THIS WEEK
BIG WEST CONFERENCE GAME
Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine · Saturday, Feb. 20 · 2:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
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UCI will battle cross-county rival Cal State Fullerton Saturday (Feb. 20) at 2:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.
Saturday is a Think Pink game in support of breast cancer awareness. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game.
UCI will also be celebrating National Girls and Women In Sports Day on Saturday. UCI student-athletes and coaches will participate in a clinic in the morning and conclude the day at the basketball game.
The contest against the Titans is UCI's only game of the week.
UCI's lone Big West victory came in a 62-58 win at Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 23.
Mokun Fajemisin led UCI with 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Shereen Sutherland had 12 points and six rebounds, followed by Mackenzie Piper, Andee Ritter and Raelyn Cheung-Sutton with nine points each. Cal State Fullerton's Michelle Berry recorded a game-high 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Jade Vega and Dani Craig each posted 13 points for the Titans.
Cal State Fullerton is 2-23 overall and 0-11 in the Big West. The Titans won the first two games of the year against Portland State and Loyola Marymount.
The Titans will host Cal Poly on Thursday before visiting the Bren.
The Anteaters are one game ahead of the Titans for the final spot in the Big West Tournament with a 1-10 league record. UCI is 4-21 overall.
The first two rounds of the Big West Tournament will be held at the Bren Events Center Mar. 8-9.
UCI lost two games last week to UC Santa Barbara (80-62) and CSUN (62-48).
Freshmen were key in both games last week. Forward Arianna Knox came off the bench and poured in a career-high 10 points in nine minutes of action in the fourth quarter against the Gauchos.
Versus CSUN, forward Tayla Jackson career-high 17 points, going 8-14 from the floor.
Forward Mokun Fajemisin leads the team in points (9.6) and rebounds (7.6). The junior ranks fifth among Big West players in rebound average.
Fajemisin leads the league in blocks per game at 2.0. In Big West games only she is averaging 2.3 blocks. The forward has recorded two or more blocks in 14 games this year and is fifth all-time in UCI career blocks (113). Her 43 blocks in 2015-16 are ninth on the UCI season list.
The Anteaters have attempted the most field goals in the league 1,566, but the fewest three-pointers (349). UCI ranks third in offensive rebounds with a 13.3 average.
In league-games only, UCI tops the Big West in blocked shots with a 4.4 average.
UCI (57.0) and Cal State Fullerton (55.4) are the lowest scoring teams in the league.
Point guard Raelyn Cheung-Sutton was hampered by an injury Thursday, playing only 10 minutes in the first half. She did not record an assist for the first time since March 14, 2014. She did not play against CSUN.
Cheung-Sutton leads the Big West and is 23rd nationally in assists per game at 5.6. She has fired 135 assists on the year which ranks 24th in the country. She currently ranks fifth in UCI career assists (295) and her 135 assists this season ranks seventh on UCI's single-season list.
Cheung-Sutton has a streak of 27 consecutive free throws. She is one of two Big West players (Annelise Ito, UCR, who is out for the rest of the season) that are perfect from the line in conference play, going 23-23.
Three different Anteaters (Raelyn Cheung-Sutton, Mokun Fajemisin and Shereen Sutherland) have recorded double-doubles this season. UCI is still looking for a player to record a double-double in a conference game.
Next week, UCI will hit the road for the final time, traveling to UC Santa Barbara Thursday (Feb. 25) and Long Beach State Saturday (Feb. 27).
