BC Women’s Basketball Coach and Player Win Conference Awards
The Women’s Basketball team just completed one of the best seasons in the program’s history. They finished the campaign with 20 victories, which was the most since the 2014-15 season, and on February 25th, they celebrated their first road playoff victory in more than 30 years! To cap off the successful 2025-26 season, coach Grant Bingham was named Co-Coach of the year and point guard Danika Tolentino was named Co-Player of the year for the Western State Conference South Division.
Both Coach Bingham and Danika took time out of their busy schedules to reflect on the successful season, team accomplishments, and receiving conference awards.
Coach Bingham joined Bakersfield College as head coach of the women’s basketball team in 2024, making this his second full season in that position. He expressed gratitude for the accomplishments of the team during the 2025-26 season. “This season went extremely well. We had a large freshman class this year, and sometimes, for freshman, there can be an adjustment period to competing at this level,” he said, “but this group put that notion out of the way and started attacking on day one. From game one to game thirty, there was never one ounce of quit in this team.”
When asked if there was a certain point in the season or moment when the team really came together, he mentioned a stretch where they had a five-game losing streak. “In the middle of the season, we went on a five-game losing streak. And with a young inexperienced group – they had to figure out what they wanted to be,” he said, “and once we turned that corner, and once they understood what it takes to compete and win at this level – I think that was kind of the turning point of the season.”
He then talked about being named Co-Coach of the Year for the conference. “It’s great, and I am very honored and flattered, but in all reality, I don’t earn any of that without [the players],” he said, “I always tell them in our meetings that it’s their car, and I just give them the keys. So, I am the fortunate one to hand them the keys, and they accomplished some great things. I don’t get any [awards] without them.”