Big West Tournament Quarterfinals
No. 2 UC Irvine (13-8, 11-4 Big West) vs.
No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (7-13, 7-9 Big West)
Date: Wednesday, March 10
Time: 5 p.m. (PST)
Location: Michelob Ultra Arena (12,000) - Las Vegas, Nev.
Watch on ESPN3 // Listen on KUCI // Live Stats

UC Irvine Game Notes // Big West Tournament Central

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball is set to begin the Air Force Reserve Big West Championships, presented by The Hawaiian Islands, in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, March 10, at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The second-seeded Anteaters will square off against No. 7 seed UC Santa Barbara at 5 p.m.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine reached double-digit wins in conference play for the fifth time in program history.
• Two of those seasons have come under 2021 Big West co-Coach of the Year Tamara Inoue.
• The Anteaters' 11 Big West victories were tied for first in the league this year, and tied for second in school history.
• The 'Eaters locked up their highest Big West Tournament seed since 1998.
• They are 4-4 in their four tournament appearances as the second seed.
• This is the second-straight year UCI has placed among the top-two in the conference standings.
• In 2019-20, they tied for second, but earned the three seed in the tournament due to a tiebreaker.
• Redshirt freshman Kayla Williams is UC Irvine's third Big West Freshman of the Year, and first since 2018.
• She is also the only freshman on this season's six-member All-Big West First Team.
• Williams is tops on the squad with 14.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game.
• She ranks among the top-15 freshmen in all of NCAA Division I in assist average (7th) and scoring average (13th).
• Sophomore Chloe Webb, who earned an All-Big West honorable mention nod, is averaging 11.2 ppg and 7.3 rpg.
• She is coming off a weekend where she established single-game career highs in points (21) and assists (5) vs. Long Beach.
• Sophomore Sophia Locandro ranks among the top-three on the team with 10.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest.
• Senior Tahlia Garza had a season-high four blocks in a 64-58 win at UC San Diego to put her at 100 in her career.
• She is the sixth Anteater in program history to reach the century mark in that category.
 
WITH A WIN...
•  UC Irvine will advance to the Big West semifinals for the eighth time in program history, and second in the last three seasons.
•  UCI would face the winner of No. 3 Long Beach State/No. 6 Cal Poly Friday at 3 p.m.

BIG WEST NOTABLES
Despite tying for the conference lead with 11 Big West victories, UC Irvine finished second in the regular-season standings based on win percentage. The Anteaters earned the No. 2 seed in the Big West Tournament for the fifth time in program history, and first since 1998, when they were second in the West Division. The 'Eaters are 4-4 all-time when playing as the No. 2 seed. UC Irvine is making its 32nd Big West Tournament appearance in its 38th year as a member of the conference.
 
This is the first time the Big West Tournament will be held outside the state of California since 2000 (Reno, Nev.), and the first time it will be in Las Vegas since 1995, when the Anteaters won their first and only conference title to date.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE DISTINCTION
Kayla Williams earned multiple postseason honors as she was a first-team All-Big West and All-Freshman Team selection, while also becoming the third Big West Freshman of the Year in program history (first since 2018). She is UCI's first freshman to receive first-team all-conference honors. The 5-foot-7 point guard finished the regular season ranked first in the league in steals (2.7), second in assists (4.5 apg) and third in scoring (14.8 ppg). This is the fourth year in a row the 'Eaters have had a representative on the six-member All-Big West First Team.
 
Sophomore Chloe Webb, who missed the 2019-20 conference season with an injury, garnered her first postseason accolades with an All-Big West honorable mention nod. Webb ranks first in the league in field goal percentage (48.8%), seventh in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and 15th in scoring (11.2 ppg).
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Head coach Tamara Inoue, who is in her fifth season at the helm, was voted the Big West co-Coach of the Year. She is the second head coach in program history to win the award, joining Colleen Matsuhara (1995) in elite company. In an extremely unique and challenging season with the pandemic, Inoue has continued to forge a path forward for the Anteaters, leading them to a second-place Big West finish and their highest tournament seed in 24 years. Her team's 11 conference wins were tied for first in the league this season, and tied for second in school history.
 
SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara (7-13, 7-9 Big West) enters the postseason as the No. 7 seed. After a six-game losing streak from Jan. 16-Feb. 12, the Gauchos have bounced back, winning five of their last six. Doris Jones leads the squad with 14.5 points per outing, while Taylor Mole is averaging 13.7 points and a team-best 9.4 rebounds per contest. Both players earned All-Big West honors.
 
SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with UC Santa Barbara, 67-34, but won both regular-season meetings this year. UCI has faced UCSB seven times in the Big West Tournament, with the Gauchos holding a 4-3 edge in those games. The two teams last saw each other in postseason play in a 2019 first-round match-up where the 'Eaters pulled away for a 53-46 win in Irvine.
 
PREVIOUSLY, AGAINST UCSB
The Anteaters kicked off their 2020-21 Big West slate with back-to-back wins at UC Santa Barbara, Dec. 27-28. In the opener, Kayla Williams led the 'Eaters to a 64-60 victory with 24 points, while Chloe Webb finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The next day, UCI had four players in double figures in a 69-56 triumph. Webb and Tahlia Garza anchored the effort with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Williams also dished out a season-best 10 assists.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine was unable to complete its fourth Big West series sweep last Saturday (March 6), falling to Long Beach State, 80-62, in its regular-season finale at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters got out to a slow start and were never able to recover as the Beach led wire-to-wire. Jayde Cadee registered a team-high 12 points on four made threes. Chloe Webb added 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
WINNING WAYS
UC Irvine secured its fourth-straight season with at least 13 wins after a 79-70 triumph over Long Beach State on March 5. Since 2017, the Anteaters have won 64 games, marking their most victories in a four-year stretch since 1983-87.
 
TURNOVER TALK
UCI has forced a Big West-leading 18.8 turnovers per game. The 'Eaters have caused 17+ miscues in all but three outings this year.
 
I'LL TAKE THAT
UC Irvine ranks second in the Big West with 9.4 steals per game. Kayla Williams has led the charge with a conference-best 57 takeaways (2.7/gm), which is tied for 10th in single-season school history.
 
CAREER RECORD WATCH
Senior Tahlia Garza ranks sixth in the school record books with 100 career blocks. Senior Haleigh Talbert sits just outside UCI's all-time top-10 with 102 career 3-pointers made. She needs five more threes to etch her name in the record books.
 
FIRST FIVE
UC Irvine has used eight different starting lineups on the year, seven of which debuted in the team's first 10 games. The Anteaters then found a winning recipe, using the same five over an eight-game stretch where they went 7-1. Due to injuries, UCI had to start mixing it up again at UC San Diego (Feb. 26-27). Sophia Locandro and Kayla Williams are the only two 'Eaters who have started every game this season.
 
WORKING OVERTIME
After two seasons without an overtime game, the 'Eaters have gone to an extra period twice this year. It is the first time they have had multiple OT games since 2014-15, and multiple OT wins since 2013-14. UC Irvine has fared well this year as it is 2-0 in overtime games, while outscoring its opponents, 37-15, in the five-minute extra period. In their Big West Tournament history, the Anteaters have gone to OT once, defeating UC Davis, 74-70, on March 12, 2014.
 
HOME COOKING
Since 2017-18, UC Irvine is 36-16 (.692) at the Bren Events Center. The 36 home victories in three-plus seasons are more than the combined total from the previous six campaigns (2011-17).
 
BIG WEST LEADERBOARD
In Big West play, redshirt freshman Kayla Williams led the conference in steals (2.7 spg), while ranking second in scoring (14.7 ppg) and third in assists (4.4 apg). She earned her first career Big West Player of the Week award after dropping a career-high 32 points on 10-of-22 shooting (7-11 3FG) in the second of back-to-back wins at Cal Poly. The Los Angeles native also had 24 points at UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 28), 24 at CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 5) and 20 vs. Hawai'i (Jan. 29), while registering her first collegiate double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. Long Beach State (March 5). Williams added six assists and a career-best six steals against the Beach. In addition, she was the first of three players in the Big West with a double-digit assist game this year, dishing out 10 against UCSB on Dec. 28.
 
MAKING MOVES
Overall, Williams is tops on the squad with 14.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.7 steals per contest. She has 17 double-figure scoring games and five 20-plus point performances. Her career-high 32 points are tied for 11th in single-game school history, while her seven triples are tied for third. The 5-foot-7 point guard made her Anteater debut on Nov. 28, marking her first official competition since her high school career ended on Feb. 27, 2019 (21 months).
 
FREE THROW RECORDS
In the first game at CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 5), Williams was a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line. It was the first time an 'Eater did not miss a free throw with at least 10 attempts since 2011. She also ranks among the top-three in UCI's single-game history with her 14 free throws made and 20 free throws attempted in a 24-point performance against Westmont College on Dec. 9. Williams is shooting 74.8% (83-111) at the charity stripe this season.
 
DOUBLE DIPPING
Sophomore Chloe Webb is the only Anteater with multiple double-doubles this season, as she has five, including four against Big West opponents. Webb is averaging 11.2 points and a team-leading 7.3 rebounds per outing. Last weekend, the San Diego native registered a career-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting in a 79-70 win over Long Beach State. Earlier in the year, Webb pulled down a career-best 15 rebounds, to go along with 14 points, in her first double-double vs. Westmont College (Dec. 9). The 5-foot-8 guard was the first 'Eater with 15 boards in a game since Nov. 17, 2016. Webb also finished the regular-season ranked first in the Big West with a 48.8 field goal percentage.
 
BACK TO BUSINESS
Sophomore Sophia Locandro, a 2019-20 All-Big West honorable mention selection, has continued to be a key presence on the court for the Anteaters this year. The 6-foot-3 forward ranks among the top-three on the squad with 10.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. She has reached double figures in scoring 11 times with a season-high 20 points vs. Saint Mary's on Dec. 16. It was her seventh career 20-point performance. The Australia native also pulled down a career-high tying 11 rebounds at UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 27). Earlier in December, Locandro was named the Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week for her effort at LMU (Dec. 3), where she put up 14 points and a team-high eight boards, six of which came on the offensive end.
 
HEART OVER HEIGHT
Senior Haleigh Talbert (Euless, Texas) has been one of the Anteaters' most consistent all-around players over the last few years as she is the team's active career leader in points (773), assists (185) and steals (124). The 5-foot-4 guard has continued to put up solid numbers in 2020-21, averaging 9.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 14 games played. She missed a month of competition with an injury, snapping a streak of 97 consecutive games played.
 
SHOOTERS TOUCH
Sophomore Jayde Cadee (Melbourne, Australia) ranks second on the squad with 30 3-pointers made. In the regular-season finale, the 5-foot-11 guard finished with 12 points on a 4-of-10 performance from long distance. Cadee, who has 21 career games with multiple treys, tied a UCI single-game record with eight at Long Beach State last year, and finished the 2019-20 campaign with 59 3-pointers, which ranks fifth in single-season program history.
 
UNDER THE LIGHTS
The Anteaters have been featured on ESPN3 27 times (including in-house productions) since the start of the Tamara Inoue era in 2016-17. They are 18-9 in those games. In full ESPN3 productions, the 'Eaters are 6-6.
 
WHAT A CLASS
Seniors Tahlia Garza, Dani Guglielmo, Alexus Seaton and Haleigh Talbert joined UC Irvine in 2017 as head coach Tamara Inoue's first official recruiting class. Graduate student Joy Akaegbu-Cleveland also came on board as a transfer from Saint Mary's in Fall 2018. In their time with the program, the 2021 senior class has built a winning culture at UCI. They have been part of the team's best four-year stretch in over 30 seasons with 64 victories since 2017-18. The four-year seniors were also part of the Anteaters' first national postseason appearance (2018 WBI) since 1995, and their first 20-win campaign (2018-19) since 1985.
 
UP NEXT
If UC Irvine wins its quarterfinal game, it will advance to the semifinals on Friday, March 12, to take on the winner of No. 3 Long Beach State/No. 6 Cal Poly at 3 p.m. The championship game is then scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 13.