Over 2,500 attendees showed up to the annual Cal Poly Women’s Basketball exhibition “Field Trip” game, where hundreds of elementary school students attended, getting a preview of head coach Shanele Stires’ new lineup. 

The packed crowd brought the energy, chanting for the team and singing along to K-Pop Demon Hunters songs during every timeout. 

In dominating fashion, the Mustangs defeated NAIA school Simpson University with a score of 107-42. 

“It was really fun to have them out here,” sophomore forward Gillian Bears said about the students. “They’re excited for everything we do.”

A strong first look

The Redhawks started the game with an 8-4 run but that was the first and only time they would see the lead for the rest of the game. 

The Mustangs dominated the first half with a 31 point advantage. Redshirt sophomore guard Jordan Billing scored 15 points, while Bears closely followed with 14 points. 

This was Billing’s first game back since the 2023-2024 season as she was out with an injury all of last season. She came out fast with 21 minutes played and contributed four of Cal Poly’s 14 steals throughout the game. Bears finished with a career-high game as she led the team with 25 points, outscoring her season high of 10 points last season. 

Holding an early lead at the end of the half did not stop the Mustangs from coming out of the half strong. 

“We just said it was 0-0 at halftime,” Billing said. “We have to play with the same intensity the full 40 minutes and just remind ourselves the score means nothing at halftime.”

Throughout the game, Cal Poly’s offense and defense worked in sync, bringing in a 56.4% shooting percentage in the second half and holding the Redhawks to just  17.4%. Taking advantage of Simpson’s struggling offense, Cal Poly forced 25 turnovers, which is almost eight more than their average last season. 

Sophomore Gillian Bears led the Mustangs in scoring with 25 points in just 18 minutes. Credit: Amery Gill / Mustang News

The Mustangs finished the game scoring their final points with a layup from freshman forward Charish Thompson and a 65-point lead.

“We need to get a lot of inside outside action this season,” Billing said. “Everyone can knock down shots so I think we need to have variety in our game.” 

Having a young team this season means adjusting to the holes in the lineup from departed star players such as Annika Shah, Mary Carter and Sierra Litchie to conquer their tough schedule ahead.  Throughout non-conference play the Mustangs will face Power Four teams including Stanford, UCLA, USC and UC Berkeley, the latter three games back-to-back.

“We’re really young but we have a lot of energy to bring and I think that’s going to be our secret sauce,” Billing said. 

The Mustangs will kick off regular preseason against UC Santa Cruz on Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. in Mott Athletics Center.