THIS WEEK
Big West Conference Game
UC Irvine at Cal State Fullerton· Saturday, Feb. 25 · 3:00 p.m. · Titan Gym
Radio: KUCI 88.9 FM or www.ucirvinesports.com/media/listen_live/index
Video: http://www.fansonly.com/schools/bigw/allaccess/index.html
CROSS COUNTY RIVALS BATTLE ON SATURDAY: UC Irvine will travel up the 57 freeway to battle Cal State Fullerton Saturday (Feb. 25) at 3:00 p.m. in Titan Gym.
BIG WEST TOUR COMES TO IRVINE: The Big West Tour sponsored by the Hawaii Tourism Authority will be on the UC Irvine campus this week. The Tour will be at the Student Center on Thursday from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. then at the men's basketball game on Saturday night.
Fans stopping by the Big West booth have a chance to win prize packs, ampm scratcher cards and a chance to enter the drawing for a trip for two to Hawaii.
VS THE TITANS: UCI leads the series with the Titans, 34-31. The Anteaters have won the last four meetings, including a 73-68 victory at the Bren earlier this year.
In the first meeting, UC Irvine only had eight players in uniform and had five players score in double-figures for the first time since Jan. 22, 2011.
The Anteaters were led by Kassandra McCalister and Anete Klintsone led the Anteaters with 14 points apiece. Jasmine Bernard came off the bench to record 13 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes, while Jacquelyn Marshall added 12 points and three blocked shots. Kiara Belen had 10 points in the win.
UCI shot 46.2 (12-26) in the final 20 minutes while Fullerton was just 27.8 (10-36). Cal State Fullerton shot 83.3 percent (20-24) from the free throw line for the game, including hitting 17-19 in the second half.
Cal State Fullerton was led by Chante Miles with 13 points, including three three-pointers. Lauren Chow added 10 points, while Mya Olivier and Kathleen Iwuoha each had nine points.
The Titans are 9-16 overall and 2-10 in the Big West. Cal State Fullerton will entertain UC Riverside on Wednesday before playing the Anteaters.
HOME STRETCH: UCI has two games left in the regular season heading to Cal State Fullerton and then closing out the regular season on Mar. 1 at UC Riverside. The Anteaters enter the week in fourth place in the Big West with a 8-6 record.
Cal State Northridge tops the league with a 10-3 mark followed by Cal Poly at 9-3. Pacific is in third at 7-5, playing two fewer games than UCI. UC Davis is 7-6, while Long Beach State is 6-6 and UC Santa Barbara is 5-7 against league opponents. UC Riverside (3-11) and Cal State Fullerton (2-10) can not finish ahead of the Anteaters.
The Big West Tournament's first round is played at the top four seeds home courts on March 6. The winners advance to the Honda Center for the semifinals on Feb. 9.
MCCALISTER IGNITES OFFENSE: Over the last six games, senior guard Kassandra McCalister has led the Anteaters averaging 22.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals, while shooting .413 from the field and .436 from three-point range. The guard has posted more than 27 points on three occasions in that span, including a career-best 36 versus UC Santa Barbara. She has two double-doubles and had a career-high 10 rebounds twice. McCalister is 17-34 from three-point range in the last five games, draining a career-high six treys versus UC Davis. The guard leads the team in scoring (14.1), three-pointers (39) and assists (4.1).
ON THE RECORD: UCI is 12-15 overall, only the second time since the team went 17–12 in 2002-03 that the Anteaters have collected 10 or more wins. Last year, UCI was 15-15. The Anteaters are 7-6 at home, 3-9 on the road and 2-0 on neutral courts. UCI has won eight of the last 13 contests.
KLINTSONE CONTRIBUTES: Junior guard Anete Klintsone has recorded points in double figures 12 times this year, including the last two outings. Last week, she averaged 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, while knocking down seven three-pointers. Overall, Klintsone is averaging 9.2 points per game and is second on the team with 29 three-pointers.
LIFE AT THE LINE: UCI might be last in the league in free throw percentage (666), but the Anteaters have been shooting .802 (65-81) from the line over the last four home games.
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