LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Women's Basketball forward Danita Estorga has been nominated for Central Coast Girls Basketball Player of the Decade in recognition of her incredible stint at Righetti High School in Santa Maria, California.

The Santa Maria Times nominated Estorga along with 15 other girls basketball players from the region for a voting bracket that will determine the Player of the Decade. The No. 8 seeded Estorga will match up with No. 9 Heather Madrigal in the first round of voting and all Biola Athletics fans are encouraged to vote for Danita and help her win this award! 

Votes can be cast for Estorga up to three times by visiting the websites of the three participating newspapers: the Santa Maria Times, Lompoc Record and Santa Ynez Valley News. Please vote at all three locations and check Biola Athletics' social media channels regularly to know when voting in subsequent rounds begins. 

Estorga was renowned in the PAC 8 League and Santa Maria-area for her polished game and helped the Righetti Warriors to near unprecedented success as an upperclassman. With Estroga averaging 15.7 points and almost nine rebounds per game as a junior, Righetti Girls Basketball won its first league title in 10 years and its first CIF playoff game since 2011. The Warriors advanced all the way to the CIF Southern Section Division 3A Final Four in 2016 as Estorga averaged over 20 points and seven boards per playoff contest. 

The Warriors would make it back-to-back league titles after going 14-0 during PAC 8 play during 2016-17. For her part, Estorga followed up her All-Area MVP and All-CIF SS first team honors as a junior with an All-Area Offensive Player of the Year honors during her final season. And that recognition still came after Estorga's season was cut short due to injury.

On top of her four all-league and all-area selections, Estorga averaged 15.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.5 steals and over a block per game over her junior and senior varsity seasons. Naturally, that made her a sought after prospect for Head Coach Alan Nakamura's 2017 recruiting class. 

But as Nakamura reflects on what made Estorga special as a recruit, he quickly said that her respect for the game and for training matched her tremendous talent. 

"Signing Danita was big for us! After getting to know Danita and her family, observing her commitment to the game and her team, her competitive spirit, and her quality off the court, I thought she was the exact fit for the character and talent we are trying to build our program around," said Nakamura. "And that idea was only reinforced when I spoke with people from her community who had known her for years and had seen her growth and maturity!"
 
Since returning to action with the Eagles, Estorga has continued to demonstrate an all-around game that gives whatever Biola has needed from her to win games. She scored in double figures nine times during her first season and picked up 131 rebounds over 28 games. Then she made a massive impact in 2019-20 as the Eagles made a run to the PacWest Tournament Semifinals. 
 
Estorga led the Eagles in scoring during her first 17 games of the season and averaged double-digit points for the entire campaign. She also led the team in rebounding at 6.5 boards per game and scored 17 points across Biola's two conference tournament contests. 
 
"During her time at Biola, all of our hopes for Danita have been confirmed," added Nakamura. "It is a blessing to work with Danita on a daily basis. And she has been a blessing to our program as a great teammate, team captain, and a key contributor on and off the court!"

Once again, all Biola Athletics fans are encouraged to support Danita in the voting for Central Coast Girls Basketball Player of the Decade! Votes can be cast at the Santa Maria Times, Lompoc Record and Santa Ynez Valley News.