UC Irvine (4-5) at
San Diego State (5-2)
Date: Friday, Dec. 8
Time: 12 p.m. (PST)
Location: Viejas Arena (12,414) - San Diego, Calif.
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UC Irvine Game Notes

The UC Irvine women's basketball team will be looking for its third-straight win on Friday, Dec. 8, when it heads to San Diego State for a 12 p.m. game at Viejas Arena.
 
TIP-INS
• SDSU is the fourth Mountain West team UC Irvine will face in non-conference play.
• Deijah Blanks has scored the final points in two of the Anteaters' four wins.
• She made the go-ahead free throw in a 75-74 triumph vs. Pepperdine last Thursday (Nov. 30).
• Blanks also hit a buzzer-beating half-court shot to give the 'Eaters an 87-84 season-opening victory against Utah State.
• UCI has held the advantage in bench points seven times with the non-starters combining for 25+ points in six games.
• Yazzy Sa'Dullah had UC Irvine's first 20-point effort of the season against Big 10 member Illinois.
• Andee Ritter has four-straight double-figure scoring games, averaging 12.0 points and 2.8 triples made during that stretch.
• Autumn Baumgartner has made at least one 3-pointer in each of the last six outings.
• Lauren Saiki leads the Anteaters with 40 assists and ranks third in the Big West with 4.4 per contest.
• The 'Eaters have a new look this year with 10 newcomers (five true freshmen and five returning redshirts).
 
BALANCED ATTACK
• Nine of UC Irvine's 13 active players are averaging at least 12 minutes per contest.
• Eight Anteaters have also registered between 5.0 and 9.0 points per outing.
• The 'Eaters have had six different scoring leaders through their first nine games.
 
WITH A WIN...
• UC Irvine would secure its first three-game win streak since March, 2014.
• The 'Eaters would pick up victory No. 5, which betters or matches their win total from each of the previous two seasons.
• It would also be the fastest UCI has reached five wins since 2013-14.
• UC Irvine, which is facing its fourth Mountain West opponent, would even its record at 2-2 against the conference this year.
• The Anteaters would snap a two-game skid in their all-time series with San Diego State.

SCOUTING THE AZTECS
San Diego State (5-2) is off to its best seven-game start in 10 years after defeating Arizona, 78-67, in Tucson on Saturday, Dec. 3. Senior guard McKynzie Fort leads the Aztecs with 17.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. Senior Lexy Thorderson has also made a team-best 24 3-pointers and is averaging 11.4 points per outing.
 
SERIES RECORD VS. SDSU
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with former Big West member San Diego State, 19-6, but the 'Eaters have seen some success in San Diego with four of their victories coming on the road. SDSU has won the last two, including a 63-53 triumph in the most recent meeting at Viejas Arena on Nov. 14, 2012. The Anteaters are looking for their first win against the Aztecs since 2010.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine held off a late Southern Utah rally to lead wire-to-wire in a 71-64 road victory at America First Event Center on Tuesday, Dec. 5. The 'Eaters led by as many as 17 in the third quarter, but the Thunderbirds chipped away and used a 13-2 run over a four-minute span to make it a 65-62 game with 1:10 left in regulation. UCI countered with a steal by Haleigh Talbert, who was then fouled and made a couple of clutch free throws under pressure. The Anteaters were able to get two more stops and converted at the charity stripe to hold on for their first road win of the year.
 
Andee Ritter led four 'Eaters in double figures as she knocked down four triples to finish with 14 points. She also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Tahlia Garza added 13 points and six boards, while Jordan Sanders recorded 10 points and a season-best nine rebounds. Garza was an impressive 6-for-7 from the field. Lauren Saiki chipped in 10 points and six assists.

OFF THE BENCH
UCI's bench has netted 25 or more points in six of its nine contests, and has outscored its opponents by an average of 6.8 ppg. Haleigh Talbert and Autumn Baumgartner have been the top scorers among non-starters with 6.0 points per outing.
 
JORDAN EFFECT
The Anteaters are 4-0 when freshman Jordan Sanders scores at least 10 points. She is averaging 12.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks, while shooting 43.5 percent from the field in UC Irvine's four wins.
 
CHART CLIMBER
Junior Andee Ritter has made a team-best 17 3-pointers over the first nine games. She has already moved up four spots on UCI's all-time charts, most recently passing Megan Stafford for fifth with 118 career triples. Ritter is 20 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.
 
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, and are led by Andee Ritter, who has knocked down 17. Redshirt freshman Autumn Baumgartner ranks second with 11 triples, as she has made at least one from beyond the arc in six-straight outings.
 
THE BOARD GAME
The Anteaters, who led their opponents in rebounding only six times in 2016-17, have already 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. UCI also had the edge vs. Big 10 member Illinois (43-41) and at Southern Utah (43-38). In addition, the 'Eaters pulled down a season-high 21 offensive rebounds against a very physical Wichita State team.
 
LET'S GET IT STARTED
UC Irvine didn't disappoint in its season opener at the Bren Events Center on Friday, Nov. 10. The Anteaters erased a 13-point deficit in the final minutes, and junior 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 sophomore Yazzy Sa'Dullah, was featured at No. 1 on SportsCenter's Top 10. It was UC Irvine'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 UCI had a winning record at 17-15. In addition, the 87 points were the most by an 'Eater squad in a season opener since 1979-80 when they dropped 107 against UC Santa Cruz.
 
YOUNG GUNS
UC Irvine's starting lineup, which has stayed the same over the first nine 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.
 
WEEKDAY MATINEES
UC Irvine has three weekday matinees on its non-conference schedule with a 12 p.m. tip-off at UNLV (Nov. 14), Southern Utah (Dec. 5) and San Diego State (Dec. 8). All three games are part of the respective hosts' "Field Trip Day" where they bus in kids from the local elementary and middle schools.
 
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 returns to the Bren Events Center next weekend to host Portland State in a 2 p.m. showdown on Saturday, Dec. 16.