Big West Tournament - First Round
No. 8 UC Irvine (5-25, 3-13 Big West) vs.
No. 5 UC Riverside (15-14, 9-7 Big West)
Date: Tuesday, March 7
Time: 6 p.m. (PST)
Location: Walter Pyramid (4,200) - Long Beach, Calif.
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The eighth-seeded UC Irvine women's basketball team begins postseason play on Tuesday, March 7, when it faces No. 5 seed UC Riverside in the first round of the Big West Tournament. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
TIP-INS
• UC Irvine secured its fourth-straight Big West Tournament berth with a 69-62 win over CSF on Saturday.
• Irene Chavez registered her sixth-straight double-figure scoring game with a team-high 21 points vs. the Titans.
• In the last four regular season contests, she had three 20-point performances and made 19 threes.
• Chavez, who had a career-best six treys at LBSU, ranks eighth in 'Eater history with 108 career 3-pointers made.
• Andee Ritter leads the Big West in both 3-pointers made (82) and steals (63).
• Ritter's 65th three of the year, which came vs. Cal Poly (Feb. 9), broke a 28-year old single-season school record.
• She is the only Anteater in program history to knock down more than 70 triples in one season.
• Ritter also tied an individual single-game school record with seven treys at UCR on Jan. 7.
• Shereen Sutherland, who has four double-doubles, leads UCI with 12.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
• Brooke Bayman is tops on the squad with 123 assists and had a career-best 10 dimes vs. UC Riverside (Jan. 19).
FOLLOW THE 'EATERS: Fans can listen to every UC Irvine women's basketball Big West Tournament game on KUCI 88.9 FM or KUCI.org. Darren Preston is the Anteaters' play-by-play announcer.
POSTSEASON HONORS: Two 'Eaters earned postseason accolades as sophomore Andee Ritter was an All-Big West honorable mention selection, while Brooke Bayman was named to the All-Freshman Team. In conference games, Ritter averaged a team-best 12.8 points and 1.8 steals per outing, and also led the league in minutes played (38.0 mpg) and 3-pointers made (46). Overall, she knocked down a single-season school record 82 triples. Ritter has 17 double-figure scoring performances, including five with 20 or more points. Bayman started 11 of 14 Big West games and led all players with 5.4 assists per outing. She dished out at least five helpers in nine league contests and had a career-high 10 at UC Riverside on Jan. 19. Bayman also averaged 8.1 points per outing.
IN THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: UC Irvine will be making its 28th appearance in the Big West Tournament. The 'Eaters are 12-26 overall and 4-19 in first-round games. They have advanced to the conference championship four times, winning one title in 1995. This will mark the second time UCI will square off against UC Riverside in postseason play. The two teams previously met in the first round in 2002 with the Highlanders claiming a 63-53 victory at the Anaheim Convention Center.
WIN AND YOU'RE IN: With a Big West Tournament berth on the line, UC Irvine came up big under pressure to clinch its spot in the postseason with a thrilling 69-62 win over Cal State Fullerton on Senior Night last Saturday at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters' five seniors made sure they controlled their own fate as they combined for 54 points and 31 of the team's 37 rebounds. Irene Chavez led the way with a team-high 21 points and a career-best eight boards to go along with four assists and three steals. Shereen Sutherland added 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Brittany Glassow had 13 points (3-5 3FG) and a season-high tying eight rebounds. Chloe Kellum and Mckenzie Piper also grabbed seven and five rebounds, respectively.
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS: UC Riverside (15-14, 9-7 Big West) ended the regular season with losses to the top three seeds in the tournament - UC Davis, Long Beach State and CSUN. Senior Simone DeCoud is the Highlanders' active leader with 12.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per outing. Juniors Lauren Holt (11.9 ppg) and Michelle Curry (10.0 ppg) are also averaging double figures.
SERIES RECORD VS. UCR: UC Irvine trails in the all-time series, 36-18. The Highlanders swept the regular season series to extend their current win streak to four, but the two teams have not faced each other since January. UCR topped the 'Eaters, 76-58, in Riverside (Jan. 7) and 79-58 in Irvine (Jan. 19). In the first meeting, Andee Ritter led UCI with 23 points on a school-record tying seven 3-pointers. UC Riverside made the adjustments on Ritter two weeks later, but Shereen Sutherland responded for the Anteaters with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
COME ON IRENE: Senior Irene Chavez has been on a roll with six-straight double-figure scoring games (18.0 ppg). She has been even better over the last four outings where she has three 20-point performances and is averaging 19.8 points, while shooting 51.4 percent from long distance. Last week, the San Jose, Calif., native led the 'Eaters to a crucial 69-62 win over Cal State Fullerton with 21 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Prior to that, she poured in a season-best 22 points (4-6 3FG) against Hawai'i and knocked down a career-high six triples en route to 20 points at Long Beach State. She also drained five threes in a 16-point showing at UC Santa Barbara.
THREE'S COMPANY: With her third 3-pointer of the night - and 65th of the year - against Cal Poly on Feb. 9, sophomore Andee Ritter broke a 28-year old single-season school record in threes made. She surpassed the previous mark of 64, which was set by Kathy Lizarraga in 1988-89. The Medford, Ore., native has increased her program-record total to 82, making her the first 'Eater to knock down more than 70 triples in a season. She has connected from long distance in 28 of 30 outings, and has hit multiple treys 19 times. Ritter also drained a single-game school-record tying seven 3-pointers at UC Riverside on Jan. 7.
MORE ON RITTER: Ritter has 17 double-figure scoring games and has reached the 20-point mark five times. The 6-foot guard had 23 points at Nevada, 21 vs. Concordia, 23 at UC Riverside, a career-high 25 vs. CSUN and 21 at Long Beach State. In Big West play, she averaged 12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per outing, while shooting 36.2 percent from 3-point range. Ritter, who was named the College Sports Madness Big West Player of the Week on Jan. 2, is also 33-of-34 from the free throw line this season. She made 28 in a row before her first miss of the year at LBSU.
STEALING THE SHOW: In addition to being UCI's top perimeter shooter, Ritter has anchored the defensive effort with a Big West-leading 63 steals. That mark ranks sixth in single-season program history. Ritter has 15 games with multiple steals, including a career-high eight takeaways at Nevada on Dec. 1. She 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 12.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. The 6-foot-2 senior forward has reached double digits in scoring 17 times, and has six outings with 10-plus rebounds. In addition, she owns four games with 20 or more points, including two that came in back-to-back performances vs. UCSB (20) and Long Beach State (23). On Jan. 11, she netted a career-high 24 points against CSUN. Sutherland also has four of the Anteaters' five double-doubles this season - 14 pts/11 rebs at Cal Poly, 23 pts/10 rebs vs. LBSU, 15 pts/10 rebs vs. UC Riverside and 20 pts/12 rebs at Portland State. She has pulled down at least seven boards in 18 of 30 games played with a career-high 15 at Utah State.
DISHING IT OUT: Freshman Brooke Bayman is tied for first in the Big West with 4.4 assists per game. Those numbers increased in conference play where she averaged a league-best 5.4 helpers per contest. Bayman had at least five dimes in nine of 14 Big West games played, including a career-high 10 vs. UC Riverside on Jan. 19. She has also been one of the Anteaters' top scoring threats recently as she has reached double digits in five of the last seven outings. During that stretch, the Los Angeles, Calif., native tallied a season-high 17 points in a win at Cal Poly (Feb. 18).
RECORD WATCH: Several Anteaters have already, or are on the verge of etching their names in the UC Irvine record books. Sophomore Andee Ritter owns a single-season school record in 3-pointers made with 82, while she also ranks sixth with 63 steals. Senior Irene Chavez is eighth in program history with 108 career threes, and freshman Brooke Bayman needs two more assists to enter the UCI single-season top-10.
UP NEXT: If UC Irvine wins its first round game, it will advance to Wednesday's Big West quarterfinals where it would face third-seeded CSUN at 6 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.
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