The Cal State LA women’s basketball team sat in a circle at midcourt of the University Gymnasium following an afternoon practice in preparation for the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) playoffs.

Head coach Torino Johnson recapped the program’s most successful season yet and mapped out expectations for the postseason. He then playfully reminded the Golden Eagles that the recently crowned 2025-26 CCAA Women’s Basketball Player of the Year was their very own Nevaeh Asiasi.

“Where’s the statue?” asked volunteer assistant coach Metta Sandiford-Artest, who was sitting next to Asiasi in the circle.

“It’ll go right beside Billie Jean King,” Torino quickly replied.

Talk of a statue might be a little premature, but Asiasi has certainly left a lasting mark at Cal State LA. The 5-foot-8 senior guard became the first Golden Eagle women’s basketball player to capture the CCAA Player of the Year honor after leading the conference in scoring and placing in the top 10 in rebounds, assists, and steals while pushing Cal State LA to its best season ever, with 24 wins to date. The Golden Eagles also set program records with 18 conference victories and a 15-game winning streak.

Joining Asiasi on the All-CCAA first team was junior Sofia Fidelus. Senior Amaya Fuentes and sophomore Ariyah Smith were named to the second team, while sophomore Mariah Blake earned honorable mention.

Asiasi continues to add to her hardware. In last week’s CCAA playoffs, she was named the tournament’s most valuable player as Cal State LA steamrolled through three victories by an average of 27 points for the program’s first CCAA Tournament championship. Asiasi was also named to the first team of the 2025-26 Division 2 College Commissioners Association All-West Region team.

She and the Golden Eagles will now compete in the NCAA Division II West Region at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, starting with a first-round matchup against Vanguard on Friday, March 13. Cal State LA has now advanced to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four years.

Asiasi’s success comes as no surprise to anyone on the team. In her exit interview with Johnson after last season, the pair set elevated individual and team goals that included Asiasi taking home the CCAA Player of the Year trophy.

“I sent her a message: When you look in the mirror, I want you to see the CCAA Player of the Year,” Johnson said. “I want you to see an All-American. I want you to see the best player in the country. She worked on her game, she worked on her body, she worked on her mind. This is a byproduct of all her work.”

Asiasi, 22, led the CCAA in regular-season scoring with an average of 19.5 points per contest, nearly doubling her output from last year. She scored 20 or more points in 15 regular-season games and tallied nine double-doubles. She also averaged 8.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.8 steals per game.

At the beginning of the season, Asiasi thought she would be returning as the starting point guard, but Johnson took advantage of her versatility and unleashed her as a do-it-all combo guard who ran the point, splashed from midrange and beyond the 3-point line, and posted up.

“The personal success is great,” Asiasi said, “but I always want to do what’s best for the team—whether that’s scoring more, rebounding, assisting, whatever the case may be. I’m glad that I’m doing well and the team is having success. The two things are correlating.”

Asiasi was equally adaptable on defense, where she matched up well at four positions, from point guard to power forward. She usually guarded the opposing team’s best offensive player.

“She could have guarded all five positions,” said 6-foot-4 post Fuentes. “She guards me during practice. She’s that strong.”

Asiasi has been a key contributor for the Golden Eagles since she was a freshman, when she made 25 starts and averaged 7.1 points per game. Her sophomore campaign was hampered by her recovery from a broken right hand, but she bounced back in her junior year when she was named All-CCAA honorable mention after posting 10.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.

Following her exit interview with Johnson, Asiasi dedicated herself to getting in the best shape of her life by changing her diet to include more chicken and other lean meats, fruits and vegetables, and cottage cheese. She cut down on sugary treats, to the dismay of her sweet tooth.

“I stayed the same weight, but my body toned and I gained muscle,” she said. “I was able to move better and feel better. No matter where I was going to play, it was going to help me.”

Junior guard Fidelus has seen this dedication from Asiasi before. The two of them were teammates on the Salesian College Preparatory-Richmond team that won the 2022 California Interscholastic Federation Division I state championship.

“I’m definitely very proud of her,” Fidelus said. “As a leader, she is very passionate and invested in what we do here as a team. She makes everybody else want to be better because of how hard she works. She really pushes us in practice.”

Asiasi grew up in a family of athletes in her hometown of Pittsburg in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her mother Nettie attended Notre Dame de Namur University and competed in basketball, volleyball, track, and softball, while her father Dave played football at the College of San Mateo and Menlo College.

Her younger sister Nyana, 20, plays basketball for San Francisco State; brother DJ, 18, plays football at Nevada; and brother Daryion, 15, plays high school football.

Nevaeh was inspired to pick up hoops by her 28-year-old brother Devin, who played both basketball and football in high school before going on to play tight end collegiately for Michigan and UCLA, and then professionally from 2020 to 2022 with the New England Patriots and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Her love for her family is displayed all over her tattooed arms and right leg. Amid the tribal ink inspired by her Samoan heritage from her father’s side are four plumerias, each representing a sibling. The names of her brothers and sister are also on display in red on her left arm.

She pays tribute to her dad with a tattoo of his family name and to her mom with a lily, her favorite flower. She says her parents are her biggest supporters.

“My mom is also my biggest critic,” she said with a smile. “My dad is just delusional. He’s a big fan of me.”

Asiasi is scheduled to graduate in May with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She aspires to play basketball professionally overseas.

“She’s been steadfast and growth-oriented,” Johnson said. “The kid doesn’t miss practice. She’s coachable, a high-volume listener. She does everything we ask of her without any complaints. When you have someone like that in your program, it elevates everyone else. She’s such a hard worker and everyone gravitates toward that.”

California State University, Los Angeles is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Cal State LA is ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students. Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good, offering nationally recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education, and the humanities. Founded in 1947, the University serves more than 22,000 students and has more than 260,000 distinguished alumni.