UC Irvine (3-2) at
Denver (3-2)
Date: Friday, Nov. 29
Time: 3:30 p.m. (MT) / 2:30 p.m. (PT)
Location: Hamilton Gymnasium (2,400) - Denver, Colo.
Watch // Live Stats 

UC Irvine (3-2) vs.
North Alabama (3-2)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 30
Time: 1 p.m. (MT) / 12 p.m. (PT)
Location: Hamilton Gymnasium (2,400) - Denver, Colo.
Live Stats

Game Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team will head to Denver, Colorado, this weekend for the Pioneer Thanksgiving Classic. The Anteaters are set to open the tournament against host Denver at 2:30 p.m. (PST) on Friday, Nov. 29. They will then square off against North Alabama in a 12 p.m. (PST) neutral-site contest on Saturday, Nov. 30. All games will be played at DU's Hamilton Gymnasium.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine was last in action on Tuesday, Nov. 19, when it ran away with an 80-65 victory over Loyola Marymount.
• The Anteaters are riding a two-game win streak and scored at least 80 points in both contests.
• They are shooting 47% from the field, 42% from 3-point range and 78% from the free throw line during that stretch.
• The 'Eaters went 1-2 in their first ever appearance in the Preseason WNIT.
• The elite tournament featured 12 programs that advanced to the postseason last year, including five to the NCAA Tournament.
• Senior Lauren Saiki has registered 15.8 points, 7.2 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.
• Her assist average currently ranks among the top-10 in all of NCAA Division I.
• Junior Jordan Sanders earned her program-record fourth career Big West Player of the Week award on Nov. 11.
• She was recognized after finishing with 16 points/8 rebounds vs. SJSU and a season-high 23 points at No. 7 Oregon State.
• Sanders enters the weekend with 955 career points, putting her 45 away from reaching the 1,000-point milestone.
• UCI was picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll and second in the Big West Preseason Media Poll.

SCOUTING THE FIELD
After dropping close contests to Kansas City and New Mexico State to start the year, Denver (3-2) has now won three in a row with routs of Cal Poly, 96-66, and NCAA Division II Colorado Christian, 89-49, last week. Madison Nelson leads the Pioneers with 18.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. Uju Ezeudu is also averaging 15.6 ppg and 8.2 rpg.
 
North Alabama fell to 3-2 on the young season following a 79-63 loss to Samford on Wednesday. Three Lions are averaging double figures in scoring - Ivy Wallen (16.0 ppg), Brittany Panetti (14.5 ppg) and Emma Wallen (11.6 ppg). Ivy Wallen has also dished out a team-best 47 assists (9.4 apg).

Both UNA and Denver were receiving votes in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Poll.
 
SERIES RECORDS
UC Irvine leads in its short all-time series with Denver, 2-1. All three meetings came in a three-year span from 2012-14. The 'Eaters won the last two, defeating DU, 78-73 in Denver (Nov. 21, 2013), and 63-55 as part of the BTI Invitational in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Dec. 21, 2014.
 
Saturday will mark the first meeting between UCI and UNA.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Lauren Saiki and Jordan Sanders combined for 31 second-half points to lift UC Irvine to an 80-65 victory over Loyola Marymount last Tuesday at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters pulled away in the fourth quarter where they shot 55%, and held the Lions to 14%. Saiki had 19 of her game-high 20 points over the final 20 minutes. She also had six assists, four rebounds, two steals and one block. Sanders added 17 points and four boards, while Haleigh Talbert registered a season-best 12 points and three assists.
 
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
Junior Jordan Sanders is 45 points away from becoming the 15th player to join UCI women's basketball's 1,000-point club. Currently sitting at 955 career points, Sanders is well on her way to accomplishing the feat this year, which would make her the sixth individual in program history to reach 1,000 points in her third season.
 
BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sanders earned the first Big West Player of the Week award of the 2019-20 campaign (Nov. 11). It was her program-record fourth career honor. Sanders was recognized after averaging 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in two games. She finished with 16 points and eight boards in a season-opening win over San José State, before dropping 23 points in 24 minutes at No. 7 Oregon State.
 
JORDAN EFFECT
UC Irvine is in good shape when Sanders scores 10+ points. In her career, the Anteaters are 35-11 when she reaches double figures, and 12-5 when she hits the 20-point mark. Sanders notched her 17th career 20-point game at No. 7 Oregon State. Her career high is 34, which she established on 15-of-25 shooting at Portland State on Dec. 18, 2018.
 
HELPING HAND
Senior Lauren Saiki (Monterey Park, Calif.) has been the Anteaters' assists leader in 40 of her 68 career games played. Heading into this weekend's tournament, she has dished out a team-best 36 helpers. Her 7.2 assists per contest rank among the top-10 in the nation. Last year, Saiki had two double-figure assist performances, including a career-high 13 dimes vs. Indiana State (Nov. 24, 2018). In two-plus seasons at UCI, Saiki has amassed 268 career assists, putting her at No. 10 in program history.
 
THE LO-DOWN
Saiki is coming off her first 20-point game of the season and fourth of her career. She has reached double figures in five-straight games and is averaging 15.8 points per outing. She was recently named to the Kansas City Site Preseason WNIT Consolation All-Tournament Team after putting up 14.0 points, 7.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in two games (Nov. 15-16).
 
HOME COOKING
Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, UC Irvine is 24-8 (.750) at the Bren Events Center. The 24 home victories in two-plus seasons are more than the Anteaters' combined total from the previous five years.
 
OPENING NIGHT
The 'Eaters started the 2019-20 campaign with a 79-77 win over San José State on Nov. 5. They are now 3-1 in season openers in the Tamara Inoue era. In 2018-19, UCI defeated Life Pacific College (NAIA), 105-31. The 74-point triumph tied the second-largest margin of victory in program history. In 2017-18, the Anteaters won in more dramatic fashion, erasing a 13-point deficit in the final minutes with a half-court shot at the buzzer capping the rally for an 87-84 victory over Utah State.
 
CAREER DAY
Junior Alexus Seaton, who averaged 3.5 ppg and 2.5 rpg last year, made a statement in the season-opening win over San José State, establishing career highs in points (17), rebounds (7) and assists (5). For the first time as an 'Eater, the Arlington, Texas, native led the team in scoring. Seaton has continued to be one of UCI's best all-around players so far this season with 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
 
FRESHMAN IMPACT
The Anteaters' active freshmen have provided quality minutes early in their careers. Sophia Locandro had 11 points in her collegiate debut, before finishing with a season-best 14 points (6-6 FG) and six rebounds vs. Davidson on Nov. 15. Chloe Webb also had a season-high 13 points and six boards in 13 minutes against Portland State (Nov. 16). Webb is tops on the squad with a 68.4 field goal percentage. Jayde Cadee has also come on strong lately, with 11 points on five made 3-pointers over the last three games. Kayla Williams and redshirt freshman Melodie Kapinga have missed the first five games due to injury.
 
'EATERS ANNOUNCE 2020 SIGNING CLASS
The Anteaters have signed Victoria Baker and Caiyle Kaupu to National Letters of Intent. Baker, a 5-foot-9 point guard from Austin, Texas, is a two-time first-team all-district selection at Vista Ridge High School. Kaupu is a 6-foot forward out of Holualoa, Hawaii. She is a three-time first-team All-BIIF and two-time all-state honoree at Konawaena High School.

WINNING WAYS
In 2018-19, UC Irvine recorded the third 20-win season in program history, and first in 34 years. The 'Eaters have increased their win total in each of Tamara Inoue's three seasons as head coach. They upped their number of victories by one in 2016-17, 12 in 2017-18 and two in 2018-19.
 
THE TURNAROUND
The Anteaters made their biggest jump in 2017-18 with their highest win total (18) and first postseason appearance since 1994-95. They saw a 12.5-game improvement from 2016-17, which marked the second-best turnaround in all of NCAA Division I.
 
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
For the first time in program history, the Anteaters were picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. They received six of the nine first-place votes to top the list with 77 points. Three-time defending regular season champion UC Davis was a close second with 70 points (two first-place votes). UC Riverside collected the final first-place nod and came in third with 60 points. Jordan Sanders was selected to the preseason all-conference team for the second year in a row. Sanders and Lauren Saiki also made the media's Preseason All-Big West Team.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine has a quick turnaround as it returns home to host Portland State at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2.