Anteaters Entertain Portland State on Monday Night

Monday, December 2

Irvine, Calif.

7:00 PM

UC Irvine

Portland State

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Anteaters Entertain Portland State on Monday Night

December 01, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Portland State (3-3) at
UC Irvine (3-4)
Date: Monday, Dec. 2
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
Watch // Listen // Live Stats // Tickets (UCI Undergraduate Students Free with I.D.)

Game Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team will play its final home game of the 2019 calendar year when it welcomes Portland State to the Bren Events Center for a 7 p.m. tilt on Monday, Dec. 2.

STORYLINES
• UC Irvine and Portland State will square off for the second time in two weeks.
• The Anteaters previously defeated the Vikings, 83-75, on Saturday, Nov. 16.
• The two teams met in the consolation bracket of the Preseason WNIT, which was held in Kansas City, Missouri.
• The last time the 'Eaters faced a non-conference team twice in the same season was in 2014-15 (Bakersfield).
• UCI will be looking to snap a two-game skid after falling to host Denver and North Alabama at the Pioneer Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 29-30.
• Junior Dani Guglielmo had back-to-back double-figure scoring games for the first time in her career last weekend.
• Freshman Sophia Locandro also had a season-best 16 points (7-8 FG) in the tournament opener against Denver.
• UC Irvine has now had five different leading scorers through seven games.
• The Anteaters are averaging 5.0 blocks per outing, which ranks first in the Big West and 30th in the nation.
• Senior Lauren Saiki leads the 'Eaters with 14.4 points and 6.7 assists per contest.
• Her assist average is currently among the top-10 in all of NCAA Division I.
• Junior Jordan Sanders has 967 career points, putting her 33 away from joining the 1,000-point club.
• UCI was picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll and second in the Big West Preseason Media Poll.

WITH A WIN...
• UC Irvine would earn its third-straight victory against Portland State, marking its longest winning streak in the all-time series.
• The Anteaters would improve to 3-0 at the Bren Events Center this year.
• It would also be their sixth-straight home win dating back to last season.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Portland State (3-3) won its second-straight game with a 76-70 victory at UC Davis this past Saturday. Tatiana Streun leads five Vikings in double-figure scoring with 13.5 points per outing. She is also averaging a team-best 8.3 rebounds per contest. Kylie Jimenez has added 13.2 ppg and 5.3 apg for the defending Big Sky champions.

SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with Portland State, 9-5, but has won the last two. The teams most recently met on Nov. 16 with the Anteaters prevailing, 83-75, in Kansas City, Missouri, as part of the Preseason WNIT. Jordan Sanders led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds. Last year, Sanders scored a career-high 34 points, while Lauren Saiki finished with 13 points and 10 assists, in a 73-68 road victory against the Vikings (Dec. 18, 2018).

COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
Junior Jordan Sanders is 33 points away from becoming the 15th player to join UCI women's basketball's 1,000-point club. Currently sitting at 967 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.

HELPING HAND
Senior Lauren Saiki (Monterey Park, Calif.) has been the Anteaters' assists leader in 41 of her 70 career games played. Heading into Monday's contest, Saiki has dished out a team-best 47 helpers. Her 6.7 apg 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 279 career assists, putting her at No. 9 in program history.

THE LO-DOWN
Saiki has reached double figures in six of the Anteaters' seven games with a season-high 20 coming in a win over Loyola Marymount. She is currently tops on the squad with 14.4 points per outing. Saiki was named to both the Kansas City Site Preseason WNIT Consolation All-Tournament Team and the Pioneer Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team.

HEATING UP
After putting up just five points in the first five games of the year, junior Dani Guglielmo has found a groove with her first career back-to-back double-figure scoring performances last weekend. She had a season-high 12 points (4-9 3FG) at Denver before matching that total to lead the team against North Alabama.

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.

BALANCED ATTACK
Seven 'Eaters have reached double figures in scoring this year. Lauren Saiki has put up 10+ points in six of seven games, and Jordan Sanders has done it four times. Alexus Seaton, Sophia Locandro, Dani Guglielmo and Chloe Webb also have multiple double-digit outings, while Haleigh Talbert rounds out the group. UC Irvine has had a different leading scorer in five of its first seven games.

ACCESS DENIED
UC Irvine, which ranked 22nd in the nation in turnovers forced last year, has continued to put the defensive pressure on its opponents in 2019-20. The Anteaters have forced 17.6 turnovers per game with a season-high 29 against Loyola Marymount. The 'Eaters have also registered 5.0 blocks per outing, which is tops in the Big West and 30th in all of NCAA Division I. They had a season-high 10 blocked shots at Denver, marking the first time they reached double digits in that category since Jan. 27, 2010.

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 currently sits at 9.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

FRESHMAN IMPACT
The Anteaters' active freshmen have provided quality minutes early in their careers. Sophia Locandro has three double-figure scoring games with a season-best 16 points (7-8 FG) at Denver. She leads the team with a 58.8 field goal percentage. Chloe Webb also had a season-high 13 points and six boards in 13 minutes against Portland State (Nov. 16), and finished with 11 points vs. North Alabama. Jayde Cadee has come on strong lately, with 18 points over the last five games. Kayla Williams and redshirt freshman Melodie Kapinga have missed the first seven 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.

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 begins a five-game road stretch at Southern Utah on Friday, Nov. 6. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. (PT).