Exhibition Game
Concordia at UC Irvine
Thursday, Nov. 7 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
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Non-Conference Game
South Dakota at UC Irvine
Sunday, Nov. 2 · 2:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
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After hosting an exhibition against Concordia Thursday (Nov. 7) at 7:00 p.m., UC Irvine opens its 40th season of women's basketball entertaining South Dakota Sunday (Nov. 10) at 2:00 p.m. Both games will be played the Bren Events Center.
Concordia is under the direction of first year head coach Trisha Stafford-Odom. Stafford-Odom was an assistant coach at North Carolina, Duke and UCLA prior to taking over the helm of the Eagles.
Concordia has dropped its first two contests of the year to Cal State Dominquez Hills (80-69) and Cal Poly Pomona (71-67) and will travel to UNLV Monday to face the Rebels.
The Anteaters have defeated the Eagles the last three seasons, taking an 84-71 decision in 2010-11, a 91-57 victory in 2011-12 and a 68-41 triumph last season.
Forward Jasmine Bernard had a game-high 14 points and eight rebounds to lead UCI in the last meeting against Concordia. She went 7-18 from the floor in 17 minutes of action.
The Anteaters went 16-17 from the free throw line and pulled down 58 rebounds versus the Eagles a year ago.
This is the first meeting between UCI and South Dakota. The Coyotes were picked to finish third in the Summit League preseason poll.
South Dakota will play at Cal State Fullerton Friday before heading to the Bren Center.
The Coyotes were 19-16 overall in 2012-13, ending the year with a 71-63 loss to McNeese State in a semifinal of the Women's Basketball Invitational.
Nicole Seekamp, last season's Summit League Tournament MVP, tops the list of returnees for USD. She earned preseason first team All-Summit League honors after averaging 14.9 points and 4.0 rebounds a season ago.
UCI will start the year at home for the first time since 2009 when the Anteaters hosted San Diego State in the opener.
The Anteater haven't won a season opener since beating Centenary 72-56 on Nov. 25, 2002 at the Bren.
Following this week's first two home games, UCI will be on the road for the next nine games, returning to the Bren on Dec. 18 when the Anteaters take on New Mexico State.
UCI will play 11 of its 14 non-conference games on the road.
The Anteaters were picked eighth in the Big West Conference preseason poll as selected by media members.
UCI ended last season 9-21 overall and 5-13 in the Big West Conference. The Anteaters gained momentum late in the season, winning five of six outings, but then dropped the last four contests of the year and ended in a tie for eighth place in the league standings. UCI lost a tie breaker for the final post-season tournament spot.
UCI lost 10 games last year by 10 points or less.
Senior Camille Buckley, who was a second team All-Big West honoree in 2013, led the Anteaters with an 11.4 scoring and 9.9 rebound average overall. The forward was the only conference player to average a double-double in Big West games with 11.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per outing.
Senior guard Kelly Meggs was 50-153 from three-pointer range last season. She ranks fifth most in treys made and third in attempted in the UCI season record books. Meggs has played in 80 of the teams' 90 games over the last three years.
Senior guard Jennifer Tsurumoto was second on the team in scoring last season with a 10.1 mark. She led the team and was ninth in the Big West with a 2.9 assist average.
Jazmyne White returns for her senior year after seeing limited time due to a knee injury the last two seasons. The forward was the Big West Freshman of the Year in 2010.
Junior Madison McKenney joins the squad after sitting out last season due to transferring from CSU Bakersfield. The guard had a career-high 22 points against UCI in 2011 when she was a member of the Roadrunners.
The seven seniors on the roster combined for 170 career starts, 89 of which came in 2012-13.
Former Anteater forward Miranda Forry (2004-08) joins the staff this year as the Director of Basketball Operations. She was teammates with assistant coaches Lauren Bowie (2002-06) and Annie Mai (2004-08) for two seasons.
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