UC Irvine (8-17, 4-7 Big West) at
Long Beach State (11-13, 6-5 Big West)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 20
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Walter Pyramid (4,200) - Long Beach, Calif.
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Cal Poly (6-16, 3-8 Big West) at
UC Irvine (8-17, 4-7 Big West)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 22
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
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Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team makes the short trip to Long Beach State for a 7 p.m. Black & Blue Rivalry showdown on Thursday, Feb. 20. The Anteaters then return home to host Cal Poly in their annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game on Saturday, Feb. 22, with tip-off set for 2 p.m.

The 'Pink Ticket' is available for Saturday's game with $2 of each purchase being donated to the UC Irvine Breast Health Center. Fans are also encouraged to wear pink in support of the cause.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine has scored 70+ points in four of its last six outings.
• Eight players have at least one double-figure scoring game, with six hitting the 20-point mark this season.
• Freshman Sophia Locandro has recorded 10+ points, 5+ rebounds and 2+ blocks in each of the last five contests.
• Last week, she put up the Anteaters' first back-to-back 20-point games with 23 vs. Fullerton and 24 at UC Davis.
• Locandro is averaging a team-best 13.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in Big West play.
• Senior Lauren Saiki is tops on the squad overall with 12.0 ppg and 6.5 apg.
• Her assist average is No. 1 in the Big West and No. 6 in the nation.
• Saiki ranks second among UC Irvine's all-time leaders with 394 career assists.
• She needs six more to become the second player in program history to reach 400.
• Saiki has also cracked UCI's single-season top-10 for the second time in her career (162).
• She is on pace to break the 17-year old record of 189 set by Lisa Faulkner in 2002-03.
• In addition, Saiki entered the Anteaters' top-10 in steals with her 153rd career takeaway, and surpassed 900 career points last weekend.

A GLANCE AT LONG BEACH
Long Beach State (11-13, 6-5 Big West) split its two games last week, defeating UC Santa Barbara, 59-53, at home, before falling at UC Riverside, 58-57. Shanaijah Davison and Justina King lead the Beach with 13.7 ppg and 13.3 ppg, respectively. King is also tops on the team with 3.2 assists per outing. LBSU leads the conference in steals (10.9/gm), turnovers forced (21.3/gm) and turnover margin (+6.8).
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly (6-16, 3-8 Big West) suffered back-to-back losses last week, coming up short at UC Davis, 71-58, and vs. Cal State Fullerton, 67-60. The Mustangs boast the highest scoring duo in the conference in Sierra Campisano (16.0 ppg) and Abbey Ellis (15.5 ppg). Campisano is also first on the squad with 8.3 rebounds per contest, while Ellis has dished out 3.4 assists per game.
 
SERIES RECORDS
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with Long Beach State, 61-17. The Beach won the first meeting this year, topping the Anteaters, 56-46, at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 25.
 
UCI also trails in its all-time series with Cal Poly, 36-23, but has won four in a row. The 'Eaters will be looking for their second-straight regular-season series sweep as they defeated the Mustangs, 68-57, on Jan. 18. Haleigh Talbert had a career-high 23 points, while Lauren Saiki finished with 12 points and 11 assists in the win.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine was unable to upend league-leading UC Davis for the second time in seven days as it dropped a 65-53 decision to the Aggies last Saturday at The Pavilion. Sophia Locandro paced the Anteaters with 24 points, five rebounds and two blocks. She went 7-for-14 from the field and 8-for-10 at the free throw line. Alexus Seaton added 10 points and four boards, while Lauren Saiki chipped in nine points, five assists and four steals.
 
THE BIG THREE
Senior Lauren Saiki, junior Haleigh Talbert and freshman Sophia Locandro have been key for the Anteaters in Big West play. In 11 conference games, the trio has accounted for 62% of the team's points, 45% of their rebounds and 73% of their assists.
 
BIG WEST TALK
UC Davis is first in the Big West standings at 9-2, and holds a one-game lead over second-place Hawai'i (8-3). Long Beach State (6-4) sits in third, while Cal State Fullerton (5-5) is fourth. The Anteaters are currently eighth at 4-7. They are one game ahead of Cal Poly, and just a half-game back of CSUN (4-6) and UC Riverside (4-6), who are tied for sixth.
 
Eight teams advance to the Big West Tournament with the top-two receiving a double-bye into the semifinals at Honda Center on March 13. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds also get a first-round bye into the quarterfinals, which will be held at the Walter Pyramid (LBSU).
 
300 AND COUNTING
Senior Lauren Saiki is the sixth 'Eater 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 second on UCI's all-time list with 394 assists.
 
THE LO-DOWN
Saiki has been the Anteaters' assists leader in 58 of 88 games played. Earlier this year, she recorded her third and fourth career double-digit assist performances in back-to-back outings with 10 helpers vs. UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 16) and 11 at Cal Poly (Jan. 18). The Monterey Park, Calif., native has dished out a team-best 162 dimes this year, which is third among UC Irvine's single-season leaders. Her 6.5 apg also rank first in the Big West and sixth in the nation. In addition, Saiki is ninth in school history with 153 career steals, and recently surpassed 900 career points.
 
TWENTY-TWENTY
Freshman Sophia Locandro (Mount Waverly, Victoria, Australia) is the only 'Eater with multiple 20-point games this year. On Saturday, Feb. 15, she registered her fifth such performance with 24 points at UC Davis. She also had 23 vs. Fullerton, a career-high 25 at UC Riverside and 20 vs. UC Santa Barbara. Locandro also notched UCI's first double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds in the non-conference finale vs. Westcliff on Jan. 6. The 6-foot-3 forward has reached double figures, while also recording at least two blocks, in five-straight outings.
 
HALEIGH'S TURN
Junior Haleigh Talbert (Euless, Texas) became the sixth different 'Eater with a 20-point game this year after finishing with a career-high 23 at Cal Poly on Jan. 18. She went 6-for-12 from the field with a career-best five 3-pointers made. The 5-foot-4 guard, who has reached double digits in scoring in nine of the last 12 games, is averaging 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in Big West play. Talbert recently pulled down a career-high nine boards in a 73-68 win over UC Davis on Feb. 8.
 
HEATING UP
Junior Dani Guglielmo established two career highs over a three-game stretch with 18 points vs. CSUN and 19 at Hawai'i. In those two outings, she went a combined 11-for-24 (46%) from behind the arc. The Los Gatos, Calif., native broke through a shooting slump with a career-best six threes against the Matadors. She had gone 3-for-20 from long distance in the previous seven games. Guglielmo also reached double digits with 16 points in a win over UC Davis on Feb. 8. She was 4-for-8 from long distance and knocked down the go-ahead three with 43 seconds on the clock. She has made a career-best 33 triples on the season.
 
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, all of which came from beyond the arc where she was 7-for-10. Her seven triples are tied for the most in a game 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 program's top-10. Cadee is second on the team with 37 3-pointers made.
 
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 among the top-four on the squad in scoring (8.9 ppg), rebounding (4.1 rpg), assists (1.6 apg) and steals (1.5 spg). Seaton, who came into the 2019-20 campaign averaging 2.3 points per outing, has reached double figures in scoring 10 times with a career-high 23 vs. Vanderbilt.
 
FIRST YEAR IMPACT
UC Irvine's active freshmen have provided quality minutes early in their careers. Sophia Locandro, who has 11 double-figure scoring games, is averaging 13.9 points and 6.9 rebounds in Big West action. Jayde Cadee is also averaging 4.8 points on 1.5 threes made per contest. Chloe Webb, who will miss the remainder of the season with an injury, scored 10+ points in five of 14 games played with a season-high 20 against Westcliff. Webb (51.8%) and Locandro (51.3%) own UCI's top-two field goal percentages.
 
FRESH START
After struggling to a 2-11 record through December (0-6) and January (2-5), UC Irvine got off to a fresh start on Feb. 1 with a convincing 77-53 win at UC Riverside. It was UCI's largest margin of victory against an NCAA Division I opponent this season. The Anteaters also picked up their first win over league-leading UC Davis in five years, before defeating Cal State Fullerton. They are now 3-2 in February.
 
HOME COOKING
Since 2017-18, UC Irvine is 27-12 (.692) at the Bren Events Center. The 27 home victories in two-plus seasons are more than UCI's combined total from the previous five years.
 
ACCESS DENIED
UC Irvine has registered 3.8 blocks per outing, which is second in the Big West. The 'Eaters had a season-high 10 blocked shots at Denver, marking the first time they reached double digits in that category since Jan. 27, 2010. UCI also ranks third in the conference with 16.5 turnovers forced per game. They have caused 20+ miscues four times with a season-high 29 against Loyola Marymount.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine enters the final stretch of the regular season with a 7 p.m. home game against Hawai'i on Thursday, Feb. 27.