Long Beach State (15-7, 6-1 Big West) at
UC Irvine (3-18, 1-6 Big West)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 4
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
Watch on ESPN3 | Listen on KUCI | Live Stats

UC Irvine Game Notes | Video Preview

The UC Irvine women's basketball team welcomes first-place Long Beach State to the Bren Events Center for a 2 p.m. showdown on Saturday, Feb. 4. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Trent Rush (PBP), Dr. Maryalyce Jeremiah (Analyst) and Megan Reza (Sideline) on the call. This is also the first of two regular-season meetings between UCI and LBSU in the Black & Blue Rivalry Series, which the Anteaters currently lead, 11-4.

TIP-INS
• UC Irvine tied a single-game school record with 12 3-pointers in its loss at Hawai'i last week.
• Andee Ritter had five of those threes, marking her sixth game with at least five triples.
• Ritter enters Saturday's game ranked fourth in single-season school history with 58 treys on the year.
• She previously tied an individual single-game school record with seven 3-pointers made at UCR on Jan. 7.
• Ritter is tops in the conference in 3-pointers (58) and steals (47), and is a perfect 24-of-24 from the FT line.
• Shereen Sutherland, who has two double-doubles, leads UCI with 12.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest.
• Sutherland has 13 double-figure scoring games this year, including three 20-point performances.
• Sabrina Engelstad is averaging 10.7 ppg as she has reached double digits in 14 of 19 outings.
• Brooke Bayman is tops on the team with 80 assists and had a career-best 10 dimes vs. UC Riverside (Jan. 19).
• The 'Eaters snapped a 12-game Big West regular-season losing streak with their win over CSUN on Jan. 11.

FOLLOW THE 'EATERS: Fans can listen to every UC Irvine women's basketball home game, along with select road games, on KUCI 88.9 FM or KUCI.org. Darren Preston is the Anteaters' play-by-play announcer. All home games will also be streamed live on BigWest.tv.

CHALK TALK: Fans are invited to join the UCI coaching staff for a chalk talk before every home game. The chalk talk will begin 30 minutes prior to tip-off at the Stewart Room in the Bren Events Center.

LAST TIME OUT: A short-handed UC Irvine team was unable to keep up with UC Santa Barbara in an 85-60 loss last Saturday at the Bren Events Center. UCI was without two starters and had only three players come off the bench after its game at Hawai'i less than 48 hours earlier. Senior Shereen Sutherland paced the Anteaters as she made a career-best 10 free throws and went 5-for-11 from the field to finish with 20 points. Sutherland added five rebounds and four steals. Senior Mckenzie Piper notched her second-straight double-figure scoring game with 13 points to go along with a season-high six boards. Senior Irene Chavez contributed seven points, three assists and three steals, while senior Brittany Glassow had six points and six rebounds.

SCOUTING THE 49ERS: Long Beach State (15-7, 6-1 BWC), which was picked as the preseason favorite, is at the top of the Big West standings as it currently sits a half game ahead of UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. The Beach has won three in a row, including a narrow 55-51 victory over UC Riverside last Saturday. They will play at CSUN (Feb. 2) before making their way to Irvine. Senior forward Madison Montgomery is the only 49er averaging double figures in scoring with 10.7 points per outing. Senior guard Jewelyn Sawyer has also registered 9.6 points and a team-best 6.7 rebounds per contest.

SERIES RECORD: UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with Long Beach State, 55-13. The 49ers have swept the season series in each of the last two years. In the most recent meeting on Feb. 27, 2016, LBSU topped the 'Eaters, 67-49, in Long Beach.

THREE'S COMPANY: Sophomore Andee Ritter is tops in the Big West with 58 threes (2.8/game). She currently ranks fourth in single-season program history, and is seven shy of breaking the 28-year old school record of 64. Ritter has connected from long distance in 19 of 21 outings, and has hit multiple treys in 14 contests. The Medford, Ore., native has knocked down at least five 3-pointers on six occasions, including a school-record tying seven at UC Riverside on Jan. 7. She was the third 'Eater to drain seven triples in a game and the first to accomplish the feat in 12 years. Kathy Lizarraga set the original record back in 1988-89.

MORE ON RITTER: Ritter ranks second on the squad with 11.8 points per contest. She has 11 double-figure scoring games and a team-best four 20-point performances. The 6-foot guard had 23 points at Nevada (Dec. 1), before finishing with 21 vs. Concordia (Dec. 29), 23 at UC Riverside (Jan. 7) and a career-high 25 against CSUN (Jan. 11). In Big West play, she is averaging 14.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.0 blocks per outing, while shooting 38.1 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range. Ritter, who was named the College Sports Madness Big West Player of the Week on Jan. 2, is also a perfect 24-of-24 from the free throw line this season.

STEALING THE SHOW: In addition to being UCI's top perimeter shooter, Ritter has anchored the defensive effort with a Big West-leading 47 steals. She had a career-high eight takeaways at Nevada on Dec. 1. That was just one shy of the single-game school record of nine, which was established by Erin Higashi on March 4, 1983.

SENIOR LEADER: Shereen Sutherland leads UC Irvine with 12.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest. She has reached double digits in scoring 13 times, while adding three games with 10-plus rebounds. The 6-foot-2 senior forward drained a career-high 24 points on nine field goals and a 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line against CSUN (Jan. 11). Sutherland also has two of the Anteaters' three double-doubles this season as she finished with 15 points/10 rebounds vs. UC Riverside and 20 points/12 rebounds at Portland State. She has pulled down at least seven boards in 14 of 21 games played, including a career-high 15 at Utah State.

FAMILY TRADITION: Junior Sabrina Engelstad is the daughter of former UC Irvine great, Wayne Engelstad, who played for the Anteaters from 1984-88. Wayne ranks among the top-10 in school history with 1,530 points and 698 rebounds. Sabrina is now following in her father's footsteps as the 6-foot-4 forward is third on the squad with 10.7 points per contest. She has 14 double-figure scoring games, including seven-straight from Nov. 17-Dec. 10. The streak began with a then season-high 13 points at Utah State. Sabrina went on to record UCI's first double-double of the year with 11 points and a career-best 14 rebounds at Loyola Marymount. She later poured in 16 points at Portland State, a current season best of 18 vs. Sacramento State, and 17 vs. Bakersfield. The Antioch, Calif., native matched her season high with 18 points against Pac-12 member USC on Dec. 21.

DISHING IT OUT: Freshman Brooke Bayman ranks third in the Big West with 4.2 assists per game. Those numbers have increased in conference play where she is averaging a league-best 6.4 helpers per contest. The 5-foot-5 guard has at least six dimes in each of her last four outings with six at UC Riverside (Jan. 7), nine vs. CSUN (Jan. 11), seven at Fullerton (Jan. 14) and a career-high 10 vs. UCR on Jan. 19. Bayman missed the last two games with an injury.

GO BIG OR GO HOME: Wins may have been hard to come by so far this year, but when the 'Eaters do get the victory, they do it in dominating fashion. All three of their triumphs have been by double digits as they are averaging 80.3 points and a +23.0 scoring margin in those outings.

BREAKING BARRIERS: UC Irvine notched the program's 15th 90-point game, and first since the 2013-14 season, with its 92-61 victory over Concordia on Dec. 29. A huge third quarter sparked the win as the Anteaters set a program and Big West record with 40 points in the period.
     • As of Feb. 1, UCI is one of only four NCAA Division I teams to score 40 points in a quarter this season.
     • The Anteaters' 40 points are tied for second in the nation as Oakland's 41 is the top scoring quarter this year.
     • The NCAA record for points in a quarter is 45 by Central Michigan on Nov. 15, 2015.
     • The 'Eaters crushed their previous best of 29, which they established at Portland State on Dec. 3.

UP NEXT: UC Irvine closes out a three-game homestand next Thursday, Feb. 9, when it hosts Cal Poly at 7 p.m. The 'Eaters will then make their way to UC Davis for a 2:30 p.m. tilt on Saturday, Feb. 11.