Butte on top, Fresno solid at #6 on new year's Women's Basketball State Top 25

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As the calendar rolls over to 2024, Butte College continues to be the standout women's basketball team in receiving 13 of 14 first-place votes to remain the No. 1 team in this week's CCCWBCA State Top 25 Coaches Poll.

The Roadrunners (19-1) lead the state in victories and have won 16 in a row.

Butte received 349 points, followed by #2 Mt. San Antonio (332 points), the only other team to garner a first-place vote. Moorpark is #3 (305 points), Orange Coast at #4 (297) and San Joaquin Delta #5 (290). 

Standing steady at #6 is Fresno City College (284), a team that has won nine of its last 11 contests under head coach Alex Fletcher. 

Palomar (260) is #7, Glendale #8 (254), Laney #9 (205), and Mt. San Jacinto (198) rounds out the top 10.

The North Region has a slight 13-12 edge over the South in teams making the Top 25.

1. Butte, Golden Valley, 19-1: The Roadrunners won all three games at the East Los Angeles Okawa Classic. including a 76-67 win over #4 Orange Coast, taking the lead for good at 19-17. Jocelyn Medina scored her season-high 27 points with 11 rebounds in the victory. LW: #1
2. Mt. San Antonio, South Coast North, 14-2: The Mounties posted their 10th consecutive win, defeating #7 Palomar, 57-50, last week. Mt. SAC's streak is alive thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Daisia Mitchell to edge #17 Victor Valley, 69-67. The Mounties trailed by eight points in the final minute and finished off a miraculous comeback. Mitchell has been on fire with 63 points and 32 rebounds in the last three games.  LW: #2
3. Moorpark, Western State North, 12-3: The Raiders are on a 7-game win streak, including a 1-point win over Orange Coast, 51-50. MC led by as much as 14 points, but a late OCC rally fell short. The Raiders also avenged an earlier loss v. tourney host ELAC back on Nov. 10 by posting a 65-47 win over the Huskies. Rebecca Saidoff poured in 28 points, making five 3-pointers. She sank two free throws with 10 seconds left to ice the Orange Coast victory. LW: #4
4. Orange Coast, Orange Empire, 11-3: The Pirates shook their losses to #1 Butte and #3 Moorpark with a 72-55 win over ELAC. Jordan Arreola scored 22 points in the triumph. LW: #3
5. San Joaquin Delta, Big 8, 12-3: The Mustangs were stung by #13 Folsom Lake, 71-50, in their Big 8 Conference opener on Dec. 29. Delta recovered with back-to-back wins over #11 Santa Rosa and #21 Sierra. Maya Chelini sank six 3s as part of her 25 points v. SRJC, then notched 19 points v. Sierra. LW: #5
6. Fresno City, Central Valley, 12-4: The Rams picked up wins over Skyline and #20 San Mateo as Madison Johnson scored a combined 37 points in the two games. FCC opens Central Valley Conference play v. Merced on Wednesday, Jan. 10.  LW: #6
7. Palomar, Pacific Coast Athletic, 12-4: The Comets have now lost three of their last four contests, including being upset by unranked Canyons, 77-71, to end 2023. Coming off the bench, Angelina De Leon has 37 points and 21 rebounds in the last three contests. LW: #7
8. Glendale, Western State South, 12-2: The Vaqueros ran off seven straight wins, highlighted by top 25 wins over #14 Irvine Valley, #24 Ventura and #25 Imperial Valley. Paola Gorgeiz has scored in double digits in each of the last four wins where she has 46 points, 39 rebounds and made 20 of 27 shots from the field. LW: #8
9. Laney, Bay Valley, 12-4: Despite a loss to Solano, 56-54, the Eagles are 3-1 in Bay Valley play, have won four straight overall, and picked up a non-conference win over #12 San Francisco, 71-66, on Dec. 30. Tali Fa'i scored 64 points with eight steals in the last three wins, including a season-best, 25-point effort (9-for-9 at the FT line) v. CCSF.  LW: #10
10. Mt. San Jacinto, Inland Empire Athletic, 15-2: The Eagles' 14-game win streak has them ascending the rankings all the way into the top 10 this week. They earned respect with back-to-back wins over #25 Imperial Valley and #17 Victor Valley. Jana Roman is dominating the paint with 71 points and 70 rebounds in the last five victories. LW: #11
11. Santa Rosa Junior College, Big 8, 10-6: The Bear Cubs started at 2-0 in the Big 8, including an 81-71 OT triumph over #13 Folsom Lake, but then were tripped up by both #5 Delta and #18 Cosumnes River. Lucca Lowenberg scored 27 of her season-high 31 points in the second half and added seven steals in the FLC win. LW: #9
12. City College of San Francisco, Coast North, 11-6: The Rams followed a close loss to #9 Laney by downing #22 San Jose, 65-61. Madison Thomas scored her season-best 20 points against the Jaguars. LW: #12
13. Folsom Lake, Big 8, 10-5: The Falcons have won six of their last seven and made a splash with their 21-point win over #5 Delta. Against two high-ranked opponents v. Delta and SRJC, Emily Ko totaled 27 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and six steals. LW: #14
14. Irvine Valley, Orange Empire, 9-5: The Lasers have won three of their last four, earning a 58-52 win over #24 Ventura, while losing to #8 Glendale. Moka Saiki drilled five treys as part of her 19 points v. Ventura and then matched a season high with 20 points in a triumph over Palo Verde. LW: #15
15. Long Beach City, South Coast South, 7-7: The Vikings will have gone a remarkable entire month's worth of time between games when they finally return to the court v. #23 Pasadena on Friday, Jan. 12. Brillana Boyd is the team's top scorer this season at 15.6 points per game. LW: #T16
16. Chabot, Coast North, 12-6: The Gladiators opened the new year with a win over Shasta, then were upset by unranked Redwoods, 62-57, on Monday. Kelly Tumlin was a 1-person show v. Shasta scoring a season-high 38 points (the rest of the team had 21 points), making 11 of 16 from the floor, 10 of 13 from the line and hitting 6-for-10 on 3-pointers. She added 10 rebounds. LW: #13
17. Victor Valley, Inland Empire Athletic, 13-5: The Rams had to face the Mighty Mounts in back-to-back defeats to #2 Mt. SAC and #10 MSJC, then beat Rio Hondo, 85-75. Taneah Johnson scored 44 points and grabbed 32 rebounds in those three contests. LW: #T16
18. Cosumnes River, Big 8, 15-1: The Hawks have won nine in a row and lead the Big 8 at 4-0. CRC beat #21 Sierra, 68-60, then upset #11 Santa Rosa, 59-52. Saray White scored 20 points and was a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line v. SRJC. Cosumnes River leaped six spots in the rankings. LW: #24 
19. College of the Sequoias, Central Valley, 10-6: The Giants enjoyed nearly a 3-week break before routing Lassen, 91-28, on Jan. 4. Andrea Perez scored a team-high 17 points. LW: #18
20. College of San Mateo, Coast North, 13-4: The Bulldogs suffered recent losses v. #6 Fresno and #9 Laney, but Ariel Petalver scored 15 points with seven assists and six rebounds in a 77-45 win over West Hills Lemoore.  LW: #19
21. Sierra, Big 8, 8-8: The Wolverines enjoyed a 107-50 win over American River as part of a 2-0 start to Big 8 play, but lost to #18 CRC and then #5 Delta. Julianne Cotterill achieved a triple-double v. ARC on 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. LW: #20
22. San Jose City, Coast South, 13-3: The Jaguars captured their annual SJCC tournament title, beating three Golden Valley teams in the process. But their 8-game win streak ended with a 4-point loss v. #12 San Francisco. Tatiana Collazo totaled 71 points and 11 assists to earn tourney MVP.  LW: #22
23. Pasadena City, South Coast North, 11-6: The Lancers settled for the consolation title at the Jaguar tourney, losing a nail-biter in the final seconds to unranked Mission, 62-61, to open the tourney. They rebounded with wins over Merced and Saddleback. Vanessa Epperson made all-tourney as she collected 49 points, 24 rebounds, 11 assists and 11 steals in the three games. LW: #21
24. Ventura, Western State North, 9-6: The Pirates played well but had to settle for single-digit losses to #8 Glendale, 56-49, and v. #14 Irvine Valley, 58-52, as they now enter the Western State North schedule. Alexa Coubal scored 59 points with 33 rebounds in the last three games. LW: #25
25. Imperial Valley, Pacific Coast Athletic, 11-5: The Desert Warriors slumped with three straight losses, including v. #10 Mt. San Jacinto and #8 Glendale, then falling v. unranked West Los Angeles, 69-65. Amy Riley has been steady with 52 points and 40 boards in the past three contests. LW: #23

Dropped out of Top 25: None

Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWBCA Publicist

Rankings produced by CCCWBCA Statistician Greg Murphy through voting by association head coaches