Cal Poly Mustangs women's basketball

Summary

The Cal Poly Mustangs women's basketball team represents California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, located in San Luis Obispo, California. The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference, which they have played in since 1996, two years after joining Division I. The team plays its home games in Mott Athletics Center.

Cal Poly Mustangs
2023–24 Cal Poly Mustangs women's basketball team
UniversityCalifornia Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Head coachShanele Stires (2nd season)
ConferenceBig West
LocationSan Luis Obispo, California
ArenaMott Athletics Center
(Capacity: 3,032)
NicknameMustangs
ColorsPoly green, copper gold, and stadium gold[1]
     
Uniforms
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away


NCAA tournament appearances
2013
Conference tournament champions
2013
Conference regular season champions
2011, 2012

History edit

Cal Poly began playing women's basketball at the intercollegiate level in 1974 in the AIAW, with NCAA-sponsored play beginning in 1981.

The Mustangs have had three teams tie for the school record for wins (21) in a season: the 1981–82 squad coached by Marilyn McNeil and the 2008–09 and 2012–13 squads coached by Faith Mimnaugh.

Following Sharon Chatman (1974–75) and Mary Stallard (1975–79), McNeil coached Cal Poly from 1979 to 1986 before becoming an athletics administrator on campus. In 1994, McNeil departed Cal Poly to become the athletic director at Monmouth University,[2] from which she retired in 2021.[3] Taking over after Jill Orrock (1986–95) and Karen Booker (1995–97), Mimnaugh served as head coach from 1997 to 2022.[4] Shanele Stires, former WNBA player[5] and head coach at Cal State East Bay, was hired as the team's seventh head coach on April 14, 2022.[6]

The furthest the team has advanced came in March 2013,[7] when Cal Poly defeated Pacific 63–49 to win the Big West Conference women's basketball tournament, their first conference tournament championship[8] after two previous years of regular-season titles.[9] Seeded 14th in their ensuing NCAA Tournament appearance,[10] they lost 85-55 to Penn State in the first round. Cal Poly qualified for the semifinal round of the Big West Tournament in March 2020, but the postseason was abruptly canceled due to COVID-19 after the Mustangs had won comfortably[11] twice in the tournament's earlier rounds.[12]

The team has made four WNIT appearances, losing to California (Berkeley) in 2011,[13] Washington in 2012,[14] San Diego in 2014,[15] and Pacific in 2024.

Division I Season-by-Season Results edit

Statistics overview
Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Karen Booker (American West) (1995–1996)
1995-1996 Karen Booker 5–23 2–4 Member of American West during transition from DII to DI
Karen Booker (Big West Conference) (1996–1997)
1996–1997 Karen Booker 4–23 3–12 6th (West)
Karen Booker win–loss total: 9–46
Faith Mimnaugh (Big West Conference) (1997–2022)
1997–98 Faith Mimnaugh 6–20 3–12 6th (West)
1998–99 Faith Mimnaugh 8–18 2–13 T–5th (West)
1999–00 Faith Mimnaugh 9–19 5–10 T–4th (West)
2000–01 Faith Mimnaugh 12–17 5–9 6th
2001–02 Faith Mimnaugh 11–17 7–9 5th
2002-03 Faith Mimnaugh 10–17 6–10 6th
2003–04 Faith Mimnaugh 14–14 10–8 4th
2004–05 Faith Mimnaugh 11–16 5–13 9th
2005–06 Faith Mimnaugh 13–14 7–7 T–3rd
2006–07 Faith Mimnaugh 14–14 9–5 T–3rd
2007–08 Faith Mimnaugh 13–19 8–8 T–5th
2008–09 Faith Mimnaugh 21–11 11–5 3rd
2009–10 Faith Mimnaugh 18–11 11–5 T–2nd
2010–11 Faith Mimnaugh 18–13 12–4 1st WNIT First Round
2011–12 Faith Mimnaugh 17–15 12–4 1st WNIT First Round
2012–13 Faith Mimnaugh 21–11 13–5 2nd NCAA Tournament First Round
2013–14 Faith Mimnaugh 18–14 11–5 2nd WNIT First Round
2014–15 Faith Mimnaugh 15–14 10–6 3rd
2015–16 Faith Mimnaugh 15–16 7–9 6th
2016–17 Faith Mimnaugh 11–18 7–9 7th
2017–18 Faith Mimnaugh 17–12 11–5 2nd
2018–19 Faith Mimnaugh 6–21 3–13 9th
2019–20 Faith Mimnaugh 11–18 6–10 8th Cancelled
2020–21 Faith Mimnaugh 13–11 8–8 6th
2021–22 Faith Mimnaugh 3–22 2–13 11th
Faith Mimnaugh win–loss total: 325–392
Shanele Stires (Big West Conference) (2022–Present)
2022–23 Shanele Stires 10–18 7–12 7th
2023–24 Shanele Stires 17–14 13–7 4th WNIT First Round
Shanele Stires win–loss total: 27–32


Total: {{{overall}}}

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

NCAA tournament results edit

Year Seed Round Opponent Result
2013 #14 First Round #3 Penn State L 55−85

Pro Basketball Alumni edit

  • Former Cal Poly forward Kristina Santiago won three consecutive (2013–15) Bulgarian NBL Playoffs MVP awards after leading her club, Dunav 8806, to consecutive titles. After a stint with Hapoel Rishon LeZion in Israel, Santiago rejoined Dunav 8806 in December 2013. The former All-America honorable mention then signed with Helios in Vétroz, Switzerland, before being acquired by BC Alte Kanti Aarau of the Swiss Ligue Nationale. She averaged 22.4 points (on 55.6-percent shooting) and 9.3 rebounds for Aarau in 2016-17.[16][17]
  • Rachel Clancy, a former third-team Academic All-American,[18] played for Real Canoe Natación in Madrid during the fall of 2011.[19][20]
  • Molly Schlemer signed with the ChemCats Chemnitz of Germany in October 2014. In September 2015, following her All-EuroBasket rookie season, Schlemer was picked up by Urla Belediyesi Gencli in Turkey, where she was the TKBL’s third-leading scorer on the way to all-league second-team honors. Most recently in 2018, Schlemer led Edirne Belediyesi averaging 22.3 points (ranking No. 1 in the Turkish league) along with 11.7 rebounds (fourth throughout the TKBL).[21][22]
  • In 2019, alumni Dynn Leaupepe and Lynn Leaupepe became the fourth and fifth former Mustangs women's basketball players to embark on pro careers. Dynn Leaupepe, with Basketball Klubben Amager[23] in the Copenhagen suburb of Kastrup, Denmark, finished her rookie year winning the Dameligaen Player of the Year accolade after leading her club to the Danish title, 3-1 in a five-game series over Stevnsgade.[24]
  • Meanwhile Lynn Leaupepe plays for the Sunbury Jets in Victoria, Australia.[25] Sunbury, coached by Kennedy Kereama, trains at Boardman Stadium just over 25 miles northwest of Melbourne.[26]
  • In 2021-22, former Mustang Sierra Campisano played in the preseason with the WNBA's Chicago Sky,[27] before signing with BKG Prima in Hungary. She averaged 16.7 points and 6.8 rebounds as a rookie overseas.[28]
  • Cal Poly graduate Kirsty Brown signed with the Leicester Riders of the Women's British Basketball League in August 2022.[29]

USA Basketball Participants edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Cal Poly Athletics Brand Guidelines" (PDF). February 9, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  2. ^ Kamin, Arthur Z. (1994-12-18). "New Jersey Q & A: Dr. Marilyn McNeil; Standing Up for Women's Sports Status". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  3. ^ "All Good Things". Monmouth Magazine. 2021-05-05. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  4. ^ "Coach Mimnaugh reflects on her journey with the Mustangs". KSBY. 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  5. ^ "SHANELE STIRES". www.salinacentralathletics.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  6. ^ "Shanele Stires introduced as the new head coach of Cal Poly women's basketball". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  7. ^ "Cal Poly vs. Pacific - Game Recap - March 16, 2013 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  8. ^ "Cal Poly upsets Pacific to win Big West women's basketball final". Los Angeles Times. 2013-03-17. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  9. ^ "1920WBBRecordBook (PDF) - The Big West" (PDF). bigwest.org. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  10. ^ "Cal Poly to play Penn State in first round of NCAA Tournament". News Channel 3-12. 2013-03-19. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  11. ^ "Women's Basketball". bigwest.org. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  12. ^ "Women's Basketball's postseason run cut short due to coronavirus concerns". Mustang News. 2020-03-12. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  13. ^ "California Advances to the WNIT Second Round". California Golden Bears Athletics. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  14. ^ Athletics, Washington. "Washington Huskies". Washington Huskies. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  15. ^ "USD women go to second round of WNIT". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2014-03-21. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  16. ^ "Cal Poly Women's Basketball History and Record Book" (PDF).
  17. ^ "Kristina Santiago Basketball Player Profile, BC Alte Kanti Aarau, Cal Poly, News, NLB stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  18. ^ "Lewis, Clancy honored as Cal Poly's top athletes". sanluisobispo. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  19. ^ "Cal Poly Women's Basketball History and Record Book" (PDF).
  20. ^ "Rachel Clancy Basketball Player Profile, University of Limerick Huskies, Cal Poly, News, Division 1 stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  21. ^ "Cal Poly Women's Basketball History and Record Book" (PDF).
  22. ^ "Molly Schlemer Basketball Player Profile, Istanbulgucu, Cal Poly, News, TKBL stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  23. ^ "Geraldynn Leaupepe Basketball Player Profile, BK Amager, Cal Poly, News, Dameligaen stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  24. ^ Truong, Brian (2019-06-05). "Former guards Dynn and Lynn Leaupepe are finding success individually overseas". Mustang News. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  25. ^ "Geralynn Leaupepe Basketball Player Profile, Sunbury Jets, News, State League stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - australiabasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  26. ^ Truong, Brian (2019-06-05). "Former guards Dynn and Lynn Leaupepe are finding success individually overseas". Mustang News. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  27. ^ "Sierra Campisano". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  28. ^ Eurobasket. "BKG Prima Akademia basketball, News, Roster, Rumors, Stats, Awards, Transactions, Details-eurobasket". Eurobasket LLC. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  29. ^ "Brown Becomes A Rider". Leicester Riders. Riders Media. August 2, 2022.
  30. ^ "Women's Basketball Award winners" (PDF).
  31. ^ "USA Women's R. William Jones Cup Team All-Time Roster by Affiliation". www.usab.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved 2019-06-07.

External links edit

  • Official website