2025-26 Year in Review: Winter
6/29/2026
Women's Indoor Track & Field
Head Coach: Jeff Perkins, 13th Year
2026 MPSF Finish: 1st
UC Irvine women’s indoor track & field won the program’s first MPSF team championship, outpacing the field by 45.5 points. It was the largest margin of victory in the conference meet in four years. The Anteaters showcased their depth, scoring in 13 of the 17 events. They had 12 podium finishes and two individual titles. Freshman Joy Anderson won the pentathlon with an MPSF Spokane-Reno era record (since 2022) 4,069 points. Senior Jazzmine Davis also brought home gold in the 60m hurdles where she ran a school-record 8.39.
Overall, UCI established eight school records in five meets. The ‘Eaters did it twice in the 4x400 relay, first at the Spokane Indoor Challenge (3:45.77), then again at the Battle Born Classic (3:42.90). UC Irvine also clocked a program-best 11:27.11 in the distance medley relay at the MPSF Championships. Individually, junior Halle Sutherland broke an eight-year-old record in the 200m with a time of 24.19 at the Wolf Pack Classic. She went on to beat her own standard three weeks later at the conference meet (24.04). Graduate student Aoife Hernon also topped the charts in the 400m (54.23), while junior Emma Hadley did the same in the mile (4:42.71). Sutherland was named the MPSF Athlete of the Week on Feb. 10.
Jeff Perkins received his first career MPSF Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year award. His squad was also successful in the classroom with a program-best 20 student-athletes being named to the MPSF All-Academic Team.
Men's Basketball
Head Coach: Russell Turner, 16th Year
2025-26 Record: 23-12 (15-5, 1st Big West); NIT First Round
UC Irvine stood alone atop the Big West as 2025-26 Big West regular season champions, the 10th in program history, after a 15-5 Big West mark clinching the title in an overtime victory in the regular season finale over UC Davis. The 'Eaters would fall short of the NCAA Tournament with a loss in the Big West Final. They reached the postseason for the 17th time, the fourth consecutive trip to the NIT resulting in a First Round exit to UNLV.
The Anteaters finished with a 23-12 overall record highlighted by notable non-conference wins over Weber State, San Jose State, and South Dakota State, and were crowned champions of the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational. UCI twice broke records for team assists in a game in the early going setting the bar at 40 in a win over Lincoln University, and Derin Saran posted the program's first-ever triple-double in that same game with 20 points, 10 assists, and 12 rebounds.
Anteater award winners began with Kyle Evans who set UCI's single-season block record and swatted the most shots in the NCAA in 2025-26 with 115. It helped him garner Big West Defensive Player of the Year honors, and he was named All-Big West First Team alongside Jurian Dixon who led the team with 15.9 points per game and 30.9 minutes per game. Derin Saran finished third on the team in points and rebounds to score All-Big West Honorable Mention status. Andre Henry returned from injury to claim the Big West's Best Sixth Man Award as he scored 9.9 points per game with a team best 82.1% free throw percentage, and he finished with 149 career games played to move to third all-time for UC Irvine men's basketball.
Women's Basketball
Head Coach: Tamara Inoue, 10th Year
2025-26 Record: 26-7 (17-3, T-1st Big West); WBIT First Round
UC Irvine women’s basketball went 26-7 overall and 17-3 in conference. The Anteaters won a share of their second Big West regular season championship and recorded their fifth consecutive 20-win campaign. It was a record-breaking season as the 2026 squad set program bests in overall wins, conference wins, win streak (16), points scored (2,340), free throws made (566), free throw percentage (80.6%), and 3-pointers made (284). They earned an automatic qualifier into the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT), marking their fourth postseason appearance in five years.
Individually, senior Hunter Hernandez broke UCI’s all-time single-season scoring record with 655 points (19.8 ppg), and tied the single-game mark with 41 points at Cal Poly on March 5. Hernandez, who became the 11th member of UC Irvine’s 1,000-point/500-rebound club, closed out her career ranked first in program history in free throws made (402), second in points (1,477), and second in free throw percentage (83.1%). Hernandez was named the 2025-26 Big West Player of the Year and received her third career first-team all-conference nod. She also made the Big West Championship All-Tournament Team and collected five Big West Player of the Week awards during the regular season.
Senior transfer Jada Wynn, who averaged 15.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.7 steals, joined Hernandez on the All-Big West First Team and was selected as the conference’s Newcomer of the Year. In addition, Tamara Inoue took home her second career Big West Coach of the Year award.
After a pair of road losses to drop to 1-2 on Nov. 12, UC Irvine reeled off a school-record 16 wins in a row. The streak eventually came to an end with a two-point loss on Jan. 24. UCI was one of 16 NCAA Division I women’s basketball teams to have a win streak of at least 16 games during the season. The Anteaters were ranked among the top-25 in the College Insider Women’s Mid-Major Poll for 12 consecutive weeks (Dec. 23-March 10), and rose to as high as No. 12.
Off the court, seven ‘Eaters made the Big West Winter All-Academic Team, while Jada Wynn and Lauryn Madsen were also CSC Academic All-District honorees.
