The 2023-24 campaign marks the 50th season of UC Irvine women's basketball. To celebrate, we take a look back at some of the big moments in Anteater history.

1974-75: UC Irvine started its first season of women’s basketball under head coach Dorene Cowart. In their second game of the year, Cowart’s squad earned the first win in program history with a 52-33 victory over UC San Diego. They closed out the campaign with a 7-4 record.

1975-76: In the program’s second year of existence, the Anteaters won the SCWIAC and advanced to the WAIAW Regional Basketball Tournament. They went 13-6 overall and 10-4 in conference play. From Jan. 20-Feb. 19, the ‘Eaters put together a school-record nine-game win streak. 

1978-79: Dean Andrea, who had served as an assistant coach with the UCI men’s basketball team, was named the women’s head coach. He would lead the Anteaters for 13 years and is currently the program’s all-time winningest coach with 158 victories.

1979-80: UC Irvine defeated Cal Poly, 60-55, for its first Southern California Athletic Association victory. Katherine Hamilton, who averaged 16.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, was the program’s first-ever all-conference selection as she was named to the SCAA First Team as a freshman.

1980-81: In their final year as a member of the Southern California Athletic Association, the Anteaters registered their most victories in SCAA play. They finished the year 17-11 overall and 6-6 in conference.

1983-84: UC Irvine joined the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), which was renamed The Big West in 1988. Under sixth-year head coach Dean Andrea, UCI advanced to the championship game of the PCAA tournament and recorded the first 20-win season in program history. Cheri Graham, who set a single-season school-record with 593 points, also became the Anteaters’ first All-American. On Dec. 12, 1983, Graham scored a single-game school-record 41 points in a non-conference contest against Nevada.

1984-85: Dean Andrea’s squad made it back-to-back 20-win seasons with 21 victories, which stood as the most in program history for the next 37 years. On Feb. 9, 1985, the ‘Eaters defeated Pacific, 61-48, for Andrea’s 100th career win. As UCI women’s basketball enters its 50th season, Andrea remains one of only two coaches to reach that milestone.

1985-86: UC Irvine won the Newport Beach Marriott Holiday Classic held at Crawford Hall. The Anteaters defeated Utah State, 77-52, before upending Pac-West (now Pac-12) member Arizona, 68-61, in the championship game. Natalie Crawford earned tournament MVP and PCAA Player of the Week honors after averaging 19.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.5 blocks in the two wins.

1988-89: Katherine Hamilton was the first women’s basketball player to be inducted into the UCI Athletics Hall of Fame. By the end of her four-year career in 1983, Hamilton ranked first in school history with 1,768 points and 901 rebounds. She is still the Anteaters’ all-time leading scorer, while she is now second in total rebounds. Hamilton was the first ‘Eater with over 1,000 career points and 900 career boards. 

1991-92: Colleen Matsuhara was named the fourth head coach in program history.

1994-95: As the No. 3 seed, the Anteaters won three-straight postseason games to bring home the first Big West tournament title in program history. The ‘Eaters rolled past Long Beach State in the quarterfinals before defeating Cal State Fullerton on a buzzer-beater from Allah-mi Basheer in the semis. They carried the momentum into the championship game where they took down Pacific, 65-53. UCI traveled to Stanford for the opening round of their first NCAA Tournament appearance. Basheer was named the Big West Tournament MVP and Colleen Matsuhara was tabbed the Big West Coach of the Year. 

1995-96: Allah-mi Basheer became the second All-American in program history. Basheer finished her senior campaign averaging 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She reached double figures in scoring in all but one game and drained a season-high 30 points at Texas-Arlington. Basheer also earned her second-straight first-team All-Big West honor and was named UCI’s Lauds & Laurels Athlete of the Year.

1999-00: The Anteaters took down Power 5 opponents in back-to-back non-conference home games. They defeated Minnesota (Big 12), 65-54, on Nov. 28, before routing Oregon State (Pac-10), 68-46, on Dec. 3. Against the Gophers, Megan Stafford led all players with 18 points, while Chelsea Mackey added 15 on a 5-of-10 performance from the field. In the win over the Beavers, Shannon Anders netted a game-high 22 points, and Jeanine Horton added 18 (6-9 FG). Mackey also pulled down 12 rebounds.

2001-02: Cindy Oparah was named to the All-Big West First Team for the second year in a row. She joined Cheri Graham, Allah-mi Basheer and Leticia Oseguera as the only Anteaters to earn back-to-back first team honors.

2002-03: On Feb. 13, 2003, Lisa Faulkner dished out a single-game school-record 16 assists in a 72-59 win over Idaho. Faulkner finished the season with 189 assists, which at the time was the most in program history. Allah-mi Basheer was inducted into the UCI Athletics Hall of Fame.

2004-05: Leticia Oseguera was inducted into the UCI Athletics Hall of Fame. Oseguera finished her stellar four-year career with 969 rebounds, which still stands as the most by any player in UC Irvine basketball history. Her total has only been matched by Jonathan Galloway (2015-19) on the men’s side. Oseguera is also part of the 1,000-point club as she ranks third among the program’s all-time leaders with 1,415 points.

2006-07: Cheri Graham was inducted into the UCI Athletics Hall of Fame. Graham was an All-American and two-time first-team All-PCAA selection. In her three seasons at UC Irvine, Graham totaled 1,189 points (17.0 ppg), 524 rebounds (7.5 rpg) and 199 blocks, while shooting 57.1% from the field. Angie Ned, a three-time All-Big West selection, scored a career-high 37 points in a win over Loyola Marymount on Dec. 1, 2006. Her point total ranks third in single-game school history behind only Graham and Mikah Maly-Karros, who both had career-bests of 41 points.

2009-10: Mikah Maly-Karros tied Cheri Graham’s 27-year-old school record with 41 points in the first round of the Big West Championships on March 10, 2010. She scored 20+ points in 11 of her 20 appearances and finished the season averaging 20.5 ppg, which is tied for second in school history.

2013-14: Camille Buckley had one of the Anteaters’ best individual seasons with 573 points and 371 rebounds. Her rebound total is a single-season school record, while her point total was just 20 shy of Cheri Graham’s program-best 593 from 1983-84. Buckley led the Big West and ranked 21st in all of NCAA Division I with 15 double-doubles. She also had four of UCI’s 12 20+ rebound games with 26 vs. Cal Poly (Feb. 1), 24 vs. Cal State Fullerton (March 6), 21 vs. Long Beach State (Feb. 6) and 21 at CSUN (Jan. 23).

2016-17: Tamara Inoue was named the ninth head coach in program history. 

2017-18: In her second year, and first with her own recruits, head coach Tamara Inoue led UC Irvine to an 18-14 record, marking the team’s most wins since 1994-95. It was the second-best turnaround in all of NCAA Division I. The Anteaters earned a berth into the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) for the second national postseason tournament appearance in program history.

2018-19: UCI started the season at 7-0 for the first time in school history. The ‘Eaters went on to record the program’s third 20-win season and first in 34 years. Senior Andee Ritter closed out her career as the Anteaters’ all-time leader in both 3-pointers made (202) and steals (196).

2019-20: Senior Lauren Saiki broke UC Irvine’s single-season school record in assists with 215. She was one of only five players in the nation to reach the 200-assist milestone in 2019-20, joining Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon (299), Jayde Christopher of Boise State (270), Ivy Wallen of North Alabama (216) and Kelly Campbell of DePaul (201) in the elite group. Saiki also averaged a team-best 11.6 points per game and earned first-team All-Big West honors.

2020-21: The Anteaters were part of an extremely unique year, playing in the middle of a pandemic. They were unsure if they would even have a season until Sept. 16, 2020, when the NCAA Division I Council approved moving the first official contest date to Nov. 25. Thanks to the assistance of UC Irvine leadership and the Orange County Health Care Agency, the ‘Eaters hosted their first game, with no fans in attendance, on Nov. 28. They concluded the year with a 15-9 record and despite having the most wins in conference play (11-4), they finished second in the Big West standings based on win percentage. UCI advanced to the Big West Championship game for the first time since 1997.

2021-22: UC Irvine once again finished second in the conference standings despite having a Big West-leading 14 league wins, and made it back to the championship game. Although they came up short against Hawai’i, the Anteaters received the Big West’s automatic bid to the WNIT. They tied the school record with 21 overall victories.

2022-23: UC Irvine women’s basketball made history in 2022-23. The Anteaters won the program’s first Big West regular-season title, earned UCI’s first national postseason tournament victory (WNIT) and set school records in both overall (25) and conference (16) wins. From Dec. 17, 2022 to Jan. 19, 2023, the ‘Eaters tied the school record with nine-straight victories. During that stretch, head coach Tamara Inoue secured her 100th career win in the non-conference finale against Grand Canyon on Dec. 21.