UC Irvine (3-7) vs.
Vanderbilt (7-3)
Date: Friday, Dec. 20
Time: 8 p.m. (PST)
Location: Alaska Airlines Arena (10,000) - Seattle, Wash.
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UC Irvine (3-7) vs.
San Francisco (6-4)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 21
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Alaska Airlines Arena (10,000) - Seattle, Wash.
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Game Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team stays in the Pacific Northwest this weekend as it heads to the University of Washington for the Husky Classic, Dec. 20-21. The Anteaters will play two neutral-site games at Alaska Airlines Arena, starting with an 8 p.m. showdown against Vanderbilt on Friday. UCI then has a quick turnaround, taking on San Francisco Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
STORYLINES
• Vanderbilt is only the second SEC team UC Irvine will have faced in its 46-year history.
• The Anteaters are 0-2 against Texas A&M with the two meetings taking place in 1992 and 1993.
• San Francisco is the second West Coast Conference school the 'Eaters will go up against this season.
• They previously defeated LMU, 80-65, on Nov. 19.
• UCI is 4-2 against the WCC in the Tamara Inoue era (since 2016-17).
• USF head coach Molly Goodenbour served as UC Irvine's head coach from 2008-12, finishing her tenure with a 44-76 record.
• Eight of the Anteaters' 11 active players have reached double figures in scoring.
• They have had a different leading scorer in six of their 10 games.
• The 'Eaters are 32nd in all of NCAA Division I with 4.8 blocks per contest.
• Senior Lauren Saiki leads UCI with 12.5 ppg and 6.6 apg.
• Her assist average is currently among the top-10 in all of NCAA Division I.
• Saiki also ranks sixth in school history with 298 career assists.
• UC Irvine was picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll and second in the Big West Preseason Media Poll.

SCOUTING THE FIELD
Vanderbilt (7-3) picked up a 75-69 win over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday, Dec. 15. Mariella Fasoula, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, leads the Commodores with 16.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Brinae Alexander, who has missed the last three games with an injury, is also averaging 13.4 points per outing.
 
San Francisco (6-4) defeated Sacramento State, 87-82, for its fourth-straight win last Saturday. The Dons will face tournament host Washington in their first game of the Husky Classic on Friday. Freshman guard Ioanna Krimili is tops on the squad with 15.6 points per contest, while sophomore forward Leilah Vigil has pulled down a team-best 9.8 rebounds per outing. Eleven international student-athletes dot USF's roster with the group representing nine countries (Belarus, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Latvia and Poland).
 
SERIES RECORDS
This will mark the first meeting between UC Irvine and Vanderbilt.
 
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with San Francisco, 6-2. The two teams last met nearly 17 years ago with the Dons edging the 'Eaters, 70-66, in Irvine (Jan. 3, 2003).
 
GETTING ON BOARD
Junior Joy Akaegbu-Cleveland (Spokane, Wash.) has been the Anteaters' leading rebounder in each of the last three games, and she is averaging 8.7 rpg during that stretch. Akaegbu-Cleveland had a season-high nine boards in back-to-back outings against Portland State and Southern Utah. Eleven of those 18 rebounds were on the offensive end.
 
HELPING HAND
Senior Lauren Saiki has been the Anteaters' assists leader in 44 of her 73 career games played. She has dished out a team-best 66 helpers this season, with her 6.6 apg ranking among the top-10 in the nation. Last year, the Monterey Park, California, native had two double-figure assist performances, including a career-high 13 dimes vs. Indiana State (Nov. 24, 2018). In her two-plus seasons at UCI, Saiki has amassed 298 career assists, putting her at No. 6 in program history.
 
THE LO-DOWN
Saiki has reached double figures in scoring seven times this year with a season-high 20 points coming in a win over Loyola Marymount. She has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in every game, with a career-high tying four treys vs. LMU. Saiki is currently tops among UCI's active players with 12.5 points per outing. She was named to both the Kansas City Site Preseason WNIT Consolation All-Tournament Team and the Pioneer Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team.
 
BALANCED ATTACK
Eight 'Eaters have reached double figures in scoring this year. Lauren Saiki has put up 10+ points in seven of 10 games. Alexus Seaton, Sophia Locandro, Dani Guglielmo, Chloe Webb and Haleigh Talbert also have multiple double-digit outings, while Jayde Cadee and Yazzy Sa'Dullah round out the group. UC Irvine has had a different leading scorer in six of its first 10 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 16.4 turnovers per game with a season-high 29 against Loyola Marymount. The 'Eaters have also registered 4.8 blocks per outing, which is tops in the Big West and 32nd 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.

BACK-TO-BACK
After recording just five points through the first five games of the year, junior Dani Guglielmo had a breakout performance at the Denver Thanksgiving Classic (Nov. 29-30). The Los Gatos native posted her first career back-to-back double-figure scoring performances, netting a season-high 12 points against host Denver before matching that total to lead the team vs. North Alabama. Guglielmo also established season highs in rebounds (5) and assists (3) that weekend.
 
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 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 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 53.8 field goal percentage. Chloe Webb also had a season-high 13 points and six boards in 13 minutes against Portland State (Nov. 16), while finishing with 12 points at Southern Utah and 11 vs. North Alabama. Jayde Cadee added a season-best 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc in the second meeting with the Vikings (Dec. 2).
 
'EATERS ANNOUNCE 2020 SIGNING CLASS
The Anteaters signed Victoria Baker and Caiyle Kaupu to National Letters of Intent in November. 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, upping 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 and Lauren Saiki made the media's Preseason All-Big West Team.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will take a short break for the holidays before making its way to Dallas, Texas, for a meeting with SMU on Sunday, Dec. 29.