Sabel, Johnson earn first-team Big West honors

UC San Diego and Hawaii take home top awards

UC Davis basketball standouts TY Johnson of the men and Tova Sabel of the women both earned first-team Big West Conference honors in a vote of the league's coaches.

Johnson, a senior guard, is one of the most dynamic two-way players in college basketball.

Johnson has earned conference recognition in each of his three seasons at UC Davis, an honorable mention in his debut 2022-23 campaign, a second-team nod in 2023-24, and now a first-team honor in 2024-25.

TY Johnson

The Chicago native, who began his career at Loyola Chicago, started all 31 games while averaging 21.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Johnson has led UC Davis in assists 15 times this season and recorded three or more steals in 12 games, including a season-high six in a record-breaking performance against Cal Poly, when the Aggies forced 33 turnovers, the most in program history.

His 21.2 points per game currently ranks sixth nationally. He has scored in double figures in 29 games, including 21 performances with 20 or more points and five games with 30 or more.

Defensively, Johnson has been equally impactful, ranking 10th nationally in total steals (72) and 15th in steals per game (2.3), both of which are second among Big West leaders.

Johnson solidified himself as the conference’s premier two-way standout, slotting in as the only player in the Big West this season to rank inside the top five in both points per game and steals per game.

Johnson notably opened the season with a career-high 35 points against Washington, followed by a 30-point outing against Idaho. Those efforts earned him Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week honors.

He currently ranks fourth in program history in scoring (1,686 points, including 1,675 at UC Davis) and is one of only 26 Aggies to reach 1,000 career points. He needs just 19 points to tie for third all-time.

Defensively, Johnson is second in career steals at UC Davis and holds the program’s Division I single-season record with 72 steals and counting this year. He also set a single-game program record with 18 free throws made against Long Beach State on Jan. 11, breaking the previous mark of 17 held by Fowzi Abdelsamad. Additionally, Johnson now holds every UC Davis free throw record, including most in a single season (175 and counting) and most in a career (464).

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones of regular-season champion UC San Diego was named Player of the Year, while San Diego's Eric Olen was named Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Sabel, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, started all 30 games for the Aggie women, averaging over 30 minutes per outing and developing a reputation as a clutch player when games are on the line.

She was especially deadly at the foul line in the late going, putting away several wins for the Aggies.

Tova Sabel

Sabel led the team in scoring at 15.0 points a game, added 6.4 rebounds a game and had season totals of 60 3-pointers, 43 assists, 32 steals and 35 blocks.

Saving the best for last, Sabel had one of the strongest games in her storied career last Saturday as the Aggies rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat UC San Diego, 69-58, to finish third in the Big West standings.

Against the Tritons, she hit 50 percent of her field goal attempts and all six free throws to finish with 18 points along with five rebounds and three assists.

In the fourth quarter alone, Sabel had 10 points as the Aggies outscored the Tritons, 29-11, over the final 10 minutes.

This season has also been one of numerous milestones for Sabel, who has climbed her way into second place on the Aggies' all-time three-pointer list with over 200 and passed 1,500 career points against UC Irvine on March 6. Currently, she sits fifth on the UC Davis all-time scoring list with 1,522 points, with more games yet to be played.

Aggie Megan Norris was named to the second team, while Nya Epps earned honorable mention and also a spot on the All-Defensive team.

Ryann Bennett, who had 19 points in the finale against UC San Diego, was named to the All-Freshman team.

Lily Wahinekapu of regular-season champion Hawaii was named Big West Player of the Year and Laura Beeman of Hawaii was named Coach of the Year.