Conference Races Tighten In CCCSIA Women's Basketball State Top 20

CCCWBCA Regional Rankings (Feb. 10)

PASADENA - The South Coast Conference North Division may not be as powerful this season as it was the past few seasons, but the conference itself is seeing a slight changing of the guard, especially in this week's California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) Women's Basketball State Top 20 Rankings. At the top, San Joaquin Delta continues to be a strong #1 with 12 first-place votes, but #2 Moorpark are just nine total points behind the Mustangs at #2.

Both 2-time defending SCC North champ LA Trade Tech and 2017 co-champ East Los Angeles, which fell out of the Top 20 this week, are scuffling at 1-4 in this year's race. And #9 Mt. San Antonio, which had a 15-year streak of SCC titles stopped in 2018, thought it was paving its way to a possible undefeated run only to see new #16 Rio Hondo upset the Mounties, 72-61, on Friday. The Roadrunners leaped back on to this week's rankings after they beat ELAC, Trade Tech and Mt. SAC (4-1 to lead division) in a row over a 9-day span to improve to 3-2 in the division.

Then there is #13 Pasadena City (currently second at 3-1) in the thick of the race despite a 55-47 loss to the Mounties on Feb. 5. While the SCC South has no one ranked, Long Beach City has come out of nowhere to lead its division during an 8-game win streak and gained the most points of those not in the state Top 20.

While several teams changed spots, the top 10 teams remain the same 10 of last week with #3 Mt. San Jacinto on a state-best 22-game win streak, #4 Palomar, winners of five straight, and #5 Irvine Valley, undefeated in Orange Empire Conference play and in the midst of a 9-game win string.

At #6, Diablo Valley was upended by #10 Sierra, 84-76, last week. Glendale, 7th ranked, saw its 21-game win streak snapped by unranked LA Valley, 65-40, and #8 Merced has won 10 straight as a clear frontrunner in the Central Valley Conference standings. 

Ventura moved up two slots to #11 thanks to its No. 4 strong state RPI. Butte made a big move to #12, up four spots, winning 11 of its last 12 games and upping its state RPI to No. 8. Chabot climbed two rungs to #14 buoyed by back-to-back wins over #18 City College of San Francisco and #20 Skyline. At #15, MiraCosta is undefeated in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference at 9-0, but #4 Palomar (7-1) stands in its way in a big game this Wednesday. 

Cypress dropped three spots to #17, College of the Redwoods slipped two places to #19 after a 16-point loss to Butte, and Skyline's back-to-back losses to CCSF and Chabot makes its #20 spot now tenuous. The Western State South, Coast North, and Bay Valley have turned into 3-team conference races going into the final few weeks of the regular season.

Conference Leaders
Bay Valley--unranked Yuba 10-2, Merritt, Solano 9-2
Big 8--#1 San Joaquin Delta 11-0, #6 Diablo Valley 8-2
Central Valley--#9 Merced 9-0, unranked Reedley 6-2
Coast North--#20 Skyline 6-2, #14 Chabot, #18 San Francisco 5-2
Coast South--unranked Cabrillo 7-2, De Anza 6-2
Golden Valley--#12 Butte 7-1, #19 Redwoods 6-2
Inland Empire Athletic--#3 Mt. San Jacinto 10-0, San Bernardino Valley 7-2
Orange Empire--#5 Irvine Valley 8-0, unranked Fullerton 7-2
Pacific Coast Athletic--#15 MiraCosta 9-0, #4 Palomar 7-1
South Coast North--#9 Mt. San Antonio 4-1, #13 Pasadena 3-1
South Coast South--unranked Long Beach City 6-0, El Camino 5-1
Western State North--#2 Moorpark 6-0, #11 Ventura 3-2
Western State South--#7 Glendale 9-1, unranked LA Valley, Antelope Valley 8-2