THIS WEEK
Big West Conference Games
UC Irvine at UC Davis · Thurs., Feb. 9 · 5:00 p.m. · The Pavilion · Davis, CA
Radio: KUCI 88.9 FM or www.ucirvinesports.com/media/listen_live/index
Video: http://www.fansonly.com/schools/bigw/allaccess/index.html
UC Irvine at Pacific · Sat., Feb. 11 · 5:00 p.m. · Alex G. Spanos Center · Stockton, CA
Radio: KUCI 88.9 FM or www.ucirvinesports.com/media/listen_live/index
Video: http://www.fansonly.com/schools/bigw/allaccess/index.html
LiveStats: http://livestats.prestosports.com/pacific/
ANTEATERS VISIT UC DAVIS; PACIFIC: UC Irvine will travel to UC Davis Thursday (Feb. 9) at 5:00 p.m. in the The Pavilion then head to Pacific Saturday (Feb. 11) for a 5:00 p.m. game at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
VS THE AGGIES: UC Davis holds a 19-2 advantage over UCI in the series records.
UCI snapped a 14-game losing streak against the Aggies with a 60-54 victory earlier this year in Irvine.
In the first meeting of the year, a three-pointer by Kiara Belen gave UCI its largest lead of the game, 49-37 with 8:14 remaining in the game. UC Davis would rally, out-scoring the Anteaters 11-4 to narrow the margin to 53-48 with 1:06 left. After the teams traded baskets, UCI's Kelly Meggs hit the first of two free throws then UCD's Blair Shinoda cut the deficit to four (56-52) with a pair of free throws. Methlyn Onogomuho hit two free throws for the Anteaters before Shinoda hit a jumper to keep the Aggies alive 58-54 with 28 ticks left. UCI threw a full court pass on the inbound to a streaking Anete Klintsone, who before falling out of bounds, flipped the ball back to Jacquelyn Marshall who was able to score the bucket and was fouled with 27 seconds left putting UCI up 60-54. Marshall would miss her free throw and UC Davis would not convert on two attempts from the field and one from the free throw line as time expired.
Klintsone led all players with 16 points, hitting 6-13 from the floor. She also added a career-high eight rebounds. Marshall recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Kassandra McCalister totaled 12 points and a game-best seven assists.
UCI's only other win against the Aggies came on Jan. 4, 2006 when the Anteaters took a 79-72 decision in Davis.
UC Davis is 14-7 overall and 6-3 in the Big West, a half a game ahead of the Anteaters in second place in the league standings.
VS THE TIGERS: Pacific leads UCI, 31-29 in the series records. UCI has won the last five contests, including a 77-75 overtime victory at the Bren in January.
Anete Klintsone led the Anteaters with a career-high 21 points. Methlyn Onogomuho recorded 15 points and eight rebounds, while Kiara Belen added 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Kassandra McCallister led UCI with nine rebounds and eight assists to go with eight points.
UCI led by five (71-66) on a jumper by Jacquelyn Marshall with 1:00 minute remaining in regulation. Erica McKenzie knocked down a three-pointer for Pacific with 49 seconds to go then UCI turned the ball over on its next possession setting Pacific up for the last shot with 20 seconds to go. Pacific's Kendall Rodriquez was fouled behind the three-point arc with four seconds left and hit two of three attempts to knot the score at 71-71. UCI had a final shot with one second to go, but it sailed wide to send the game into overtime.
Belen hit the eventual game-winner with 54 seconds left as each team did not score on their next possession. UCI fouled Gena Johnson with eight seconds left but she missed both attempts and UCI would sneak away with the 77-75 victory.
Pacific is 12-9 overall and 5-4 in the Big West. The Tigers host UC Riverside Thursday before entertaining the Anteaters.
ROAD TRIPPIN: The Anteaters are 2-8 on the road this season, winning the last two games away from the Bren. UCI is 6-5 at home and 2-0 in neutral sites this year.
10 WINS: UCI is 10-13 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.
BIG WEST GETS INTERESTING: UCI is currently 6-4 in the Big West. UC Davis and Cal Poly also have six league wins, but have played one fewer game than the Anteaters. Cal State Northridge is at the top of the standings with a 8-2 mark. Pacific is in fifth with a 5-4 mark followed by Long Beach State at 4-6. 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 ON FIRE LAST WEEK: Senior guard Kassandra McCalister led the Anteaters last week averaging 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals, while shooting .500 from the field and three-point range over two games. The guard started the week with her first career double-double totaling 17 points and 10 rebounds in a victory over Long Beach State. Her 10 boards tied her career-high. She ended the week scoring 27 points and seven rebounds versus the Matadors. McCalister went 5-7 from three-point territory, which is also a career best The guard leads the team and the Big West Conference in assists per game with a 4.2 mark.
FROM THE LINE: UCI, who ranks last in the league from the line, shot .800 (33-41)over two games last week. The Anteaters are .793 (46-58) over the last three games. Sophomore Jacquelyn Marshall leads the squad with a .759 mark.
DOWNTOWN: UCI is averaging 4.6 three-pointers overall, but have averaged 6.3 long balls over the last four games. The Anteaters lead the conference in three-point defense (.244) in Big West games only. Pacific is second in three-point percentage overall (.326) and Big West games only (.329).
BIG WEST STATS: UCI ranks second in field goal percentage (.407), rebounding defense (37.3), and assists (14.04). The team is third in rebound margin (+2.0) and blocked shots (3.57). The Anteaters are last in the Big West in free throw percentage (.656) and field goal defense (.428).
______________________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
