Both Cal Poly basketball teams advance to second round of Big West tournament

The screen on the jumbotron inside Lee’s Family Forum cut to Aaron Price Jr. on the bench with a smile on his face.

Price Jr. grew up in the Henderson, Nevada, area. With family and friends in the stands, the 6-foot-8 forward scored 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting to help propel the Mustangs to an 86-76 comeback win over UC Davis in the first round of the Big West Championship tournament.

He scored five straight points to give the team its first lead and then went on a solo 6-0 run later in the second half to push the lead to double-digits.

His scoring run was a part of Cal Poly’s 21-2 second half outburst that erased a 9-point deficit coming out of halftime and ultimately buried the Aggies.

But the men’s victory was only half of Cal Poly’s success on Thursday.

Ten hours earlier in the first game of the day of women’s tournament, it was also all grins for Cal Poly, which secured its first Big West playoff win under third-year Head Coach Shanele Stires.

“It’s really nice to be sitting here after a win because the last two years we’ve lost in the first round,” Stires said.

For the first time since 2021, both the Cal Poly men’s and women’s basketball teams won their opening round games in the Big West Conference Championships. Before 2021, the last time both teams won an opening round game was in 2014.

Men’s basketball second half blitz leads takedown of UC Davis

Last time the Mustangs played UC Davis, they were at low point in the season. The Aggies’ physicality on defense wore down the Mustangs, who couldn’t figure out how to score, totaling a season-low 54 points in the mid-January game.

They did not repeat that performance on Thursday, scoring 48 in the second half alone after going into the break down 47-38.

“I just was proud of the way the guys responded in that second half,” Head Coach Mike DeGeorge said. “We have a mature group. They came out with a tremendous amount of toughness, and we’re able to flip not only the outcome, but the momentum of the game.”

After the last UC Davis game, the Mustangs were flustered. The conference losing streak was growing and the team had one of its worst games of the season at home.

But two games later, the weigh was lifted after a win over Long Beach State. Following an 0-8 start to Big West Conference play, the team finished the year 8-4 and clawed its way to the seventh seed in the Big West playoffs.

The Mustangs are now on a four-game win streak and playing their best basketball of the season.

“I feel like everyone in the conference saw the way we just got rolling and the way we play makes us so dangerous,” said Jarred Hyder, who scored 16 points. “With us feeling this rhythm and the way we’re playing together right now, we know it, and the other teams in this conference know that we’re one of the most dangerous teams that they have to go through in this tournament.”

The Mustangs have struggled with depth the whole season, and their problems were exasperated this week with Guzman Vasilic expected to miss the rest of this tournament with a sprained ankle.

Price Jr. only played eight minutes but made his mark. He knocked down a 3-pointer after being left wide open to give the Mustangs a lead and then finished a layup around the basket.

A few minutes later, the gym erupted when he finished a dunk off a dumpoff pass from Owen Koonce.

“I just have such a great deal of gratitude,” Price said. “I just want to thank Coach and them for giving me an opportunity to go out there and show what I can do. I want to thank my teammates for giving me the ball. I’m just so grateful just to be in this moment.”

Cal Poly needs to win four games in four days to reach the championship, a feat they last achieved in 2014 when they earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.

Their next matchup is against UC Riverside at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Women’s basketball secures first playoff win under Stires

In the women’s team’s two games against Santa Barbara in the regular season, both came down to the wire.

The Mustangs’ Ashley Hiraki scored an and-one layup for a 51-50 win at the Thunderdome. Then Anya Choice for the Gauchos made a free throw to put the game away 63-60 in the next matchup in San Luis Obispo.

The Gauchos had a chance to send the game to overtime on Thursday, but Sydney Bourland stole the ball on an inbounds and the Mustangs moved on to play UC San Diego.

“I think we’ve got some tremendous older players, but we’ve got two really talented forwards right here to my left,” said Stires as she gestured to Sierra Lichtie and Mary Carter, who both finished the game with double-doubles. “I think they are two of the best in our league, and to see them be able to experience advancing in March, I think really helps them understand what it takes to win this tournament.”

Lichtie finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Carter scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Mustangs’ leading scorer, and member of the All-Big West Second Team, Annika Shah, couldn’t find her stroke. A usually lights-out 3-point shooter, Shah scored five points on 2-12 shooting.

However, as Shah sunk her only 3-pointer in the second half with under three minutes left, she punched her arm in the air as Cal Poly’s lead extended to six points.

“When we’re preparing for postseason, they’re going to take away two of our best players,” Lichtie said. “Annika Shah draws so much attention, so I think her really being unselfish on the floor tonight was huge. She spaced the floor and let us get in the gaps to score.”

The Gauchos blitzed Shah off pick and rolls and forced her to get off the ball. Defenders would stay home on Shah, so she couldn’t shoot her patented long-range shot.

It was the other players for Cal Poly that led the way. Alongside Lichtie and Carter, freshman Gabby Robinson contributed eight points to help the Mustangs build a large first-half lead.

She made two 3-pointers and helped the Mustangs to a 19-6 first quarter.

“Gabby is one of those young ladies that we challenge a lot in practice because she’s got a lot of talent,” Stires said. “We knew that if we were going to advance in this tournament, we were going to need some fresh faces to show up and be able to contribute, especially at the offensive end.”

Along with Robinson, Carter is one of the best young players in the conference. She was named to the All-Big West Freshman Team last season and was a conference Honorable Mention. She closed the year out with two 20-plus point performances.

“I was getting in the gym more so getting extra shots up, and that helps with confidence,” Carter said. “My teammates have done a really well good job of finding me, whether that be on the three point line inside or wherever that is.”

The Mustangs take on UC San Diego at noon on Thursday in Lee’s Family Forum.