#5 UC Irvine (20-10, 8-8 Big West) vs.
#1 UC Davis (23-6, 15-1 Big West)
Date: Friday, March 15
Time: 12 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Honda Center (18,336) - Anaheim, Calif.
WatchESPN // Listen on KUCI // Live Stats

UC Irvine Game Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - The fifth-seeded UC Irvine women's basketball team will take on No. 1 seed UC Davis in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament presented by Pacific Surfliner at the Honda Center on Friday, March 15. The match-up of the league's two 20-win programs is set to tip-off at 12 p.m., and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine advanced in the tournament with a 53-46 win over No. 8 UCSB and a 59-57 victory over No. 4 CSUN.
• The Anteaters are making their first appearance in the Big West semifinals in five years.
• The 'Eaters improved to 20-10 overall, tying the 1983-84 squad for the second most victories in single-season school history.
• They secured the program's third 20-win season, joining the 1983-84 (20) and 1984-85 (21) teams in elite company.
• In her final regular-season game, senior Andee Ritter broke the all-time school record in 3FG made and steals.
• Ritter knocked down three triples to give her 199 in her career, topping Kathy Lizarraga's 27-year old standard of 198.
• She also picked up two steals to pass Megan Stafford (1996-00) as the program leader with 189 career takeaways.
• The 6-foot guard earned the final Big West Player of the Week award of 2018-19 for her record-breaking performance.
• Ritter has since increased her totals to 202 career threes and 195 career steals.
• Earlier in the year, Ritter broke a single-game school record with eight 3-pointers made in a 73-57 win over Cal Poly (Jan. 26).
• Through March 13, UC Irvine is sixth in the nation in turnover margin, 17th in turnovers forced and 23rd in steals.
• The Anteaters have forced at least 20 turnovers 18 times, and had a season-high 36 against Life Pacific on Nov. 7.
• Although UCI is among the bottom three in the Big West in total rebounds, it ranks second in offensive boards (13.9/gm).
• Nine of the team's 10 active roster members have logged 10+ minutes per contest, while seven are averaging at least 4.5 ppg.
• UCI was in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll for nine consecutive weeks (Dec. 4-Feb. 12) with a high ranking of 15th.
• Jordan Sanders, who has 13 20-point games, ranks third in single-season school history with 525 points.
• Sanders is second in the Big West and 23rd in the nation with 20.2 ppg.
• In the conference tournament she is averaging 17.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.
 
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• The Anteaters are 14-28 all-time in Big West Tournament games and are 4-2 when playing in the semifinals.
• They have one championship in school history, claiming the tournament title and earning an NCAA automatic qualifier in 1995.
• UCI is 1-2 against UCD in the postseason, winning a 2014 quarterfinal game, and falling twice in the first round (2015, 2011).
 
BIG WEST HONOR ROLL
• Jordan Sanders earned first-team All-Big West honors, while Lauren Saiki received an honorable mention nod.
• It is Sanders' second career postseason award as the 2018 Big West FOY was an honorable mention selection last year.
• This is also the second year in a row the Anteaters have had a representative on the All-Big West First Team.
 
WITH A WIN…
• UC Irvine would advance to the Big West championship game for the first time since 1997.
• The 'Eaters would tie the program record for wins in a season with their 21st victory.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Fifth-seeded UC Irvine built a late 11-point lead and held on for a 59-57 victory over No. 4 seed CSUN in Wednesday night's Big West Tournament quarterfinal. UCI went up 55-44 halfway through the fourth quarter before the Matadors came back to tie it up at 55-55 with 1:03 remaining. Lauren Saiki broke the deadlock with a floater in the lane, but a Channon Fluker layup brought CSUN back even at 57-all with 17 seconds left. After calling a timeout, the Anteaters ran the pick-and-roll to perfection with Saiki drawing the 6-foot-4 Fluker out, then finding Tahlia Garza for the wide-open layup with two ticks on the clock. Saiki finished with 16 points and three assists, while Sanders had a team-high 18 points and eight boards.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
UC Davis (23-6, 15-1 Big West) enters the postseason on a 14-game win streak. The Aggies haven't played since routing UC Santa Barbara, 80-44, in their regular-season finale on March 9. Big West Player of the Year Morgan Bertsch leads the team with 23.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per outing. All-conference selections Nina Bessolo and Kourtney Eaton are also averaging 9.3 and 7.8 points, respectively. Eaton has added a team-best 4.7 assists per contest.
 
SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with UC Davis, 29-8, and has lost nine in a row to the Aggies. This year, UCD topped the 'Eaters, 80-57, at The Pavilion and 63-44 at the Bren Events Center.
 
UC Irvine has faced UC Davis three times in its Big West Tournament history. The Anteaters defeated the Aggies in overtime, 74-70, en route to their most recent trip to the semifinals in 2014. They had previously dropped a first-round game to UCD in 2015 and 2011.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
UC Irvine made its debut in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll at No. 24 (Dec. 4), and remained in the top-25 for nine consecutive weeks. The 'Eaters reached as high as No. 15, but have since dropped out of the rankings. UC Davis came in at No. 22 in the latest mid-major poll. One of UCI's losses this year came to Oregon, which was seventh in both the AP and USA Today Polls at the time. The Ducks were the Anteaters' first nationally ranked opponent since Arizona State in 2006.
 
THE TURNAROUND
In 2017-18, just her second season at the helm, Tamara Inoue led the 'Eaters to their highest win total (18) and first postseason appearance in 23 years. They saw a 12.5-game improvement from 2016-17, which was the second-best turnaround in all of NCAA Division I. This year, Inoue and her squad proved it wasn't a fluke, starting the season at 7-0 for the first time ever. The Anteaters recently earned their 20th win, which is tied with the 1983-84 squad for the second most in program history.
 
WINNING WAYS
UC Irvine has recorded the third 20-win season in school history, joining the 1983-84 (20) and 1984-85 (21) squads in elite company. The 'Eaters have increased their win total in each of Inoue's three years as head coach.
 
COMING UP CLUTCH
Three of the Anteaters' wins this year have come on last-second shots. Most recently, Lauren Saiki's dish to Tahlia Garza on a perfectly executed pick-and-roll with two seconds remaining gave UC Irvine a 59-57 victory over CSUN in the Big West quarterfinals (March 13). On Feb. 14, UCI was locked in a defensive battle at Long Beach State. The score was knotted at 46-all and it was 49er ball with four seconds remaining in regulation. The tides quickly turned as Alexus Seaton came up with a huge steal on the inbound pass, allowing only two ticks to come off the clock before the 'Eaters called a timeout. That set up the game-winner with Brooke Bayman getting it in to Jordan Sanders, who took one dribble before draining a contested 18-foot jumper right before the buzzer for the thrilling 48-46 victory. Back in November, Andee Ritter made the game-winning layup with 3.1 seconds left to sneak past UNLV, 57-55.
 
LEAVING A LEGACY
Senior Andee Ritter recently became UC Irvine's all-time leader in 3-pointers made and steals, breaking both records in the regular-season finale against Long Beach State. She surpassed Kathy Lizarraga's 27-year old standard with her 199th career three and has since increased her total to 202. The Medford, Ore., native had already topped Lizarraga's single-season program record, which was established in 1988-89, with 87 triples as a sophomore, and set UCI's single-game high with a career-best eight treys vs. Cal Poly on Jan. 26. Ritter has also supplanted Megan Stafford (1996-00) for first in the Anteater record books with 195 steals.
 
DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
The 'Eaters have been locked in on the defensive end, forcing 20+ turnovers 18 times. They pressured Life Pacific College into a season-high 36 miscues, thanks to a school-record 25 steals. The Anteaters have also held their opponents to 11 single-digit quarters with a program-best one point allowed in the third frame against LPC. Both of their records bettered the previous standards from last year when UC Irvine had 24 steals vs. Long Beach State and gave up just three points in the second quarter at Bakersfield. Through March 13, UCI ranks sixth in the nation in turnover margin (7.6), 17th in TOs forced (20.7/gm) and 23rd in steals (10.8/gm).
 
COMEBACK KIDS
The Anteaters have come back from a double-digit deficit to win five times this year. In those five games, UCI outscored its opponents in the second half, 195-128 (13.4 ppg). UC Irvine has also won three games when trailing with five minutes left in regulation.
 
THE BIG THREE
Senior Andee Ritter, junior Lauren Saiki and sophomore Jordan Sanders have accounted for 58 percent of UC Irvine's scoring. They have combined for 1,164 points (38.8 ppg), and have produced 59 double-figure scoring games, 19 of which have been 20+ performances.
 
JORDAN EFFECT
UC Irvine is in good shape when sophomore Jordan Sanders scores 10+ points. In her young career, the Anteaters are 32-9 when she reaches double figures, and 12-3 when she hits the 20-point mark. The Springfield, Mo., native has played a key role in UCI's success this year, putting up double digits in 25 of 26 games played. Thirteen of those have been 20+ performances, including six in Big West action with 24 vs. UC Riverside (Feb. 23), 20 at Hawai'i (Feb. 21), 25 at UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 16), 29 vs. UH (Feb. 7), 28 vs. UCSB (Jan. 31) and 20 vs. Cal Poly (Jan. 26). Against the Highlanders, Sanders added 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double. In non-conference play, she poured in a career-high 34 points on 15-of-25 shooting at Portland State on Dec. 18. Just two days earlier, she had a then career-best 29 points and six steals at Portland. Sanders also finished with a 20-point double-double against Indiana State (25pts/11rebs) and UNLV (21pts/12rebs) back in November. The first-team All-Big West selection ranks second in the league, and 23rd in the nation, with 20.2 ppg.
 
THE LO-DOWN
Junior Lauren Saiki (Monterey Park, Calif.) has 13 games with five or more assists this year. Ten of those came in a consecutive stretch from Nov. 24-Jan. 12. She started the streak against Indiana State where she recorded her first double-double as an Anteater with 10 points and a career-high 13 assists. Saiki committed just one turnover in the 77-61 victory over the Sycamores. Her 13 dimes rank third in single-game program history and were the most by an 'Eater since Megan Stafford dished out 15 vs. Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 27, 1997. Saiki went on to notch her second double-double with 13 points and 10 assists at Portland State on Dec. 18. The 5-foot-3 point guard also had a career-high 25 points and two blocks, to go along with four rebounds and five assists at Cal Poly (Jan. 5).
 
HOME COOKING
Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the 'Eaters are 22-8 (.733) at the Bren Events Center. Their 22 home victories in two seasons equal the Anteaters' combined total from the previous five years.
 
UP NEXT
The championship game of the Big West Tournament will be held at the Honda Center on Saturday, March 16, with tip-off scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.