Anteaters Back on the Road Tuesday at Saint Mary's

Tuesday, November 14

Moraga, Calif.

6:30 PM

UC Irvine

Saint Mary's

Anteaters Back on the Road Tuesday at Saint Mary's

November 13, 2023 | Women's Basketball

ESPN+Live Stats Game Notes

UC Irvine (1-1) at
Saint Mary's (1-1)
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 14
Time: 6:30 p.m. (PST)
Location: University Credit Union Pavilion (3,500) - Moraga, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball makes its way to Moraga, California, for a non-conference showdown at Saint Mary's on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.

STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• The Anteaters have led by double digits after the first 10 minutes in each of their two games this season. Against Pepperdine, they were up by 12 at the end of the first quarter but were unable to keep the momentum, being outscored by the Waves, 41-21, in the second and third periods. The 'Eaters learned from the season-opening loss as they came back four days later to rout Seattle U, 74-43. UCI was on top 15-5 in the opening quarter and kept its foot on the gas with a 46-22 advantage over the next 20 minutes.

• UC Irvine has a streak of 36 consecutive games holding its opponent to under 70 points. The last time the Anteaters gave up 70+ was in an overtime win against UC Davis in the 2022 Big West quarterfinals (March 11, 2022). Last year, the 'Eaters finished the campaign ranked seventh in the nation in scoring defense with a program-record 53.2 points allowed per outing.

• For the first time since 2019-20, UCI has more upperclassmen than underclassmen with all 10 of its returning letterwinners being juniors and seniors. The group led the 'Eaters to a historic season last year as they won the program's first Big West regular-season championship, advanced to the second round of the WNIT and set a school record in both overall (25) and conference (16) victories. Five Anteaters earned All-Big West honors in 2022-23. Hunter Hernandez was a first-team selection, while Nikki Tom, Déja Lee and Nevaeh Parkinson received an honorable mention nod. Parkinson was also named the conference's Best Sixth Player and Diaba Konate made the All-Defensive Team.

• UC Irvine adds four newcomers into the mix for the 2023-24 season. Redshirt freshman Clara Djoko joined the team from France last December. As a midseason addition, Djoko was on the bench for the Anteaters' historic run, but did not play. The 'Eaters also bring in true freshmen Shirel Nahum, who was the fifth-leading scorer at the 2023 FIBA U18 Women's European Championship, and Haley Hernandez. Hernandez follows older sister, Hunter, to UCI from Archbishop Mitty High School. Rounding out the quartet of newcomers is graduate transfer Moulayna Johnson "MJ" Sidi Baba. Sidi Baba hails from Sweden and spent the previous four years at the University of Miami.

• UC Irvine was picked to finish second in the 2023-24 Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. UCI earned two of the 11 first-place votes and 88 total points to come in behind defending conference tournament champion Hawai'i, which took the top spot with 95 points (six first-place votes). The Anteaters have placed among the top-two in the Big West in each of the last four seasons, and since 2020-21, they own a league-best 41-10 (.804) regular-season conference record.

SCOUTING THE GAELS
Saint Mary's (1-1) bounced back from a 55-52 season-opening loss at Grand Canyon with a 61-58 overtime victory against UC San Diego on Sunday, Nov. 12. Freshman Zeryhia Aokuso leads the Gales in scoring at 14.0 points per game. Senior and first-team All-WCC selection Ali Bamberger is also averaging 10.5 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds per outing. Jeff Cammon, who spent six seasons as the head coach at Big West rival Long Beach State, is in his first year at the helm of the SMC program.

SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine and Saint Mary's are tied in their all-time series, 2-2. The Anteaters won the first meeting, 89-53, back on Dec. 20, 1980, but the Gaels took two of the next three. The teams last squared off in Irvine on Dec. 16, 2020, with SMC pulling out a 67-64 victory.

THE BIG 5-0
The 2023-24 campaign marks the 50th season of UC Irvine women's basketball. In their inaugural year (1974-75), the Anteaters went 7-4 under head coach Dorene Cowart. They earned the program's first win in their second game with a 52-33 victory over UC San Diego. Since then, UCI has produced five 20-win seasons, one Big West championship, one Big West tournament title, two All-Americans and four UCI Athletics Hall of Fame members.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine put together a complete team effort on both sides of the ball to run away with a 74-43 victory over Seattle U in its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters were locked in defensively from the start, allowing just 12 first-half points. They went up by 10 after the opening period before putting the game well out of reach by scoring 21 and 25 in the second and third quarters, respectively. UCI never trailed and led by as many as 40 midway through the fourth frame. Eight different 'Eaters scored and three finished in double figures. Diaba Konate (7-8 FG) and Nevaeh Parkinson (8-11 FG) tied for the team lead with 17 points each. It was a career high for Parkinson who also had a team-best seven rebounds and three blocks. Konate added four boards, five assists and three steals. Déja Lee was the third Anteater in double figures with 13 points to go along with five assists. Shirel Nahum contributed a season-best nine points. As a team, UC Irvine shot 49% from the field, 29% from beyond the arc and 73% at the free throw line. The 'Eaters also scored 31 points off 27 forced turnovers.

IN THE RANKINGS
UC Irvine was receiving votes in the 2023-24 College Insider Women's Mid-Major Preseason Poll. Last year, the Anteaters made their way into the Top 25 on Dec. 27, 2022, and remained in the rankings for the rest of the season. They rose to as high as No. 13 (Jan. 24), which was a program best, before closing out the year at No. 23.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
UC Irvine was picked to finish second in The Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. The Anteaters earned two of the 11 first-place votes and 88 total points to come in behind defending conference tournament champion Hawai'i, which took the top spot with 95 points (six first-place votes). UC Davis also received three first-place nods but finished third with 85 points. Junior guard Nikki Tom was named to the six-member All-Big West Preseason Team.

REWRITING HISTORY
After finishing second in the conference despite having the most wins in league play in each of the previous two years, UC Irvine finally broke through in 2022-23, winning the first Big West regular-season title in program history. The first-place finish put the Anteaters in the WNIT where they secured their first postseason win. The 'Eaters also set school records in overall (25) and conference (16) victories, while tying a school record with a nine-game win streak from Dec. 17-Jan. 19.

TENACIOUS D
UC Irvine, which concluded the 2022-23 campaign ranked seventh in all of NCAA Division I with a program-record 53.2 points allowed per game, has picked up right where it left off. The Anteaters have held both of their opponents to under 65, giving up an average of 53 points per outing. As of Nov. 11, UCI ranks 28th in the nation in turnovers forced (25.5/gm) and 33rd in steals (14.5 spg).

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Over the last three years, no team has been better in Big West regular-season play than UCI. Since 2020-21, the Anteaters have not lost more than four conference games in a season, combining for a league-leading 41-10 (.804) record during that stretch.

100 AND COUNTING
Seventh-year head coach Tamara Inoue earned her 100th career win in last year's non-conference finale against Grand Canyon (Dec. 21, 2022). Inoue is the second coach in program history to reach the century mark as her 118 victories rank second all-time behind only Dean Andrea (158), who spent 13 years at the helm from 1978-1991. Inoue, the 2021 co-Big West Coach of the Year, has led the 'Eaters to three of the program's four national postseason tournaments and three of their five 20-win campaigns.

STARTING LINE
Junior Déja Lee is off to an impressive start in 2023-24, leading the team with 18.0 points per game. In the season opener at Pepperdine, Lee scored a career-high 23 points as she matched her career best with seven field goals made and went a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line. She followed that outing with 13 points (5-9 FG) and five assists in a 74-43 rout of Seattle U. The 5-foot-9 point guard now has 17 double-figure scoring games and three 20-point performances in her two-plus years at UCI.

IRON WOMAN
Junior Nikki Tom has played in every game since her arrival at UC Irvine in 2021-22. She leads the team with 67 consecutive appearances, 44 consecutive starts and 1,861 minutes (27.8 mpg) in an Anteater uniform. The Fresno native played 35+ minutes in 21-straight outings from Jan. 7-Nov. 7, 2023. In the 2023-24 season opener, Tom finished with 14 points and four steals in 38 minutes. The 5-foot-9 guard was named to the All-Big West Preseason Coaches Team.

AIN'T THAT GRAND
Fifth-year senior Diaba Konate reached the 1,000-point career milestone in her 100th collegiate game played last year. Konate entered the contest against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 15, 2023, needing 16 points to hit the benchmark, and easily surpassed that with a season-high 20 points in a 74-60 overtime win. She has career totals of 1,096 points, 364 rebounds, 392 assists and 220 steals.

GIVE AND TAKE
Diaba Konate led the team and ranked among the top-five in The Big West in both assists (3.6 apg) and steals (2.2 spg) last year. She has recorded at least one steal in 28 of her 30 appearances as an Anteater with a season-best five takeaways at Fresno State (Dec. 11, 2022). Konate, who tied for eighth in single-season school history with 63 steals last year, was named to the 2022-23 Big West All-Defensive Team.

BEST SIXTH PLAYER
Senior Nevaeh Parkinson was named the 2022-23 Big West Best Sixth Player, and earned all-conference honorable mention recognition, after averaging 8.4 points and 7.3 rebounds, while shooting 52% from the field in 18 conference games played. The 6-foot-3 center had six double-figure rebounding games and three double-doubles against league foes. This season, Parkinson has put up 12.0 points, 8.0 boards and 1.5 blocks per outing. She is also tops on the squad with a 68.8 (11-16) field goal percentage. Against Seattle U, Parkinson went 8-for-11 from the floor to finish with a career-high 17 points.

DEAN'S LIST
Senior Nevaeh Dean (Hamilton, Ohio) has found her home away from home. Out of high school, Dean signed with Virginia Tech but did not play for the Hokies. She decided to move back to Ohio and transfer to Cincinnati where she started five of 18 games played in 2021-22. Dean then made her way out west and quickly established herself as a leader for the Anteaters as the 6-foot-2 forward started all but one game, averaging 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds. She also set the tone in the classroom, making the Dean's List all three quarters.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
UC Irvine women's basketball has five international student-athletes from four different countries - graduate transfer Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba (Sweden), senior Diaba Konate (France), junior Déja Lee (Canada), redshirt freshman Clara Djoko (France) and freshman Shirel Nahum (Israel). All five have represented their countries in a FIBA-sponsored event. In addition, junior Olivia Williams, who was born and raised in Northern California, has dual citizenship and was a member of the New Zealand National Team that won silver at the 2019 U17 FIBA Women's Oceania Championship.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will host Eastern Washington in a 6 p.m. showdown at the Bren Events Center on Monday, Nov. 20.