IRVINE, Calif. (March 6, 2023) — UC Santa Barbara seniors Ila Lane and Alexis Tucker were named to the 2023 All-Big West Women's Basketball First Team, with Jessica Grant earning an All-Freshman Team spot and Callie Cooper making the All-Defensive Team, the conference announced Monday. This is Lane's second year on the all-conference first team, and her third all-conference selection overall. Tucker, Cooper and Grant are all first-time members of their respective All-Big West teams.
The Gauchos' two first-teamers formed a dynamic duo to lead the offense this season, with Lane providing points in the paint and plenty of rebounds while Tucker dribbled, drove, and created shots for herself, especially from mid-range. An efficient shooter and a force on the glass, Lane led the conference in field goal percentage, rebounding, and double-doubles, shooting .544 from the floor and averaging 8.3 boards a game on her way to 10 double-doubles in 30 games. Heading into The Big West tournament, Lane is tied for the third-most career rebounds in UCSB women's basketball history, with 877. The center from Moraga also became one of just 30 women to reach the 1000 career point milestone as a Gaucho, doing so in a 15-point double-double against Hawai'i in January.
Her fellow first-teamer Tucker also scored the 1000th point of her career in that game against Hawai'i, dropping 23 points to lead all scorers in UCSB's 20-point comeback win at the Thunderdome. It was one of five 20-point games on the season for Tucker, who led the Gauchos in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game, the fifth-most in The Big West this season. The Texas Tech transfer scored a career-high 29 in UCSB's triple-overtime win at Southern Utah, then posted an arguably more impressive performance at Cal State Fullerton. Tucker scored 15 points in the fourth quarter alone against the Titans, turning a close game into a blowout on her way to 26 points — the most she has ever scored in a regulation game.
Whereas Tucker and Lane did most of their scoring from mid-range and the paint, All-Freshman Team selection Jessica Grant earned her conference honor from behind the three-point arc. Grant, who finished her high school career by making more threes than any other player in the nation her senior season, led the Gauchos in three-point scoring by a longshot. The freshman from San Diego made 41 threes in 2022-23, shooting .394 from beyond the arc, the second-best three-point percentage in the conference. She led all Big West freshmen in both three-point makes and percentage.
While Callie Cooper was not necessarily recognized for her scoring, the sophomore's production picked up this season, as did her all-around game. The Richardson, Texas native set career highs in minutes (42 at UC Irvine), points (15 at Cal State Fullerton), and matched her career-high in steals (four) on three separate occasions. Cooper led the Gauchos in steals with 43 on the season, but it wasn't just the steals that earned her a spot on the All-Defensive Team. Cooper grew into a tremendous defender this season, especially skilled at locking down opposing guards on the perimeter and disrupting an offense's timing. All three of her four-steal games this season were against conference opponents, and UCSB won each of them.
Lane, Tucker, Grant, Cooper, and the Gauchos are the No. 5 seed in this year's Big West Championship Tournament in Henderson, Nevada. They will take on No. 4 seed UC Davis on Wednesday, with tip-off at 2:30 p.m. The game will be live on ESPN+ and SiriusXM station 381.
To read The Big West announcement of the all-conference teams and individual awards, click here.
