UC Davis (10-3, 0-0 Big West) at
UC Irvine (8-6, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 4
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
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UC Irvine Game Notes

The UC Irvine women's basketball team opens its Big West slate against defending regular season champion UC Davis on Thursday, Jan. 4. The 'Eaters and Aggies, who have the two best preseason records in the conference, are set for a 7 p.m. tip at the Bren Events Center.
 
TIP-INS
• The Anteaters, who are 8-6 overall, have either matched or bettered their win total from each of the last three years.
• UC Irvine finished non-conference play above .500 for the first time since 2010-11.
• UCI is riding a three-game win streak and is 6-1 in its last seven games.
• The 'Eaters also picked up their fourth-straight road victory at Bakersfield on Sunday, marking their longest streak in 19 years.
• The Anteaters have held the advantage in bench points in 12 games with the non-starters combining for 25+ points 11 times.
• UCI is first in the Big West in turnover margin, second in steals and third in free throw percentage.
• UC Irvine scored 92 points vs. Chapman and 84 at Seattle, its first back-to-back 80+ point performances since 2011.
• Tahlia Garza recorded the team's first double-double with 16 points and a season-best 12 rebounds against the Panthers.
• Lauren Saiki leads the 'Eaters and ranks third in the Big West with 57 assists (4.1/game).
• Deijah Blanks scored the final points in the Anteaters' late comeback wins vs. Utah State, Pepperdine and SDSU.
• In the season opener, Blanks made a buzzer-beating half-court shot for an 87-84 triumph over the Aggies.
• The 'Eaters have a new look this year with 10 newcomers (five true freshmen and five returning redshirts).
 
BALANCED ATTACK
• Eleven of UC Irvine's 13 active players are averaging at least 13 minutes per contest.
• Ten Anteaters have also registered at least 5.0 points per outing.
• Through 14 games, the 'Eaters have had 11 different players lead the team in scoring.
 
WITH A WIN...
• UC Irvine would extend its win streak to four games for the first time since Feb. 9-21, 2013.
• UCI would earn its first victory in a Big West opener since the 2010-11 campaign.
• The 'Eaters would snap a five-game skid in its all-time series with UC Davis.

A GLANCE AT THE AGGIES
UC Davis, which was picked to repeat as Big West regular season champions in the preseason coaches' poll, finished non-conference play with a league-best 10-3 record. The Aggies started the campaign at 9-0 before dropping three of their last four games. Junior forward Morgan Bertsch leads the squad with 20.2 points per contest and a 54.9 field goal percentage. Senior Rachel Nagel is also averaging 12.2 ppg, while classmate Pele Gianotti sits at 9.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per outing. UCD is tops in the Big West with 113 3-pointers made (8.7/gm) as four different Aggies have knocked down at least 15 triples.
 
SERIES RECORD VS. UCD
The 'Eaters trail in their all-time series with the Aggies, 25-8. UC Davis has swept the season series in each of the last two years as UC Irvine is searching for its first win against UCD since a 71-62 victory at home on March 7, 2015.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine concluded non-conference play, and the 2017 calendar year, on a high note as it defeated CSU Bakersfield, 72-59, for its third-straight win Sunday afternoon at the Icardo Center. The 'Eaters, who led by as many as 25, saw the Roadrunners close the gap to nine, but they finished strong for the 13-point victory. UCI forced CSUB into 24 turnovers while committing only 12 of its own. The visitors also had a lopsided advantage in field goal percentage (48.3-to-34.5) and 3-point percentage (42.9-to-15.8). Autumn Baumgartner led three Anteaters in double figures with a season-high 15 points. She was 6-for-11 from the field and 3-of-7 from long distance. Lauren Saiki added 13 points, three assists and two steals, while Yazzy Sa'Dullah finished with 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sabrina Engelstad chipped in nine points and Deijah Blanks had a team-best six boards.

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. Against Portland State, Blanks' layup 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. Although her late heroics weren't needed in an 84-79 triumph at Seattle, Blanks finished with a season-best 22 points and eight rebounds, while making some key plays down the stretch to stymie a late Redhawk rally.
 
JORDAN EFFECT
The 'Eaters are 5-0 when freshman Jordan Sanders scores at least 10 points. In the team's eight wins, she is averaging 10.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks, while shooting 42 percent from the field.
 
CHART CLIMBER
Junior Andee Ritter has made a team-best 24 3-pointers in 13 games played (1.8/gm). She has moved up four spots on UCI's all-time charts, most recently passing Megan Stafford for fifth with 125 career triples. Ritter is 13 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 has netted 25+ bench points in 11 of its 14 contests, and has outscored its opponents by an average of 13.0 ppg in that category. The 'Eaters posted their largest margin at Seattle where they held a lopsided 57-to-8 advantage in bench points. Deijah Blanks leads the non-starters with 6.6 points per outing.
 
DEFENSIVE MENTALITY
The Anteaters have been one of the top defensive teams in the Big West, ranking first in turnover margin, second in turnovers forced, and third in steals, FG percentage defense and 3FG percentage defense. They have forced their opponents into at least 20 turnovers in four of the last five games.
 
THREE'S COMPANY
UC Irvine is averaging six 3-pointers per game, and connected for a season-high 10 in a win over Portland. Four 'Eaters have reached double digits in threes made, led by Andee Ritter's 24. Redshirt freshman Autumn Baumgartner ranks second on the team with 15, while sophomore Yazzy Sa'Dullah and freshman Dani Guglielmo have made 14 and 10, respectively.
 
BOARDS & BLOCKS
The Anteaters, who led their opponents in rebounding only six times in 2016-17, have already won the battle on the boards on five 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), Southern Utah (43-38), Chapman (50-42) and Seattle U (43-27). In addition, UCI has been one of the top shot blocking teams in the Big West at 4.0 bpg.
 
DEFEND THE BREN
The 'Eaters are 4-2 at the Bren Events Center with wins over Utah State, Portland, Pepperdine and Chapman. It is their best start at home since the 2013-14 squad was 5-1.
 
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 2013-14 when it topped South Dakota at home, 68-64. That was also the last year the 'Eaters had a winning record at 17-15.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
UCI's regular starting lineup 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 Irvine. Ten players are also 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.
 
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 continues Big West play in the Aloha State next week, traveling to Honolulu for a 7 p.m. (HT)/9 p.m. (PT) showdown at Hawai'i on Thursday, Jan. 11. The Anteaters then return home to host UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.