LA JOLLA, Calif.—A trio of Tritons were named to the 2026-27 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Team and UC San Diego was picked to finish first in the Coaches' Preseason Poll, as announced by the conference on Thursday.
 
Erin Condron (Woodend, Victoria, Australia), Lev Feiman (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Rosa Smith (Kirkland, Wash.) joined four other scholar-athletes recognized on the preseason team. 
 
In the preseason poll, the Tritons earned 10 of the 12 first-place votes with 120 points. UC Irvine was picked to finish second with 108 points and one first-place vote and UC Santa Barbara rounded out the top three with 94 points. 
 
Big West newcomer California Baptist was picked fourth with 93 points and newcomer Sacramento State received the remaining first-place vote with 88 points. Another new conference member, Utah Valley (70 points) was picked sixth, followed by UC Riverside (59), CSUN (53), Cal Poly (35), Cal State Bakersfield/Long Beach State (25) and Cal State Fullerton (22).
 
Condron was an All-Big West First Team selection and Big West Championship All-Tournament honoree in 2025-26. She set the program's Division I single season rebounds record (297), while also leading the team with 549 points. Condron also set the Tritons' D-I single game scoring record with 32 points (Feb. 5) and ranked first in the Big West in field goal percentage (52.1). She averaged a team-best 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds, with 1.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 steals in 33.8 minutes per game.
 
Feiman had a strong debut season in 25-26, earning a spot on the Big West All-Freshman Team. She appeared in 28 games, making six starts for the Tritons, averaging 6.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game. Feiman shot 46.8 percent from the field on the season, 39.5 percent from three and 88.5 percent from the free throw line, recording 10 double-figure scoring efforts and one 20-point game.
 
Smith returns for a graduate year after earning All-Big West Honorable Mention and CSC Academic All-District honors last season. She appeared in 32 games, making 29 starts and averaged 10.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steal in 30.1 minutes per game. Smith ranked eighth in the Big West in threes per game (1.8) and 15th in assists per game. She recorded 16 double-figure scoring efforts and three 20-point games on the season.
 
In 2025-26, UC San Diego went 24-9 overall and finished 17-3 in Big West play for a share of its first regular season conference title. Head coach Heidi VanDerveer's squad went on to win the Big West Championship as the No. 2 Seed to become back-to-back tournament champions and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. UC San Diego is just the second team in NCAA Division I women's basketball to make the tournament in its first two seasons of postseason eligibility after reclassifying from Division II.
 
In its final season as a member of the Big West, UC San Diego will return six Tritons from the 2025-26 championship squad, including All-Big West honorees Condron (First Team), Feiman (All-Freshman), Dymonique Maxie (Honorable Mention) and Smith (Honorable Mention). All five starters averaged above 30 minutes per game last season, among the top of the Big West. The Tritons will return three of five starters, including Condron, Maxie and Smith.
 
The Tritons will add seven talented newcomers, including three transfers and four true freshmen. Upperclassmen Alexandra Cummins (San Jose State), Jite Gbemuotor (CSUN) and Coryn Watts (Denver) bring depth to the Triton lineup. UC San Diego will also add four first-year scholar-athletes, including Emma Cook (Archbishop Mitty HS), Noelle Mulvanny (Mater Dei HS), Sadie Sin (Clovis HS) and Megan Roberts (Eastlake HS (WA)).
 
The 2026-27 season gets started on Nov. 2 on the road at Washington. The Tritons will face off with future WCC foe USD on Nov. 7 in the inaugural Bill Walton Classic at Pechanga Arena and open their home schedule on Nov. 12 against Portland State at 11 a.m.
 
2026-27 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

Rank	Institution	Points (First Place)
1	UC San Diego	120 (10)
2	UC Irvine	108 (1)
3	UC Santa Barbara	94
4	California Baptist	93
5	Sacramento State	88 (1)
6	Utah Valley	70
7	UC Riverside	59
8	CSUN	53
9	Cal Poly	35
T-10	Cal State Bakersfield	25
	Long Beach State	25
12	Cal State Fullerton	22

 
2026-27 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Team

Name	School	Pos.	Yr.
Zoe Borter	UC Santa Barbara	F	Sr.
Erin Condron	UC San Diego	F/C	Sr.
Janessa Cotton	Sacramento State	F	Jr.
Lev Feiman	UC San Diego	G	So.
Lauren Olsen	California Baptist	G	R-Sr.
Natalie Picton	Sacramento State	G	Sr.
Rosa Smith	UC San Diego	G	Gr.

 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.