Chapman (5-0) at
UC Irvine (5-6)
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 19
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
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UC Irvine Game Notes

The UC Irvine women's basketball team will host Chapman University in its final home game of the calendar year on Tuesday, Dec. 19. The 'Eaters and Panthers are set to tip-off at 7 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.
 
TIP-INS
• UC Irvine saw its three-game win streak come to an end with an OT loss to Portland State last Saturday.
• The 'Eaters have already matched their win total from last year, and surpassed their win total from 2015-16.
• Deijah Blanks has scored the final points in all three of the Anteaters' late comeback victories.
• In the season opener, Blanks made a buzzer-beating half-court shot to give UCI an 87-84 triumph vs. Utah State.
• UC Irvine has held the advantage in bench points in nine games with the non-starters combining for 25+ points eight times.
• Yazzy Sa'Dullah had the Anteaters' first 20-point effort of the season against Big 10 member Illinois on Nov. 24.
• Lauren Saiki leads the 'Eaters and ranks third in the Big West with 49 assists (4.5/game).
• UCI is among the top-three in the conference in turnover margin, blocked shots, steals and free throw percentage.
• UC Irvine has a new look this year with 10 newcomers (five true freshmen and five returning redshirts).
 
BALANCED ATTACK
• Ten of UC Irvine's 13 active players are averaging at least 13 minutes per contest.
• Nine of those players have also registered at least 5.2 points per outing.
• The 'Eaters have had eight different scoring leaders through their first 11 games.
 
WITH A WIN...
• UC Irvine would earn its fourth victory in its last five games.
• UCI would improve to 4-2 at the Bren Events Center, marking its best start at home since 2013-14.
• The 'Eaters would pick up their ninth win in their all-time series with Chapman.

A GLANCE AT THE PANTHERS
Chapman improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play with a 76-47 win over Pomona-Pitzer in its most recent outing on Dec. 6. Senior Jaime Hum-Nishikado has been the Panthers' top shooter with 11.2 points per game and a team-high 12 3-pointers. Junior Jaryn Fajardo is also averaging 10.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per contest. Tuesday's game will be an exhibition for Chapman, which is an NCAA Division III affiliate.
 
SERIES RECORD VS. CU
The 'Eaters lead in their all-time series with Chapman, 8-3, but the two schools have not crossed paths in 33 years as eight of the 11 meetings occurred before the NCAA Division I Championship era (1981-82). The programs last squared off on Jan. 26, 1984, with UCI defeating the Panthers, 60-54, in Irvine.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine led by six with 30 seconds left in regulation, but Portland State made a late push to tie it up at the buzzer and kept the momentum in overtime as the 'Eaters ended up falling, 82-72, last Saturday at the Bren Events Center. After the Vikings knotted the score at 62-62, Deijah Blanks made the go-ahead basket with 6.7 seconds on the clock. PSU then answered with a game-tying jumper as time ran out to force overtime. The visitors then outscored UCI, 18-8, in the five-minute extra period.

Yazzy Sa'Dullah led the Anteaters with 13 points and six rebounds. Sabrina Engelstad added 10 points, while Blanks, Tahlia Garza and Andee Ritter chipped in nine each. Ritter also pulled down a career-high nine boards. Lauren Saiki contributed six points, five assists, four rebounds and a season-best four steals. As a team, UC Irvine shot 36.6 percent overall, 29.2 percent from beyond the arc and 59.1 percent at the free throw line. The 'Eaters had a season-best 45 rebounds and 19 assists, but also committed a season-high 23 turnovers.
 
OT HISTORY
Last Saturday was UC Irvine's first overtime loss in three years. The Anteaters had won each of their last two OT games, defeating Cal Poly in 2017 and UC Riverside in 2015.

THE CLOSER
Junior Deijah Blanks has been the Anteaters' go-to player in clutch situations. It started in the season opener when she banked in a half-court shot at the final buzzer to give UCI an 87-84 victory over Utah State. Blanks also made the game-winning free throw with two seconds remaining to secure a 75-74 triumph against Pepperdine. The San Diego native then hit a game-tying jumper in the final 10 seconds before getting to the charity stripe with 0.2 ticks on the clock to seal a 67-65 win at SDSU. Most recently vs. Portland State, Blanks got to the rim for a layup that put the 'Eaters on top, 64-62, with 6.4 seconds left in regulation, but the Vikings were able to answer and pull out an 82-72 overtime victory.
 
JORDAN EFFECT
The 'Eaters are 4-0 when freshman Jordan Sanders scores at least 10 points. In the team's five wins, she is averaging 11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, while shooting 43.6 percent from the field.
 
CHART CLIMBER
Junior Andee Ritter has made a team-best 21 3-pointers over the first 11 games. She has already moved up four spots on UCI's all-time charts, most recently passing Megan Stafford for fifth with 122 career triples. Ritter is 16 away from cracking the top-three and is ultimately chasing Kathy Lizarraga (1988-92), who owns the school record at 198. Ritter already broke Lizarraga's 28-year old single-season program record with 87 3-pointers last year, and tied the Anteaters' single-game high with a career-best seven treys at UC Riverside on Jan. 7, 2017.
 
OFF THE BENCH
UCI's bench has netted 25+ points in eight of its 11 contests, and has outscored its opponents by an average of 8.0 ppg. Freshman Haleigh Talbert leads the non-starters with 6.3 points per outing.
 
THREE'S COMPANY
UC Irvine is averaging nearly seven 3-pointers per game, and connected for a season-high 10 in a win over Portland. Seven 'Eaters have made at least four threes, led by Andee Ritter's 21. Sophomore Yazzy Sa'Dullah ranks second on the team with 13, while redshirt freshman Autumn Baumgartner has 11.
 
BOARDS & BLOCKS
The Anteaters, who led their opponents in rebounding only six times in 2016-17, have won the battle on the boards on three occasions this year. They opened the campaign with a dominant performance against Utah State, outrebounding the Aggies, 45-35, and holding a lopsided 19-7 advantage on the offensive glass. UC Irvine also had the edge vs. Big 10 member Illinois (43-41) and at Southern Utah (43-38). In addition, UCI has been one of the top shot blocking teams in the Big West as it ranks third in the conference with 4.4 bpg. The 'Eaters are averaging 6.3 blocks over the last four contests, and set a season high with eight at San Diego State.
 
DEFEND THE BREN
The 'Eaters are 3-2 at the Bren Events Center with wins over Utah State, Portland and Pepperdine. It is their best start at home since the 2013-14 squad was 5-0.
 
LET'S GET IT STARTED
UC Irvine didn't disappoint in its season opener at the Bren Events Center on Nov. 10. The Anteaters erased a 13-point deficit in the final minutes, and Deijah Blanks capped the rally with a half-court shot that banked in at the buzzer for the 87-84 victory over Utah State. Blanks' game-winning play, which started with a steal from Yazzy Sa'Dullah, was featured at No. 1 on SportsCenter's Top 10. It was UCI's first season-opening victory since the 2013-14 campaign when it topped South Dakota at home, 68-64. That was also the last year the 'Eaters had a winning record at 17-15.
 
YOUNG GUNS
UC Irvine's starting lineup, which has stayed the same over the first 11 games, features two true freshmen, two redshirt sophomores and one junior. Overall, the Anteaters have nine underclassmen, and only two seniors, both of who are in their second year at UCI.
 
NEW LOOK
Ten players are donning the Blue & Gold for the first time this season as second-year head coach Tamara Inoue and her staff have brought in five true freshmen and five Division I transfers who redshirted the 2016-17 campaign due to NCAA rules. UC Irvine returns only four letterwinners and two starters.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After playing three of its first four games in the friendly confines of the Bren Events Center, UC Irvine will hit the road for seven of its final 10 non-conference contests (including neutral-site). In December, the 'Eaters have only two home games, hosting Portland State (Dec. 16) and Chapman (Dec. 19). They will also travel to Southern Utah, San Diego State, Seattle and Bakersfield.
 
MITTY CONNECTION
Freshmen Tahlia Garza and Dani Guglielmo were teammates for four years at Archbishop Mitty High School. Assistant coach Cecilia Russell-Nava is also a Monarch alum, playing at Mitty from 1999-2003.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will travel to the Pacific Northwest for a 2 p.m. showdown at Seattle U on Friday, Dec. 22.