IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball will kick off the 2023-24 campaign on the road as it heads to Malibu for its season opener at Pepperdine on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse.

STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• UC Irvine will begin the season on the road for the first time since 2014-15. The Anteaters have opened the campaign at home in each of head coach Tamara Inoue's seven years at the helm where they are 5-2.

• 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.

• Tamara Inoue wasted no time in building UC Irvine into a championship contender. After taking over a program that had been through 11 losing seasons in 13 years, Inoue made remarkable progress as the 'Eaters increased their win total in each of her first three seasons, highlighted by the second-best turnaround in all of NCAA Division I in 2017-18. The 2021 Big West co-Coach of the Year has led UCI to three of the program's five 20-win campaigns and three of its four national postseason tournament appearances. Entering her eighth year at the helm, Inoue ranks second in program history with 117 career victories. 

SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine has 10 newcomers including eight transfers. Six of those transfers are from Division I programs - Mi'Cole Cayton (Minnesota), Myra Gordon (Alabama), Lexi Griggsby (Washington), Megan Harkey (Xavier), Emerita Mashaire (Buffalo) and Maggie Vick (Iowa State). The Waves return only three letterwinners and one redshirt from last year's squad that went 11-19 overall and 5-13 in West Coast Conference action. They also have a new head coach with Kelsey Keizer serving her first year in an interim role. 

SERIES RECORD
UCI trails in its all-time series with Pepperdine, 21-14, but won the most recent meeting as it defeated the Waves, 75-74, at the Bren Events Center on Nov. 30, 2017. The last time the two teams met in Malibu was on Nov. 14, 2013, with Pepperdine securing a 76-59 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 against UC San Diego. Overall, 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.

PRESEASON POLL
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.

SPECIAL TEAM, SPECIAL SEASON
UC Irvine was not considered to be a Big West championship contender at the start of the 2022-23 season. In fact, they weren't even picked to finish in the top half of the conference as they were slotted sixth in the league's preseason coaches' poll after losing six letterwinners, including three starters to graduation and the portal. The 'Eaters still welcomed back eight members (five sophomores) from their 2022 WNIT squad and added four NCAA Division I transfers. The group quickly developed a strong chemistry that led to a league-best 8-3 non-conference record. That success carried over into Big West play where they were 7-0 for the first time in their 40 years as a member of the league. Despite seeing three key starters go down with season-ending injuries in a two-month span, the bond the Anteaters formed both on and off the court helped them persevere as they came together to win their last seven regular-season games to clinch the first Big West championship in school history. 

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.

TENACIOUS D
UC Irvine was one of the best defensive teams in the nation last year as it finished the season ranked seventh in all of NCAA Division I with a program-record 53.2 points allowed per game. Despite playing six overtime games (two double OT), the 'Eaters held 25 of their 32 opponents to 60 points or less and never gave up more than 70. Their season high in points allowed was 67 in an OT win at Hawai'i. UCI also ranked 23rd in the country in steals (10.1 spg) and 31st in turnovers forced (19.4/game).

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. They had a streak of 11 consecutive regular-season conference wins come to an end with an overtime loss to Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 26, 2023.

100 AND COUNTING
Seventh-year head coach Tamara Inoue earned her 100th career win in last year's non-conference finale against Grand Canyon on Dec. 21, 2022. Inoue is the second coach in program history to reach the century mark as her 117 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.

AIN'T THAT GRAND
Senior Diaba Konate reached the 1,000-point career milestone in her 100th collegiate game played. Konate entered the contest against UC Santa Barbara (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 begins her fifth year with career totals of 1,073 points, 358 rebounds, 384 assists and 215 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 recorded at least one steal in 27 of her 29 appearances 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, was named to the 2022-23 Big West All-Defensive Team.

IRON WOMAN
Junior Nikki Tom has played in every game since her arrival at UC Irvine in 2021-22. She leads the team with 65 consecutive appearances and 42 consecutive starts. As a sophomore in 2022-23, Tom ranked first on the squad and third in The Big West at 35.7 minutes per outing. The Fresno native logged 35+ minutes in 20 consecutive contests from Jan. 7-March 20, 2023. Tom did it all on the court, averaging 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals. She had 12 double-figure scoring performances including a career-high 18 points on a near perfect outing where she was 6-of-7 from the field (4-4 3FG) vs. LIU. Tom earned All-Big West honorable mention recognition last season.

STARTING LINE
UC Irvine is 19-4 when junior Déja Lee is in the starting lineup. In her fourth start of the 2022-23 campaign, and first in a three-week stretch, Lee stepped seamlessly back into the first five, registering career highs of 22 points, eight rebounds and five steals to lift UCI to a 67-38 win over UC Davis on Jan. 5, 2023. The 5-foot-9 point guard had her second 20-point effort against UC San Diego on Feb. 2 where she was 5-for-8 from deep while also dishing out a career-high seven assists. For the season, Lee was tops on the squad with a 36.4% (40-110) clip from beyond the arc. She received All-Big West honorable mention distinction.

BEST SIXTH PLAYER
Senior Nevaeh Parkinson was named the 2022-23 Big West Best Sixth Player 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. In her only start of the regular season, she put up a career-high 16 points (8-8 FG) and 13 boards at UC San Diego on Feb. 23. Parkinson was also an All-Big West honorable mention selection.

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.

ON THE MEND
Juniors Hunter Hernandez and Olivia Williams both had season-ending injuries during conference play last year. The two Archbishop Mitty High School graduates are planning to redshirt the 2023-24 campaign as they continue to rehab and work their way back to full strength.

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 be at the Bren Events Center for its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 11, when it hosts Seattle U at 2 p.m. The Anteaters will reveal their 2022-23 Big West championship banner prior to the game.