The Mustangs won't be in the field of 64 when it's announced today and remain long shots to get an at-large berth to the 48-team WNIT, which is also announced today.

But even if Cal Poly is left out of the postseason, there is no denying the progress 12th-year coach Faith Mimnaugh, who hadn't had a winning season before the team finished 21-11, has made this year.

The Mustangs had their first winning record in 17 seasons, and tied a 27-year-old program record for victories in a season.

And, with her current deal set to expire after next season, she's hoping to parlay that success into a contract extension.

"That's definitely a hope of mine," Mimnaugh said before the team even played a game in the Big West Tournament. "I know that it just makes life really, really difficult to recruit if you don't have an extended contract. From the coach's standpoint and the program's perspective, that's something that the administration always has to consider, and I think that we've been fighting hard."

Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone attended Saturday's 64-57 loss to the Gauchos and said she's meeting with both Mimnaugh and Mustangs men's coach Kevin Bromley this week to discuss the direction of the programs.

While his team finished 7-21, went winless at home in the Big West and was left out of the conference tournament for the second time in his nine-year tenure, Bromley did not say it was a priority to get an extension on his deal, which also ends after next season. Like Bromley this season, Mimnaugh has come under fire before.

Questions were asked about her future in 2006, when the university fired longtime men's soccer coach Wolfgang Gartner after a 6-14 campaign and Mimnaugh's lack of success became a topic of discussion.

She was eventually signed to a three-year extension that paid her more than $107,000 in 2008, according to the Sacramento Bee's state salary database.

Prior to this season, Mimnaugh's career record at Cal Poly stood at 121-202, with a few of those seasons derailed by injuries or illness.

In 2003-04, Cal Poly lost captain Michelle Henke to a knee injury and a year later lost 11 of the final 13 games of the season after senior leader Katy Paterson came down with mononucleosis.

In 2006-07, four-year starting guard Sparkle Anderson tore her ACL early on and the team finished 14-14.

Former Mustangs Paige Billingsley, Caroline Rowles and eventual Olympic track and field gold medalist Stephanie Brown Trafton all ended their basketball careers early because of injury during Mimnaugh's tenure.

Injuries or not, Mimnaugh likened building the Cal Poly program to constructing a house by saying quality takes time.

"Cal Poly, because of the integrity of the university and the academic excellence, it's taken longer to build this house," Mimnaugh said, "but we've done it the right way. We haven't brought in trash people, we graduate all of our kids and we play team basketball. "It's a nice strong house, and it's just taken longer."