Anteaters Head to Hawai'i, Host UCSB in Big West Action This Week

Thursday, January 11

Honolulu, HI

9:00 PM PT

UC Irvine

Hawai'i

Anteaters Head to Hawai'i, Host UCSB in Big West Action This Week

January 09, 2018 | Women's Basketball

UC Irvine (8-7, 0-1 Big West) at
Hawai'i (7-8, 0-2 Big West)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 11
Time: 7 p.m. HT / 9 p.m. PT
Location: Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) - Honolulu, Hawaii
Watch // Live Stats

UC Santa Barbara (5-9, 2-0 Big West) at
UC Irvine (8-7, 0-1 Big West)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 13
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
Watch // Listen // Live Stats // Tickets

UC Irvine Game Notes

The UC Irvine women's basketball team continues Big West play this week as it travels to Honolulu for a 7 p.m. (HT)/9 p.m. (PT) showdown at Hawai'i on Thursday, Jan. 11. The Anteaters then have a quick turnaround, hosting UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.

TIP-INS
• The Anteaters, who are 8-7 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.
• The 'Eaters saw a three-game win streak snapped and suffered only their second loss in eight games last week.
• UCI has owned the advantage in bench points 13 times with the non-starters combining for 25+ points on 12 occasions.
• The Anteaters have held their opponents to a single digit quarter six times, including in each of the last five games.
• UC Irvine is first in the Big West in turnover margin, and third in scoring margin, steals and FT percentage.
• The 'Eaters scored 92 points vs. Chapman and 84 at Seattle, their first back-to-back 80+ point performances since 2011.
• UCI has a new look this year with 10 newcomers (five true freshmen and five returning redshirts).

BALANCED ATTACK
• Twelve of UC Irvine's 14 active players are averaging at least 10 minutes per contest.
• Ten Anteaters have also registered at least 5.0 points per outing.
• Through 15 games, the 'Eaters have had 11 different players lead the team in scoring.

WITH A WIN AT HAWAI'I...
• UCI would pick up its fifth-straight road victory, its longest streak since winning six consecutive road/neutral games in 1984-85.
• UC Irvine would earn its second win at Hawai'i in its 18-game history on the islands, and first since a 60-52 triumph in 1995.
• The 'Eaters would snap an eight-game skid against the Rainbow Wahine.
• The Anteaters would improve to 7-2 over their last nine games.

SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WAHINE
Hawai'i (7-8, 0-2 Big West) dropped its first two conference games, falling at Cal State Fullerton, 69-57, and at UC Davis, 76-52. Senior guard Sarah Toeaina leads the Rainbow Wahine with 14.2 points per game and a 53.9 field goal percentage. Sophomore guard Julissa Tago is also averaging 10.6 points per contest.

SERIES RECORD VS. UH
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with Hawai'i, 30-8. The 'Bows have swept the season series in each of the last four years as the Anteaters are searching for their first win since a 64-52 victory in Irvine on Feb. 9, 2013.

A GLANCE AT THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara (5-9, 2-0 Big West) is riding a four-game win streak after opening its conference slate with victories over Long Beach State and Cal Poly. The Gauchos will play at CSUN (Jan. 11) prior to Saturday's showdown at the Bren. Senior forward Drew Edelman has paced UCSB with 14.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per outing.

SERIES RECORD VS. UCSB
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with UCSB, 63-29. The Gauchos have won five in a row, including a 71-53 triumph in the most recent meeting in Santa Barbara on March 2, 2017.

SEEING GREEN
Junior Morgan Green made her long-awaited Anteater debut against UC Davis on Jan. 4. Green played a team-high 37 minutes, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. It was her first collegiate game in nearly two years after transferring from Michigan State in the middle of the 2016-17 campaign.

THE CLOSER
Junior Deijah Blanks has been UCI's 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 the 'Eaters 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. Although her late heroics weren't needed in an 84-79 victory at Seattle, Blanks finished with a season-best 22 points, while making some key plays down the stretch to stymie a late Redhawk rally.

CHART CLIMBER
Junior Andee Ritter has made a team-best 24 3-pointers in 14 games played (1.7/gm). She has moved up four spots on UC Irvine's all-time charts this year, 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.

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.

OFF THE BENCH
UCI has netted 25+ bench points in 12 of its 15 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. Sabrina Engelstad leads the non-starters with 6.3 points per outing.

DEFENSIVE MENTALITY
The Anteaters' press has been hard to break recently as they have forced at least 20 turnovers in five of their last six games. They have also held their opponents to a single digit quarter in five-straight outings, including a program-low three points in the second quarter at CSUB, and four in the third period vs. UC Davis.

THREE'S COMPANY
UC Irvine is averaging six 3-pointers per game, and connected for a season-high 10 in a win over Portland. Five 'Eaters have reached double digits in threes made, led by Andee Ritter's 24. Yazzy Sa'Dullah ranks second with 18, while Autumn Baumgartner (15), Dani Guglielmo (10) and Lauren Saiki (10) round out the group.

BOARDS & BLOCKS
The 'Eaters have won the battle on the boards six times this year, already matching their total from last season. They opened the campaign with a dominant performance against Utah State, outrebounding the Aggies, 45-35, and holding a commanding 19-7 edge on the offensive glass. UC Irvine also controlled the boards vs. Illinois, Southern Utah, Chapman, Seattle and UC Davis. In addition, UCI has been one of the top shot blocking teams in the Big West at 4.0 bpg. Tahlia Garza has paced the effort as she is tied for sixth in the conference (1.5 bpg).

LET'S GET IT STARTED
UC Irvine didn't disappoint in its season opener 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 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.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
UCI's most frequently used starting lineup features two true freshmen, two redshirt sophomores and one junior. Overall, the Anteaters have nine underclassmen, and only two seniors. 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 will make its way to Cal Poly on Thursday, Jan. 18, before welcoming Hawai'i to the Bren on Saturday, Jan. 20.