UC Santa Barbara (6-9, 1-1 Big West) at
UC Irvine (4-11, 0-1 Big West)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 16
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
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UC Irvine (4-11, 0-1 Big West) at
Cal Poly (3-10, 0-2 Big West)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 18
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Mott Athletics Center (3,032) - San Luis Obispo, Calif.
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Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team is set to host UC Santa Barbara in its Big West home opener Thursday (Jan. 16) at 7 p.m. The Anteaters will then make their way up to San Luis Obispo for a 2 p.m. showdown with Cal Poly on Saturday, Jan. 18.
 
STORYLINES
• Eight of UC Irvine's 11 active players have reached double figures in scoring, with five hitting the 20-point mark.
• The Anteaters rank first in the Big West and are among the top-60 in all of NCAA Division I with 4.3 blocks per game.
• The 'Eaters failed to register a blocked shot for the first time this season in their most recent outing at CSUN (Jan. 11).
• UCI had nine players available against the Matadors.
• Lauren Saiki, Sophia Locandro and Haleigh Talbert all saw more than 34 minutes of action.
• Senior Lauren Saiki leads the team with 11.7 ppg and 6.5 apg. Her assist average is currently fifth-best in the nation.
• Saiki is the sixth Anteater in program history to reach 300 career assists.
• She enters the week at No. 4 on the school's all-time charts (329).
• Over the last three games, freshman Jayde Cadee has gone 14-of-29 (48%) from 3-point range.
• Cadee knocked down seven triples at SMU on Dec. 29, putting her in a tie for second in UC Irvine's single-game history.
• The 'Eaters were picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll and second in the Big West Preseason Media Poll.

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara (6-9, 1-1 Big West) split a pair of home games to open the conference season as it lost to Cal State Fullerton, 70-68, in overtime before defeating Cal Poly, 52-50. Junior guard Danae Miller leads the Gauchos with 14.4 points per game, while freshman forward Ila Lane is averaging a double-double (13.6 ppg, 12.9 rpg). Senior guard Coco Miller has also registered 10.1 points and a team-best 4.1 assists per contest.
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly (3-10, 0-2 Big West) came up empty on the road last week, suffering a 72-69 defeat at Long Beach State prior to a 52-50 loss at UCSB. Freshman guard Abbey Ellis has paced the Mustangs with 15.5 points, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Junior forward Sierra Campisano has also put up 15.5 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds per outing.
 
SERIES RECORDS
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with UC Santa Barbara, 65-32, but has won its last three home games against the Gauchos. The Anteaters most recently topped UCSB, 53-46, in the first round of the 2019 Big West Tournament.
 
The 'Eaters also trail in their all-time series with Cal Poly, 36-22, but have won four of the last five. UCI swept the Mustangs during the 2018-19 regular season with a 75-59 victory in San Luis Obispo and a 73-57 triumph at the Bren Events Center. Lauren Saiki established a career-high 25 points at CP last year.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine fell short in its Big West opener, dropping a 70-62 decision at CSUN last Saturday. Haleigh Talbert scored a team-best 13 points and tied her career high with seven rebounds. Lauren Saiki finished with 12 points, six assists and five boards. Alexus Seaton also reached double figures with 10 points, while Sophia Locandro pulled down a team-best nine rebounds. The 'Eaters won the battle on the boards, 42-37, but the Matadors held the edge in second-chance points, points off turnovers and points in the paint. CSUN also made a season-high 11 3-pointers.
 
300 AND COUNTING
Senior Lauren Saiki is the sixth Anteater in program history to record 300 career assists. She reached the milestone with the second of her five helpers against Vanderbilt on Dec. 20. Saiki, who is in her third year at UC Irvine after transferring from West Virginia, currently ranks fourth on UCI's all-time list with 329 assists.
 
THE LO-DOWN
Saiki has been the Anteaters' assists leader in 49 of her 78 career games played. The Monterey Park, Calif., native has dished out a team-best 97 dimes this season, with her 6.5 apg ranking fifth in the nation. In addition, Saiki has reached double figures in scoring 10 times with a season-high 20 points coming in a win over Loyola Marymount. She went 4-for-7 from long distance against the Lions.
 
COUNT 'EM FOR CADEE
Freshman Jayde Cadee (Macleod, Victoria, Australia) had a breakout performance at SMU on Dec. 29, scoring a season-high 21 points. Cadee shattered her previous best of 12 vs. Portland State earlier in the month. All of her game-high 21 points came from behind the arc where she went 7-for-10. Her seven triples are the most by a Big West player this year and are tied for second in UCI's single-game history. Her 70% clip also ranks among the top-10. Cadee has remained hot from long distance as she is 14-of-29 from 3-point range over the last three games.
 
HALEIGH'S TURN
Junior Haleigh Talbert became the seventh different 'Eater to lead the team in scoring when she finished with 13 points at CSUN (Jan. 11). It was her second-straight double-digit outing after matching her career high with 14 in a win over Westcliff on Jan. 6. The Euless, Texas, native also extended her streak of consecutive games played with at least one 3-pointer made to six.
 
HOME COOKING
Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, UC Irvine is 25-9 (.735) at the Bren Events Center. The 25 home victories in two-plus seasons are more than the Anteaters' combined total from the previous five years.

TWENTY-TWENTY
Freshmen Sophia Locandro (Mount Waverly, Victoria, Australia) and Chloe Webb (San Diego, Calif.) combined for 42 points on 63% shooting to highlight UCI's 93-41 win over NAIA member Westcliff University on Jan. 6. Locandro had the Anteaters' first double-double of the year with a season-high 22 points (10-16 FG) and 10 rebounds. Webb also had the best game of her young career with 20 points (9-14 FG), seven boards, six steals and three assists. She was the first 'Eater to snag six steals in a game since Dec. 6, 2018.
 
COMING INTO HER OWN
In her third year at UC Irvine, junior Alexus Seaton has emerged as one of the team's leaders. The Fort Worth, Texas, native, who has started every game, is tops on the squad with 68 rebounds (4.5 rpg) and 25 steals (1.7 spg), while she ranks second in scoring (10.3 ppg) and assists (2.0 apg). Seaton, who came into the 2019-20 campaign averaging 2.3 points per outing, has reached double figures in scoring seven times with a career-high 23 vs. Vanderbilt. She just missed her first double-double with nine rebounds against the Commodores.
 
FRESHMAN IMPACT
UC Irvine's active freshmen have provided quality minutes early in their careers. Chloe Webb (5) and Sophia Locandro (4) have combined for nine double-figure scoring games. Locandro had a season-high 22 points (10-16 FG) and 10 rebounds vs. Westcliff, while Webb also had a collegiate-best 20 points and six steals against the Warriors. Jayde Cadee has reached double digits on three occasions, with a season-high 21 points on seven triples at SMU. Cadee ranks second on the team with 24 3-pointers made.
 
BACK-TO-BACK
After recording just five points through five games to start the year, junior Dani Guglielmo notched her first career back-to-back double-figure scoring performances at the Denver Thanksgiving Classic (Nov. 29-30). The Los Gatos, Calif.,  native netted a season-high 12 points against host Denver before matching that total to lead the team vs. North Alabama. Guglielmo then made her first career start against Portland State on Dec. 2, and has been part of the first five ever since.
 
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 17.2 turnovers per game with a season-high 29 against Loyola Marymount. The 'Eaters have also registered 4.3 blocks per outing, which is tops in the Big West. 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.
 
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.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will be home for two games next week, hosting CSUN (Jan. 23) and Long Beach State (Jan. 25) at the Bren Events Center. Saturday's game against LBSU will be broadcast live on ESPN3.