3C2A Women's Basketball Championship Preview: Can Mt. SAC Reach Quadruple Of Repeat State Titles
(VISALIA) -- From 2006-2008, Mt. San Antonio College established a dynasty run of state championships, winning three in a row after also capturing the 2004 crown. Enjoying the tail end of the first-place trophies in '07-08, the Mounties repeated again in 2012-2013, and then accomplished the feat one more time in 2016-2017.
And now as we enter this week's 3C2A Women's Basketball State Championship, Mt. SAC (29-1 record) finds itself in a position to win back-to-back state titles for an incredible fourth time. The South's No. 1 seed and top-ranked team in the state all '25-26 season will battle along with seven other teams for the 2026 title on Thursday, March 12, Saturday-Sunday, March 14-15 at College of the Sequoias.
The only team to have defeated the Mounties is here in North #1 San Joaquin Delta, a program that has three state runner-ups to its credit, but has never won a state championship. Delta downed Mt. SAC, 73-72, on Dec. 4 and, ironically, right here at Sequoias in the opening game of the 48th Gilcrest Invitational.
However, the Mounties made a statement 16 days later a second matchup v. the Mustangs at the Moorpark Tommy Arellano North-South Showcase. Mt. SAC routed Delta, 80-47.
The remaining teams in the 8-team field include N2 Folsom Lake, making its third straight trip to the big dance, N3 Laney, a recent 2024 participant, and N4 Fresno City, returning to the state tourney for the first time in eight years and representing the Central Valley here. The South is rounded out by S2 Irvine Valley, here after a 3-year absence, S3 Cypress, returning from 2023, and MiraCosta, a program making its first appearance ever at the Elite Eight.
Maybe the most anticipated matchup is the second quarterfinal between MiraCosta (29-1), a team that nearly went undefeated in the regular season but had a 27-game win streak stopped in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference finale by Palomar, and Folsom Lake, a 28-2 squad that won the Big 8 Conference title over Delta. The Falcons didn't receive the top seed because Delta had a higher overall RPI, a formula used for determining regional seeds.
The North is looking for its first title since Sierra won in 2022.
If Mt. SAC wins, it would be the second straight repeat champion following Orange Coast capturing the 2023 and 2024 crowns. Remarkably, back-to-back champions have occurred nine times including Golden West (1990-91), Lassen (1992-93), Los Angeles Harbor (1994-95), Ventura (1996-97 and again with three in a row in 2000-2002), and Mt. SAC's three such feats.
There have been 19 colleges overall that have won a state championship beginning with Fullerton's title in 1978. From 1979-1984, no state title was decided as play concluded at regionals. The state tourney continued uninterrupted from 1985 to 2019 and then the pandemic forced cancellation of the event in 2020 and 2021.
Delta, Folsom Lake, Laney, Fresno, Irvine Valley and MiraCosta would all be first-time champions. Besides Mt. SAC, Cypress won a state championship in 2005. The tourney MVP of that Chargers team just happens to be Cypress head coach Brittany Imaku.
The only time in California Community College women's sports has someone been a state tourney MVP of a champion and later directed a state champ as a head coach was El Camino's Le Valley Pattison in women's volleyball when she was MVP in 1983 as a Warrior and coached ECC to the 2007 and 2008 state crowns.
Seventeen members of the All-State Team are here including South Player of the Year in Mt. SAC's Taliyah McFerson and First Teamer Elizabeth Udeze. Each were key members of last year's All-3C2A State Tournament Team in helping the Mounties win the state title on their own Walnut campus floor.
Laney head coach Bryan Gardere is in his first season as the head coach of the Eagles after serving as an assistant and his niece is an All-State Third Team guard Erinn Gardere.
2026 3C2A STATE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 12
S2 Irvine Valley v. N3 Laney, 1 p.m.
N2 Folsom Lake v. S3 MiraCosta, 3 p.m.
N1 SJ Delta v. S4 Cypress, 5 p.m.
S1 Mt. San Antonio v. N4 Fresno City, 7 p.m.
Semifinals, Saturday, March 14
IVC/Laney winner vs. Delta/Cypress winner, 1 p.m.
FLC/MC winner vs. Mt. SAC/FCC winner, 3 p.m.
Championship, Sunday, March 15
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.
Here are team-by-team capsules going into the State Elite Eight Tourney:
SOUTH #1 MT. SAN ANTONIO (29-1)
South Coast Conference North Division Champions
Head Coach: Brian Crichlow, SCC North Coach of the Year
Road to State: defeated #16 Santa Ana, #9 Saddleback
Top Players: State SoCal Player of the Year soph. forward Taliyah McFerson, All-State First Team soph. guard Elizabeth Udeze, All-State Third Team soph. guard Dylan Tse
Record v. State Tourney Teams: 4-1 (split v. Delta, wins v. Laney, Cypress, Fresno)
State Titles: 9, 2004, 2006-08, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2025
Current Winning Streak: 22
SOUTH #2 IRVINE VALLEY (26-4)
Orange Empire Conference Champions
Head Coach: Claire Gocke, OEC Coach of the Year
Road to State: defeated #15 Chaffey, #23 Fullerton
Top Players: All-State First Team soph. guard Symantha Barnett, All-State Second Team soph. forward Alexis Price, OEC Defensive Player of the Year fr. forward Kivonni Williams
Best State Finish: State semifinalist, 1999
Record v. State Tourney Teams: 1-2 (split v. Cypress, loss v. MiraCosta)
Current Winning Streak: 7
SOUTH #3 MIRACOSTA (29-1)
Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Co-Champions
Head Coach: Westly Perryman
Road to State: defeated #12 Palomar, #13 LA Trade-Tech
Top Players: All-State Second Team soph. point guard Anayla Anderson, All-PCAC First Team soph. forward Kiya Waters, fr. guard Czarina Powell
Best State Finish: State semifinalist, 1978 (research revealed this after preview)
Record v. State Tourney Teams: 1-0 (win v. Irvine Valley)
Current Winning Streak: 2
SOUTH #4 CYPRESS (23-7)
Orange Empire Conference Tied for 2nd Place
Head Coach: Brittany Imaku
Road to State: defeated #11 Long Beach City, #3 Moorpark
Top Players: All-State First Team soph. guard Christaesha Jackson, All-State Third Team soph. forward Mariah Henderson, All-OEC Second Team soph. guard Marina Interiano
Record v. State Tourney Teams: 2-2 (split v. Irvine Valley, win v. Fresno, loss v. Mt. SAC)
State Titles: 1, 2005
Current Winning Streak: 5
NORTH #1 SAN JOAQUIN DELTA (25-5)
Big 8 Conference 2nd Place
Head Coach: Gina Johnson
Road to State: defeated #17 Modesto, #8 Sequoias
Top Players: All-State First Team soph. forward Aaliyah Youngblood, All-State Second Team soph. forward Fajr Cuthberston, All-Big 8 First Team fr. guard/forward La Ne'Dunn
Best State Finish: State Runner-up 2006, 2009, 2022
Record v. State Tourney Teams: 2-3 (split v. Mt. SAC, split v. Folsom Lake, loss v. Laney
Current Winning Streak: 2
NORTH #2 FOLSOM LAKE (28-2)
Big 8 Conference Champions
Head Coach: Ali Mollet, Big 8 Coach of the Year
Road to State: defeated #15 Los Medanos, #7 CC San Francisco
Top Players: All-State First Team Jada Tupou, All-State First Team Lexi Peters, All-State Third Team Nyah Fortune
Best State Finish: State quarterfinalist, 2024, 2025
Record v. State Tourney Teams: 3-1 (split v. v. Delta, wins v. Laney, Fresno)
Current Winning Streak: 10
NORTH #3 LANEY (25-3)
Bay Valley Conference Champions
Head Coach: Bryan Gardere, BVC Coach of the Year
Road to State: defeated #14 Sacramento City, #6 Butte
Top Players: All-State First Team soph. center Sophia Askew-Goncalves, All-State Third Team soph. guard Ashanti Dias/soph. guard Erinn Gardere
Best State Finish: State quarterfinalist, 2024
Record v. State Tourney Teams: 1-2 (win v. Delta, losses v. Mt. SAC, Folsom Lake)
Current Winning Streak: 21
NORTH #4 FRESNO CITY (23-7)
Central Valley Conference Champions
Head Coach: Alex Fletcher, CVC Coach of the Year
Road to State: defeated #20 Taft, #5 Santa Rosa JC
Top Players: All-State Second Team soph. guard Alyssa Kem, All-CVC First Team soph. guards Sara Shein and Allie Madron
Best State Finish: State semifinalist, 2006, 2018
Record v. State Tourney Teams: 0-3 (losses v. Cypress, Folsom Lake, Mt. SAC)
Current Winning Streak: 5
*-All-State Players are also All-Conference First Team
Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWBCA Publicist/3C2A State Event Writer