The UC Santa Barbara Women’s Basketball team has announced its full 2023-24 schedule on Tuesday. The 30-game season will be Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson’s ninth leading the Gauchos, as UC Santa Barbara looks to build off an impressive 2022-23 season. The Gauchos made a deep run in the 2023 Big West Championships, making it to the Championship game and flying just three points shy of a Big West Championship.
The regular season begins at home, with the Gauchos hosting San Francisco on Nov. 7. The team will welcome Faculty and Staff to The Thunderdome to open the season as part of their Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week.
Following their home opener UC Santa Barbara will travel north to Idaho as they take on Idaho State on Nov. 15. After the trip to Pocatello, the Gauchos return home with a game against Southern Utah on Nov. 19. The game on Nov. 19 will be the first of two doubleheaders that will take place in The Thunderdome. Following the contest against Southern Utah the men will take on Le Moyne.
Following their game on the 19th UC Santa Barbara will head south for Thanksgiving weekend and compete in the University of San Diego Thanksgiving Tournament. The Gauchos will open up the tournament on Friday, Nov. 24 as they take on the Lady Rebels of UNLV. Depending on their result against UNLV the Gauchos will play against either San Diego or Weber State on Saturday, Nov. 25.
After their two games in San Diego, UC Santa Barbara will return home for a single game against UC Santa Cruz before hitting the road again. To open up December UC Santa Barbara will travel to Reno, Nev. to take on the University of Nevada Wolf Pack on Dec. 2. Their next matchup will be a week later in Stockton, Calif. as they play Pacific on Dec. 8. Following the two-game road trip the Gauchos will return home for a four-game home stand and a stretch that sees them at home for five of the next six games.
The Gauchos will finish their non-conference slate with home games against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 17 and Life Pacific on Dec. 20. The Dec. 20 game will be a part of a Gaucho Basketball doubleheader with the game being played prior to the Men’s Basketball contest against Howard. UC Santa Barbara will then take eight days to prepare for the start of their conference schedule. Santa Barbara will open Big West action against UC Davis on Dec. 28 in The Thunderdome. The Gauchos will then turn around and host UC Riverside on Dec. 30.
To begin January Santa Barbara will travel south to UC San Diego on Jan. 4 before returning to The Thunderdome to host Cal Poly for the first of two games in the Blue-Green Rivalry on Jan. 6. The Gauchos will hit the road again, this time for a two-game trip against Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 11 and Long Beach State on Jan. 13. UC Santa Barbara will finish January with two games at home and one on the road. They will host CSUN and Hawai’i on Jan. 18 and Jan. 25 respectively. In between the two home contests, the Gauchos will travel to Cal State Fullerton to take on the Titans on Jan. 20.
As the Gauchos start February, they also begin the second half of their Big West schedule. Santa Barbara will begin February on the road as they travel to UC Davis before returning home for a game against Bakersfield on Feb. 3. Like January the team will then hit the road for two games as they face UC Irvine for the first time on Feb. 8 and then head to CSUN on Feb. 10. The Gauchos return to The Thunderdome on Feb. 15 as they host UC San Diego before taking off to Hawai’i to play the Rainbow Wahine on Saturday, Feb. 17. The Gauchos finish February with a home contest against UC Irvine and a road game against rival Cal Poly on Feb. 22 and 29 respectively.
The Gauchos’ final stretch of the regular season will see them host Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State on March 2 and 7 before wrapping up Big West regular season action in Riverside, against UC Riverside on March 9.
The 2024 Big West Women’s Basketball Championship will be held in Henderson, Nev. at The Dollar Loan Center from March 13-16. New this season to the Championships is the field size. In June of 2023, The Big West Board of Directors approved an eight-team field for the 2024 Championship. The eight-team format will automatically advance the top two teams from the regular season into the semifinals.
The First Round of the Championships will be played on March 13 with the Second Round on March 14. The Semifinals will be on March 15 with the Championship game on March 16.
Season ticket purchases and renewals will go live on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at ucsbgauchos.com. For more information about the 2023-24 schedule, click here.
