California Baptist (1-0) at
UC Irvine (0-0)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 28
Time: 3 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
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UC Irvine Game Notes | CBU Game Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball is set to begin its 2020-21 schedule on Saturday, Nov. 28, when it welcomes California Baptist to the Bren Events Center for a 3 p.m. showdown. With the delayed start to the season due to the pandemic, the Anteaters will be kicking off the campaign after the Thanksgiving holiday for the first time since 1995-96.

Per the direction of the Big West Board of Directors, UCI will begin the season without spectators in attendance. The issue of fan attendance will be revisited as the season progresses.

STORYLINES
• UC Irvine is looking for its fourth-straight season-opening win at the Bren Events Center.
• The Anteaters are 3-1 in season openers in the Tamara Inoue era.
• UCI returns over 70% of its scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks.
• The 'Eaters welcome back 10 players from last year's team that finished second in the Big West.
• UC Irvine has five seniors who have combined to play 388 career games.
• Haleigh Talbert leads the group with 2,035 minutes played (94 games).
• She averaged a career-best 9.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per outing as a junior.
• Sophomore Sophia Locandro was a 2020 All-Big West honorable mention selection after averaging 11.0 ppg and 5.4 rpg.
• Sophomore Jayde Cadee finished with a team-best 59 triples last year, which ranks fifth in UCI's single-season history.
• Since 2017-18, the 'Eaters are averaging 17 wins per season. 
• California Baptist assistant coach Angie Ned graduated from UC Irvine in 2007.
• Ned was a three-time All-Big West honoree and is the Anteaters' only two-time Big West Defensive Player of the Year.
 
WITH A WIN...
• UC Irvine will win its fourth-straight season-opener, marking the longest streak in program history.
• Dating back to last year, the Anteaters will also extend their overall home winning streak to six games.

NEW LOOK SCHEDULE
In an effort to reduce travel and emphasize the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff in the middle of an ongoing pandemic, the Big West altered its conference schedule so that teams will play the same opponent on consecutive days at one site. Each team has a bye week built into the 11-week schedule, but games will not be rescheduled should a team need to quarantine during the season. The Anteaters have also scheduled five non-conference games, four of which are local road contests.
 
SCOUTING THE LANCERS
California Baptist (1-0) opened its season at home on Wednesday, Nov. 25, defeating NCAA Division II member Fresno Pacific, 90-39. Britney Thomas led five Lancers in double figures with 17 points, while Caitlyn Harper finished with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. CBU has seven returning letterwinners from last year's team that went 16-15 overall and 7-9 in the Western Athletic Conference. Senior Ane Olaeta earned second-team All-WAC honors in 2019-20 after averaging 12.2 points and 6.0 assists per game. California Baptist brings eight newcomers into the mix (4 freshmen, 4 transfers).
 
SERIES RECORD
This will mark the first meeting between UCI and CBU.
 
CONNECTIONS
California Baptist University assistant coach Angie Ned was a member of the Anteater women's basketball team from 2003-07. The three-time All-Big West selection, and two-time Big West Defensive Player of the Year, finished her UC Irvine career with 1,333 points, which ranks fifth in program history. Ned graduated in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in sociology.
 
UCI (2) and CBU (4) have a combined six players who hail from Australia. Five are from Melbourne, including the Anteaters' Jayde Cadee and Sophia Locandro, and the Lancers' Georgia Dale, Eliana Bravington and Brittany Klamen. Cadee, Locandro, Dale and Bravington all have experience playing for the Victoria Metro State Team. Caiyle Kaupu (Konawaena HS) has also faced CBU's Taylor Wu (Iolani) multiple times on the Hawaii prep scene.
 
WINNING WAYS
Over the last three years, the 'Eaters are averaging 17 wins per season. Their 51 total victories during that span is the program's best three-year stretch since 1983-86.
 
HOME COOKING
Since 2017-18, UC Irvine is 30-12 (.714) at the Bren Events Center. The 30 home victories in three seasons are more than UCI's combined total from the previous five campaigns. The Anteaters bring a five-game home winning streak into 2020-21.
 
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
UC Irvine was picked to finish second in both the Big West Preseason Coaches and Media Poll. The 'Eaters (101 points) received two first-place votes from the league's 11 head coaches to come in behind four-time defending regular-season champion UC Davis. The Aggies were tabbed the preseason favorite with six first-place votes and 114 total points. UC Santa Barbara was third, while Cal Poly, which collected two first-place nods, was fourth.
 
This is the third year in a row the Anteaters were selected among the top-three in the Big West Preseason Polls.
 
OPENING NIGHT
UC Irvine will be looking for its fourth-straight season-opening win at the Bren Events Center under fifth-year head coach Tamara Inoue. In last year's opener, the 'Eaters edged San José State in a thrilling 79-77 victory. Overall, UCI is 14-32 in season openers and 7-15 when playing at home.
 
THREE-POINT BARRAGE
In 2019-20, the Anteaters established single-season school records with 224 3-pointers made and 701 3-pointers attempted. They ranked among the top-three in the Big West in both categories. UCI also saw its efficiency increase from the year before as they shot 32% from beyond the arc, which was the second-best clip in the conference.
 
SPLASH SISTERS
Four 'Eaters made at least 40 triples last season, and three of them are back this year. Jayde Cadee knocked down a team-leading 59 threes, while Haleigh Talbert finished with 47 and Dani Guglielmo had 40.

ACCESS DENIED
UC Irvine ranked first in the Big West with 3.6 blocks per game last year. The 'Eaters had a season-high 10 blocked shots at Denver (Nov. 29, 2019), marking the first time they reached double digits in that category since Jan. 27, 2010. UCI also finished third in the conference with 15.9 turnovers forced per game. They caused 20+ miscues five times with a season-high 29 against Loyola Marymount.
 
RECORD WATCH
Senior Tahlia Garza ranks seventh in program history with 86 blocks. She is 14 away from passing Chelsea Mackey and becoming the sixth Anteater to record 100 career blocks. Senior Haleigh Talbert sits just outside UCI's all-time top-10 with 87 career 3-pointers made and 111 steals. She needs 20 more threes and 39 steals to etch her name in the record books.

MEET THE NEWCOMERS
UC Irvine has four true freshmen on its 2020-21 roster. Caiyle Kaupu, a 6-foot forward, was the 2019-20 Gatorade Hawaii Girls Basketball Player of the Year, while 5-foot-9 point guard Victoria Baker was a McDonald's All-American Game nominee at Vista Ridge High School in Texas. Tarryn Ross and Catherine Swanson are both local products out of Orangewood Academy and Aliso Niguel High School, respectively.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will make the short drive to Los Angeles for a 7 p.m. game at Loyola Marymount on Thursday, Dec. 3.