Having locked up its first SCIAC Tournament title and regular season championship in more than a decade over the past two seasons, California Lutheran University has been tabbed to top the conference again in the 2025-26 SCIAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
The Regals boast a fearsome trio in three-time All-SCIAC pick
Janna Holley, two-time First Team All-SCIAC star
Alline Ballard and Second Team All-SCIAC guard
Kaiya Mack who combined to account for more than half the team’s scoring with 36.9 points per game for the league’s only offense to average over 70 points. Ballard averaged a double-double with a team-high 14.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, completing a strong all-around line with 1.2 assists, 0.7 blocks and 0.6 steals per contest. Holley hit 41.4 percent on 24 made three-pointers while dishing out 3.8 assists per game.
The University of Redlands picked up two first-place votes thanks in large part to D3hoops.com Preseason All-American
AJ Wick, who also averaged a double-double with 15.9 points and a conference-leading 13.2 rebounds per game along with 1.4 blocks per game to rank second. Along with Second Team selection
Leila Hosn, The Bulldogs will have four former All-Conference players available with 2024 First Team honoree
Colbi Zorich and return from injury of
Aaliyah Anderson, a Second Team pick as a sophomore in 2024.
Third-place Chapman University’s sophomore duo
Makenna Nitao and
Layla Woods both have made the All-Conference picture in the last two seasons, with Woods leading the way on the First Team last winter on averages of 14.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. Nitao played less than half the season due to injury but was highly efficient before going down with a 48.2 field goal percentage including a 41.7 percent mark from long-range and 92.3 from the free-throw line.
Pomona-Pitzer was just a game out of third place last season with First Team All-SCIAC guard
Jadyn Lee ranking third in the conference with 16.1 points per game on a league-leading .480 field goal percentage while rounding out an impressive line with 8.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists (2.1 A:TO ratio) 2.1 steals and 1.0 block. Regular season champion Whittier College and Coaching Staff of the Year winner
Kristen Dowling will have a new-look squad consisting of 11 newcomers and only two returning players who started a game in
Yaneli Rosales Beltran and
Kennedy Perkins who combined for 10.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals across 55.0 minutes per game.
Occidental College will be eager for perhaps the most impactful injury return in the country of
Ainsley Shelsta, who missed the second half of conference play which saw the Tigers drop from one game shy of the SCIAC Tournament after going 6-2 in the first half. The 6’5” center averaged 17.3 points and 13.4 rebounds hitting 50 percent from the floor and will be joined one more time by two-time All-SCIAC selection
Paige Yasukochi, who dropped 13.4 points per contest.
Second Team All-SCIAC pick
Renee Chong and
Katie Resendiz are the only seniors rostered by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and also held the top two scoring spots for last year’s squad, averaging a combined 26.9 points with 8.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals in 60.2 minutes per game.
Alyssa Smith made the Second Team for the University of La Verne as one of just four players in the conference to average double-digits in both points and rebounds (13.4 points, 10.8 rebounds) while also dishing out 3.2 assists per game.
Jasmine Prajitno will be a name to watch as well after leading the team as a rookie with 16.8 points on a .521 field goal percentage in just four games before missing the rest of the season. Interim head coach
Madison Quan, the 2023 SCIAC Athlete of the Year, takes the reigns for Caltech which will run through Newcomer of the Year
Kyra Phaychanpheng.
The season tips off on Friday, Nov. 7 as CMS flies to Milwaukee and Whittier hosts Pacific Lutheran University, while the following day California Lutheran University flies to Massachusetts with Redlands hosting the Lutes and Caltech squaring off against MIT in a battle of engineers. Pomona-Pitzer also will host MIT on Sunday with Chapman joining the mix with the Lutes on Monday.
2025-26 SCIAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. California Lutheran, 77 points (5 first-place votes)
2. Redlands, 68 pts (2)
3. Chapman, 58 pts (1)
4. Pomona-Pitzer, 52 pts
5. Whittier, 43 pts (1)
6. Occidental, 38 pts
7. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 34 pts
8. La Verne, 24 pts
9. Caltech, 11 pts
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