The Big Three from a year ago might have become the Big Four this season in Big West women’s basketball. Or at least the Big Three-And-A-Half.

Defending champion Cal State Northridge, picked to repeat in the media poll, is looking as tough as predicted. Hawaii, tabbed No. 2 following two straight third-place finishes, has a legitimate shot at its first Big West title since winning two in a row in 1993 and ’94.

Cal Poly, which won three consecutive championships before second-place showings the past two years, might have slipped below its predicted No. 3 spot, given its nonconference struggles.

Add Long Beach State, which is opening eyes with its gaudy 13-1 record and an upset of then-ranked Cal coming into the first week of conference play.

"No night will be easy," said Hawaii coach Laura Beeman, who opens her third Big West season at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Cal Poly. "Personally, I feel very, very good about our team. I feel we can go 2-0 this trip, but it will depend on which team shows up."

And how healthy that Wahine team is, physically and mentally. Cal Poly might be struggling, but Hawaii is 1-4 against the Mustangs in Beeman’s tenure. That includes three losses last season, in overtime at the Stan Sheriff Center, by two points in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and in the conference tournament when "people stopped executing," Beeman said. "It’s the fear that paralyzes us.

"We do have a young team and it’s good that they don’t have that history … as long as our veterans are saying the right things. I’m very much a talk-about-the-white-elephant-in-the-room kind of person. I’ve told them that (Cal Poly) has had our number but that we beat ourselves in those games."

Hawaii left Tuesday morning to get in an extra day to acclimate. Sitting out Monday’s practice were senior guard Shawna-Lei Kuehu, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, and freshman guard Sarah Toeaina. Back at nearly 100 percent was senior guard Morgan Mason, who returned for the UNC Greensboro win after sitting out the contest against Hawaii Pacific.

"We’ve won on the road already, so that has given us confidence," Mason said. "It feels good that we can go to other schools and not just compete but win, like we did at Colorado State."

Added senior forward Ashleigh Karaitiana: "We’re going to two tough places that we haven’t had a lot of success. But we also know that we haven’t lost because they were better than us. We lost because we put ourselves in that position. If we play Hawaii basketball, we’ll be good to go."

Beeman said that it will be a game-time decision as to whether Kuehu and Toeaina play, or how long they’ll be in the game. As of Monday’s practice, her starting lineup was Mason, Karaitiana, freshman forward Dalayna Sampton, junior center Connie Morris and junior swing Destiny King.

"Cal Poly is very physical and we have the versatility to go a few ways with our lineup," Beeman said. "It’s going to be who shows up for us on game day."

For Hawaii on Thursday, the only "Big" that matters is the "Big One" — Cal Poly, which has been the big one that has gotten away.

TEAM-BY-TEAM CAPSULES

Cal State Northridge (10-4)

The defending conference champs rebounded from their first back-to-back losses of the year (at the St. Joseph’s Classic in Philadelphia) with an 86-63 win at Seattle. It marked the end of six straight road games for the Matadors, who are 6-0 at home.

The Matadors are led by all-conference senior guards Ashlee Guay (15.6 ppg) and Janae Sharpe (14.6 ppg). Against Florida Gulf Coast, Guay scored 22 points, becoming the fifth player in CSUN history to hit 500 field goals; she was also 10-for-10 from the line.

Senior center Camille Mahiknect is averaging a conference-best 8.4 rebounds. Senior guard Cinnamon Lister has hit 29

3-pointers en route to averaging 12.1 ppg.

Hawaii (8-6)

The Rainbow Wahine have had an up-and-down start against a tough schedule that featured three Top 25 teams: then-No. 14 Cal, No. 4 Stanford and No. 11 North Carolina. Hawaii won its season opener at Colorado State and, adding two road wins against Denver and Loyola Marymount, went 3-0 on the road for the first time since 2005-06.

Hawaii is tops in the Big West in scoring (72.4 ppg), led by senior guard/forward Shawna-Lei Kuehu’s career-high 13.5 ppg. She is also the team’s leading rebounder (7.4 rpg, also a career best).

Senior guard Ashleigh Karaitiana, the reigning conference Sixth Woman of the Year, is averaging 11.0 points, as is senior guard Morgan Mason.

The Wahine also lead the Big West in rebounds (43.5) and rebound margin (5.2).

Cal Poly (5-7)

The Mustangs snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday with a 71-66 win at home over Cal State Bakersfield, a team that defeated Hawaii 78-69 in California on Dec. 23.

Cal Poly features all-conference senior guard Ariana Elegado, who is third in the conference in scoring (15.6 ppg). She has upped her school record for 3-pointers to 206 with 30 this season. She also has 375 career assists, 15 shy of tying for No. 2 in the program.

Senior power forward Taryn Garza, the reigning Big West Hustle Player of the Year, is averaging 6.9 rebounds.

UC Davis (5-7)

The Aggies snapped a three-game skid Saturday with a 77-56 win over Menlo, Davis’ first home game since Dec. 2.

Senior guard Kelsey Harris is leading the country in 3-point shooting (.532), better than her .507 overall from the field, and has hit 33 of 62 3-point attempts.

Senior forward Sydnee Fipps leads the team in scoring (16.0 ppg) and is fourth on the career list. Junior forward Alyson Doherty, nine months removed from major knee surgery, is averaging 13.4 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds.

Long Beach State (13-1)

The 49ers are the surprise of the league so far with the ninth-best record in the country, an RPI of 33 and an 11-game winning streak. The Beach received 10 votes in this week’s Associated Press Top 25, good enough for 36th.

Among the 49ers’ victories is a 58-56 overtime win at home over then-No. 18 Cal, which came a few weeks after the Golden Bears pulled out a 79-72 win over Hawaii in Honolulu.

Junior forward Devin Hudson has passed the 500-rebound mark. She has 515 boards to go with 550 points in her career. Sophomore guard Anna Kim has nine double-figure scoring games and is averaging 10.7 ppg.

The 49ers have held nine opponents to 60 points or fewer, including six of their last seven.

Cal State Fullerton (6-7)

The Titans picked up their first home win on New Year’s Eve over UMKC, just the third home contest of the year. Fullerton won two in a row for the second time this season when it beat host Seattle on Sunday.

Senior point guard and reigning Big West Player of the Week Chante Miles continues to do it all for the Titans, her 28 points against Seattle upping her scoring average to 19.5 and giving her 1,101 career points. She is also averaging 5.4 assists, helped by her career-best 12 against the Kangaroos.

Also averaging in double figures is senior guard Kathleen Iwuoha (11.1 ppg), who leads the Titans in rebounding (6.5 rpg).

UC Irvine (3-12)

After suffering through a 10-game losing streak, the Anteaters have won two of their past three, including a 78-72 win over Concordia last Sunday.

Sophomore guard Mokun Fajemisin leads UCI with an 11.5 ppg average and senior forward Methlyn Onogomuho has been solid all around at 8.6 ppg and a team-best 7.1 rpg.

UC Riverside (9-5)

The Highlanders have also been a surprise, finding most of their success at home, going 5-1.

UCR, which opened the year 5-0, returns all-conference Brittany Crain, who led the Big West in scoring last season (19.2 ppg), and has upped that to 23.1 ppg this year while averaging 7.1 rebounds.

The Highlanders were down to seven players in Saturday’s 81-38 win over Missouri-Kansas City, including missing two of their three top players: injured sophomore guard Simone DeCoud (12.9 ppg) and ailing junior guard Annelise Ito (11.8)

The 9-5 start is the Highlanders’ best over 14 games since the 1994-95 team (11-3).

UC Santa Barbara (0-13)

It’s been a frustrating season for the Gauchos, who lost 74-64 to Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday. UCSB features

6-foot-4 senior center Clair Watkins, a Vanderbilt transfer who averages nearly two blocks and 6.2 rebounds game.

She isn’t getting much help offensively; the Gauchos being held to 44.9 ppg. One bright spot has been sophomore point guard Onome Jemerigbe (7.7 ppg, 3.3 assists).