelaide, Australia
G	8	Ava Rawlins	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Fr	Folsom High School	Folsom, California
G	12	Maddie Naro	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Jr	Santa Clara	Beaverton, Oregon
G	15	Chauncey Andersen	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Jefferson High School	Portland, Oregon
G/F	21	Valentina Penna	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	APU Udine	Bergamo, Italy
G/F	22	Helena Shum-Koubek	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Fr	Oak Park High School	Agoura Hills, California
G	23	Zoe Shaw	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	So	St. Bonaventure	Melbourne, Australia
G	31	Martha Pietsch	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	Sr	Oregon State	Berlin, Germany
G	32	Jessica Grant	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sr	Mission Hills High School	San Marcos, California
G	35	Malani Mastora	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Alameda High School	Alameda, California
G	44	Bojana Radnjic	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Hoosac School	Herceg Novi, Montenegro
G	55	Skylar Burke	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sr	Coeur d'Alene High School	Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Head coach

Renee Jimenez (San Francisco State)

Assistant coach(es)

Chelsea Carlisle (UC San Diego)
Dario Frias (Cal State San Bernardino)
Tina Samaniego (San Francisco)
Kelsey Forrester (Cal State San Marcos)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 28, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Cal State Monterey Bay	W 80–44	1–0	19 – Bradley	6 – Tied	6 – Naro	The Thunderdome (539) Santa Barbara, CA
November 6, 2025* 11:30 am, B1G+	at No. 3 UCLA	L 50–87	1–1	11 – Bradley	4 – Tied	3 – Naro	Pauley Pavilion (6,863) Los Angeles, CA
November 9, 2025* 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at Seattle	W 89–49	2–1	19 – Shaw	7 – Tied	4 – Tied	Redhawk Center (312) Seattle, WA
November 15, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Grand Canyon	W 72–70	3–1	17 – Shaw	7 – Bradley	6 – Borter	The Thunderdome (481) Santa Barbara, CA
November 19, 2025* 6:00 pm, MWN	at San Jose State	W 75−60	4−1	22 – Borter	6 – Tied	3 – Tied	Provident Credit Union Event Center (567) San Jose, CA
November 22, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Westcliff	Canceled^[4]					The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
November 28, 2025* 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at California Baptist CBU Classic	W 74–49	5–1	19 – Borter	9 – Puente-Valverde	8 – Naro	Fowler Events Center (515) Riverside, CA
November 29, 2025* 2:30 pm, ESPN+	vs. Chattanooga CBU Classic	W 66–64	6–1	17 – Bradley	7 – Burke	2 – Tied	Fowler Events Center (201) Riverside, CA
December 4, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Long Beach State	W 67–52	7–1 (1–0)	15 – Grant	8 – Bradley	6 – Naro	LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid (607) Long Beach, CA
December 6, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Cal State Bakersfield	W 67–47	8–1 (2–0)	25 – Borter	7 – Bradley	5 – Naro	Icardo Center (129) Bakersfield, CA
December 13, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Utah Tech	W 68–65	9–1	16 – Grant	6 – Tied	4 – Tied	Burns Arena (537) St. George, UT
December 18, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Washington	W 89−63	10−1	24 – Borter	13 – Bradley	5 – Burke	The Thunderdome (527) Santa Barbara, CA
January 1, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Cal State Fullerton	L 61–62	10–2 (2–1)	12 – Tied	8 – Burke	6 – Naro	The Thunderdome (466) Santa Barbara, CA
January 3, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Cal State Northridge	W 88–70	11–2 (3–1)	18 – Bradley	5 – Andersen	4 – Burke	The Thunderdome (481) Santa Barbara, CA
January 8, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at UC Davis						University Credit Union Center Davis, CA
January 15, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Cal State Bakersfield						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
January 17, 2026 9:00 pm, ESPN+	at Hawai'i						Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI
January 22, 2026 7:00 pm, SSN	at Cal Poly Blue–Green Rivalry						Mott Athletics Center San Luis Obispo, CA
January 24, 2026 1:00 pm, SSN	Long Beach State						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
January 29, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	UC San Diego						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
January 31, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Cal State Fullerton						Titan Gym Fullerton, CA
February 5, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	UC Davis						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
February 7, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at UC Irvine						Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
February 12, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	UC Riverside						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
February 14, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Cal Poly Blue–Green Rivalry						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
February 19, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Cal State Northridge						Premier America Credit Union Arena Northridge, CA
February 21, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Hawai'i						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
February 26, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at UC Riverside						SRC Arena Riverside, CA
February 28, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	UC Irvine						The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA
March 7, 2026 4:00 pm, ESPN+	at UC San Diego						LionTree Arena La Jolla, CA
Big West tournament
March 11–14, 2026	vs.						Lee's Family Forum Henderson, NV
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific.

Sources:^[5]^[6]

References

^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". The Big West. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
^ "UCSB's Comeback Falls Short in 56-54 Loss to Cal Poly in Big West Women's Basketball Tournament". Noozhawk. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Hawai'i Selected as Preseason Favorites for 2025–26 Women's Basketball Title". The Big West. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
^ "Women's Basketball Game Against Westcliff Canceled". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
^ "UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 28, 2025.

[1] "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". The Big West. Retrieved December 28, 2025.

[2] "UCSB's Comeback Falls Short in 56-54 Loss to Cal Poly in Big West Women's Basketball Tournament". Noozhawk. Retrieved December 28, 2025.

[poll-3] "Hawai'i Selected as Preseason Favorites for 2025–26 Women's Basketball Title". The Big West. Retrieved December 28, 2025.

[4] "Women's Basketball Game Against Westcliff Canceled". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved December 28, 2025.

[5] "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved December 28, 2025.

[6] "UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 28, 2025.

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[6]

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball
Venues	Robertson Gymnasium (1972–1979) The Thunderdome (1979–present)
Rivalries	Cal Poly
Culture & lore	Olé
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26