UC Irvine Hosts Cal State San Marcos In Exhibition Game Tuesday
October 29, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Exhibition Game
Cal State San Marcos vs UC Irvine · Tuesday, Oct. 30 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Center
Radio: Internet only www.ucirvinesports.com/media/listen_live/index
Video: None
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Tuesday's game versus Cal State San Marcos will be the first of two exhibitions the Anteaters will play before starting the regular season at Santa Clara on Nov. 9. UCI will also entertain fellow Irvine neighbor Concordia on Nov. 6 at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Center.
UC Irvine was selected ninth in the Big West Preseason Media Poll. The Anteaters have finished higher than the pre-season poll prediction in each of the last four seasons.
Cal State San Marcos moved from NAIA Division II to NAIA Division I this season and are receiving votes in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25. A year ago, the Cougars were Association of Independent Institutions Division II conference champions with a 18-15 overall record.
Former UC Irvine student-athlete Steve Scott is the cross country and track and field head coach at Cal State San Marcos. Scott was a four-time All-American and was a three-time NCAA Champion in the 1,500-meters (1975-77) as an Anteater. UCI hosts the Steve Scott Track and Field Invitational each spring.
Doug Oliver was named the head women's basketball coach at UC Irvine on May 22, 2012 after serving as an assistant coach with the team the previous season. It is Oliver's first head coaching job on the women's s side after serving eight years as the top man at Idaho State (1998-2006) where he was 88-134 overall.
UCI is coming off of a 13-17 overall record in 2011-12. The Anteaters have recorded double-figure wins in each of the last two years.
The Anteaters finished in a tie for third a year ago with 9-7 league record. The nine Big West wins were the most since the Anteaters also went 9-7 in 2002-03 and finished fourth in the league. It was UCI's highest conference finish since 1997-98 when they were second in the West Division. They finished third in 1994-95 when the league was not separated into two divisions.
Last season, UCI ranked second in the Big West field goal percentage (.403), assists (13.57) and rebounding defense (37.4). The team was third in scoring offense (64.6) and fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.300), offensive rebounds (14.20) and blocked shots (3.27). The Anteaters were last in the Big West in field goal defense (.426).
UC Irvine returns eight letterwinners, including Big West All-Freshman team honoree Methlyn Onogomuho who led the conference in offensive rebounds with a 3.03 mark. Forward Jazmyne White, Anete Klintsone and Kelly Meggs also return. White averaged 9.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game before missing the final 15 games with a knee injury. Klintsone averaged 9.0 points and 3.9 rebounds, while Meggs averaged 4.4 points and 1.8 assists.
Camille Buckley, a 6-1 forward, joins the squad after transferring from Loyola Marymount. She sat out last season due to NCAA regulations. As a freshman at LMU, she averaged 2.6 points and 4.5 rebounds over the first eight games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Other new faces include transfers Jennifer Tsurumoto and Vanessa Aguilar and true freshman Mokun Fajesmisin. Tsurumoto, a guard, transferred from Santa Rosa College, while Aguilar, a guard, comes to UCI from LA Valley College. Fajesmisin, who joins Kelly Meggs as the second Anteater to hail from the state of Washington, was prepped at Lynwood High School.
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