Long Beach State (4-22, 2-10 Big West) at
UC Irvine (17-9, 9-3 Big West)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 21
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
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UC Irvine Game Notes

The UC Irvine women's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of the Bren Events Center on Wednesday, Feb. 21, when it plays host to Long Beach State in a Black & Blue Rivalry game. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
TIP-INS
• As of Feb. 19, UC Irvine's 13-game improvement from last year is tied for the best turnaround in all of NCAA Division I.
• Since Dec. 19, the Anteaters are 12-3, while they have also won eight of their last 10 contests.
• With four games still to play, the 'Eaters have already matched the program's fourth-highest win total.
• UCI needs three more victories to record the third 20-win season in school history and first since 1984-85.
• At 9-3, UC Irvine is second in the Big West standings, and has its best record through 12 conference games since 1997-98.
• The 'Eaters hit the century mark for the second time in three outings with a program-record tying 107 points vs. Cal Poly.
• Freshmen Tahlia Garza (65.6) and Jordan Sanders (60.0) own the league's top-two FG percentages in Big West games.
• The Anteaters are 13-0 when Sanders reaches double figures in scoring. She ranks second on the team with 10.4 ppg.
• Junior Morgan Green is tops on the squad and second in the conference with 23.6 points per outing.
• Green has eight 20-plus point performances and is tied for second in school history with three 30-point games.
• UC Irvine has a new look this year with 10 newcomers (five true freshmen and five returning redshirts).
 
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
• Eleven of UC Irvine's 14 players are averaging at least 10 minutes per contest.
• Ten Anteaters have scored at least 100 points this year with eight averaging more than 5.0 per outing.
• All but two 'Eaters have led the team in scoring in a game this season.
 
WITH A WIN VS. LBSU...
• UC Irvine would pick up its 10th Big West win, tying for the third most in school history.
• UCI would be 18-9, marking its best record through 27 games since 1984-85 (21-6), and its most wins since 1994-95 (19).
• The Anteaters would earn their first regular-season series sweep against the 49ers in 20 years.
 
BLACK & BLUE RIVALRY
UC Irvine currently leads the Black & Blue Rivalry Series presented by Duke's Huntington Beach, 14-7. The 'Eaters can add two more points to their total with a win on Wednesday.
 
THE TURNAROUND
In just her second year at the helm, head coach Tamara Inoue has already turned around a UCI program that finished with a losing record in five of the last six seasons. Through 26 contests, the 'Eaters have made a 13-game improvement from 2016-17, making them one of only six NCAA Division I programs to see a plus-10 difference in the win column so far this year. UC Irvine's resurgence didn't come until about a month into the current campaign as it started a tough non-conference slate at 2-5, but has gone 15-4 since Nov. 30. The Anteaters have more than doubled their win total from each of the last three years.

THE STREAK
The Anteaters put together a seven-game win streak from Jan. 20-Feb. 15, marking the third-longest in program history. During that stretch, the 'Eaters outscored their opponents by an average of 16.0 ppg.

SCOUTING THE 49ERS
Long Beach State (4-22, 2-10 Big West) kept its Big West Tournament hopes alive with a 67-47 win over Cal State Fullerton last Saturday. Freshman Shanaijah Davison leads the Beach with 12.8 points per game, while senior Cecily Wilson is also averaging 9.9 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per outing.
 
SERIES RECORD VS. LBSU
This will be the 75th all-time meeting between UC Irvine and Long Beach State. The 'Eaters trail the series, 59-15, but earned a convincing 100-81 victory in the two teams' first meeting at the Walter Pyramid on Feb. 3 to snap a six-game skid against the 49ers. Morgan Green led all players with 28 points and eight assists. Autumn Baumgartner added a season-high 18 points to go along with four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Tahlia Garza also recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 boards.

AROUND THE BIG WEST
With four regular-season games remaining, UC Irvine, which was picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll, is in sole possession of second place in the Big West standings. The 'Eaters are 2.5 games behind league-leading UC Davis (12-1), while they are a game-and-a-half ahead of Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, who are tied for third at 8-5. The top two teams will receive a bye into the Big West Tournament semifinals at the Honda Center. The third and fourth-place teams also receive a first-round bye into the quarterfinals at Titan Gym.

POY CANDIDATE
Junior Morgan Green is making her case for Big West Player of the Year honors with an impressive Anteater debut season. In conference action, Green ranks second in the league in scoring (23.6 ppg), first in 3-pointers made (3.1/game), second in steals (2.8 spg), third in assists (4.0 apg), and third in free throw percentage (84.9). The 5-foot-7 guard has lit up the competition for eight 20-plus point games, including three 30-point performances.
 
30 ROCK
In just her second appearance of the season, Morgan Green broke onto the scene with a career-high 31 points at Hawai'i (Jan. 11). She connected on nine of her 15 attempts (5-9 3FG, 8-9 FT), while adding five rebounds and four steals against the Rainbow Wahine. It was UCI's first 30-point performance since Camille Buckley in 2014. Three weeks later, the San Jose native dropped 30 in a season-low 27 minutes played at Cal State Fullerton. Green was extremely efficient from the field, shooting 71.4 percent overall (10-14), and 60 percent from beyond the arc (3-5). She went on to match her season-high of 31, and pulled down a season-best nine rebounds, in a 76-63 win over UC Riverside on Feb. 10. Green's three 30-point efforts are tied for the second most in program history.
 
SEEING GREEN
Morgan Green, who made her long-awaited UC Irvine debut on Jan. 4, has reached double figures in scoring in all 12 games she has played, and leads the squad at 23.6 ppg. She owns two streaks of four-straight 20+ performances, which is the longest by an Anteater since Mikah Maly-Karros surpassed the 20-point mark in six consecutive outings in 2010. During Green's most recent stretch from Jan. 31-Feb. 15, she put up impressive numbers, averaging 29.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.8 steals per contest, while shooting 47.5 percent from the field, 43.6 percent from long distance and 89.3 percent from the free throw line.
 
On Jan. 15, Green became the first 'Eater to earn Big West Player of the Week honors in three years after registering 28.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.5 assists in wins over UH and UCSB. In addition, Green was tabbed the College Sports Madness BWC Player of the Week, an honor Andee Ritter earned last year (Jan. 2, 2017).
 
JORDAN EFFECT
The 'Eaters are 13-0 when freshman Jordan Sanders scores at least 10 points. She sparked UC Irvine's recent seven-game win streak by reaching double figures in each of those contests. The Springfield, Mo., native recorded a season-best 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting in a 107-66 victory vs. Cal Poly. She also had the best all-around game of her young career against CSUN, finishing with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. It was Sanders' first career double-double, and she made the feat even more impressive by not committing a turnover in 29 minutes played. In the team's 17 wins, Sanders is averaging 12.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.1 blocks, while shooting 53.9 percent from the field.

CHART CLIMBER
Junior Andee Ritter has moved up five spots on UC Irvine's all-time charts this year, most recently passing Kristen Green for sole possession of fourth with 135 career triples. Ritter is three away from cracking the top-three and is ultimately chasing Kathy Lizarraga (1988-92), who owns the school record at 198. The Medford, Ore., native 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 UCR on Jan. 7, 2017.

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.

CENTURY NOTES
UC Irvine reached the century mark for the first time in 39 years with a 100-81 victory at Long Beach State on Feb. 3. Just two games later, the 'Eaters posted their highest scoring total in the NCAA Division I Championship era, and tied an overall program record that was set back in 1979, with 107 points against Cal Poly (Feb. 15). UCI is the only Big West member to hit the century mark, and is one of 26 NCAA Division I teams to have multiple 100-point games against fellow DI opponents this year.
 
DEFEND THE BREN
The 'Eaters, who have won five-straight home games, are currently 9-3 at the Bren Events Center. If they win their final two contests on their own turf, they will match UCI's record for most home victories in a season (11). UC Irvine's last loss at the Bren came to league-leading UC Davis on Jan. 4.

DEFENSIVE MENTALITY
The Anteaters, who rank third in the Big West in steals, have forced their opponents into 20 or more turnovers 14 times, including in each of the last five outings. They have also held their adversaries to a single-digit quarter on nine occasions, with two of those coming in a 56-47 win over CSUN. It was UCI's only victory of the year when scoring fewer than 60 points as the 47 allowed were a season low. In addition, the 'Eaters set a program record by giving up just three points in the second quarter of a 72-59 triumph at CSU Bakersfield.
 
LIGHTS OUT
UC Irvine has shot over 40 percent from the floor 16 times this season and is 14-2 in those games. The Anteaters recorded a season-best 58.3 field goal percentage (42-72) in an impressive 107-66 victory over Cal Poly on Feb. 15. They also finished above 50 percent vs. Chapman on Dec. 19 (52.9). Freshman Tahlia Garza has been the most efficient 'Eater with a Big West-leading 61.3 FG percentage.
 
UP NEXT
Another pivotal Big West match-up is on tap for UC Irvine this weekend as it makes its way to league-leading UC Davis for a 2:30 p.m. tilt on Saturday, Feb. 24.