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Irvine, Calif. -- The UC Irvine women's basketball team will stay closer to home and battle local Pac-12 foes UCLA and USC as the 2015-16 schedule is debuted.
The Anteaters will face seven opponents that are coming off post-season appearances (NCAA, WNIT) a year ago with six teams sporting 20-win seasons.
"I think it is a fair schedule and there will be some good match-ups," fourth year head coach Doug Oliver said. "The non-conference schedule will be a guide to see where we are and a great gauge on our personnel. Exposure to good teams in our area will prepare us for the Big West."
The Anteaters will begin the year with exhibition games against Occidental (Nov. 3) and La Verne (Nov. 10) at home before hosting St. John's at the Bren Events Center on Nov. 15. The season opener will be challenging as the Red Storm lost in the Women's NIT Round of 16.
"This is a great opener for us," Oliver noted. "We were happy to get them on the schedule and will have a good test right out of the gate."
UCI will head out on the road to face Southern Utah (Nov. 19) and UNLV (Nov. 21) then once again participate in the Loyola Marymount Tournament Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 27-28). The Anteaters will open the tournament against Princeton, who went 31-1 a year ago, dropping its lone game to No. 3 Maryland in NCAA Second Round action. Seattle U and the host Lions round out the tournament participants.
December will feature four home games, starting with Northern Arizona on Dec. 4 and Nevada Dec. 6 then San Diego Christian (Dec. 12) and Grand Canyon (Dec. 14) round out the homestand.
UCI closes out the year and starts 2016 with a string of six road contests. For the first time since 2006, the Anteaters will take on UCLA Dec. 16 at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins were the 2015 NIT Champions. A trip to San Jose State (Dec. 20) and Sacramento State (Dec. 28) precedes a meeting with USC on Dec. 28. This will be the first ever meeting between the Anteaters and Trojans.
"It will be fun to play UCLA and USC. I know our California players will look forward to playing in those venues. Sacramento State likes to run up and down the floor and we are going to be an up-tempo team so it should be an interesting contest."
A game at Bakersfield kicks off the new year (Jan. 3) before the Anteaters start the Big West schedule at UC Riverside on Jan. 7.
A home contest versus Cal Poly (Jan. 9), then a road trip to Davis (Jan. 14) come before two home games against Long Beach State (Jan. 16) and Hawaii (Jan. 21).
Two-time defending Big West Tournament winner CSUN will visit the Bren on Jan. 28 after a road game at Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 23). Trips to Hawaii (Jan. 30), Cal Poly (Feb. 6) and CSUN (Feb. 13) bookend a home test against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 11.
The Anteaters will host cross-county rival Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 20 leading in to the final road swing of the year to UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 25) and Long Beach State (Feb. 27).
UCI will battle UC Riverside (Mar. 3) and UC Davis (Mar. 5) to close out the regular season at home.
The Bren Events Center will be the site of the first two rounds of the Big West Tournament on Mar. 8-9 with teams advancing to the final two rounds at the Honda Center on Mar. 11-12.
"We will be a different looking team this season," Oliver added. "We are bigger, stronger and faster. With depth on the bench, we will be able to put more pressure on the opponents and be able to push the ball up the court."
Coach Oliver credits the confidence of his player at the end of 2015 as the jumping off point for 2015-16.
The Anteaters return eight players including seniors Mokun Fajemisin and Raelyn Cheung-Sutton. Fajemisin was a second-team All-Big West honoree after averaging 12.2 points and 7.6 rebounds, while Cheung-Sutton is the conference's returning assist leader with a 4.75 mark a year ago.
Junior guard Irene Chavez led the team with 38 three-pointers and was second in scoring at 8.5 points per game. Junior forward Shereen Sutherland was third on the team in scoring (8.2) and rebounding (4.8).
Illinois transfer Mckenizie Piper also joins the team after sitting out last season due to NCAA rules.
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2015-16 TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets, mini plan, and single game tickets are on sale now. Season tickets are the best value with a minimum 30% savings. Fans can order in advance online and save on single-game purchases.
The ticket office can also be contacted by emailing athletics.tickets@uci.edu or calling 949-824-5000.
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SUPPORT UC IRVINE STUDENT-ATHLETES
UC Irvine Athletics is proud of each of our student-athletes and the way in which they represent UCI in local, regional, and national competition. Consider making a gift to the Anteater Athletic Fund or to the Women's Basketball program and help make a difference in the lives of UC Irvine student-athletes. For more information and to make your gift online, CLICK HERE.
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JR. ANTEATER KID'S CLUB
The exclusive club for UC Irvine fans, ages 13 and under. Membership benefits includes complimentary admission to select athletic home games, meet & greets with coaches and student-athletes, participation in special on-court or on-the-field opportunities, and much more! For more information CLICK HERE.
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UCI FRONT ROW
View UC Irvine schedules, live stats and get up-to-the minute scoring updates on your mobile devices by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play. In addition, fans can follow the team on its Facebook page and Twitter account.
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