UC Santa Barbara (16-7, 9-4 Big West) at
UC Irvine (19-5, 11-2 Big West)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 15
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
Black History Month Game

* UC Irvine Athletics is utilizing mobile ticketing and a clear bag policy.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball returns to the Bren Events Center to host UC Santa Barbara in a match-up between the Big West's second and third-place teams on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.
 
STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• UC Irvine (11-2) is second in the Big West standings, sitting a half-game behind Long Beach State (12-2), and two games ahead of third-place UC Santa Barbara. The Anteaters topped the Gauchos, 70-60, in the teams' first meeting of the season at UCSB on Jan. 16. UCI's only conference losses have come by two points on its home court as it dropped a 66-64 overtime decision to Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 26 and suffered a 52-50 setback to LBSU on Feb. 4.
 
• The 'Eaters have been on a dominant run in conference action as they have lost only 10 Big West regular-season games in the last two-plus years. Since 2020-21, they have put up a league-best 36 regular-season conference victories and a .783 win percentage.
 
• UC Irvine was 17th in the latest College Insider Women's Mid-Major Top 25. The Anteaters have been featured in the poll for eight consecutive weeks with a high ranking of 13th. The 'Eaters are also seventh in the nation in scoring defense (as of Feb. 13). They have held 19 of their 24 opponents to 60 points or less and are 16-3 in those contests.
 
• With a victory on Wednesday, UC Irvine would secure back-to-back 20-win campaigns for the second time in program history (1983-85). It would also be the Anteaters' fifth 20-win season, and third in head coach Tamara Inoue's tenure. In addition, the 'Eaters would be 20-5 for the first time since 1984-85. Earlier this year, UCI tied a school record with a nine-game win streak (Dec. 17-Jan. 19).
 
• Hunter Hernandez earned her second Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week award on Feb. 13. She was recognized for her performance in a pair of double-digit road wins. The 5-foot-9 guard started the week with a career-high 25 points in 26 minutes at Cal Poly. She was 7-for-13 from the field and 9-of-10 at the free throw line. Hernandez provided a late spark against the Mustangs with 15 of her 25 coming in the fourth quarter to help turn a four-point lead into a 68-55 victory. Two days later, she led all players with 16 points in a 56-45 win at UC Riverside. For the week, Hernandez averaged 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals, while shooting 56% from the field and 92% at the charity stripe.

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara (16-7, 9-4 Big West) split its two games last week, dropping a narrow 58-57 decision to Long Beach State on Feb. 9, before bouncing back two days later with a 77-64 win at UC Davis. Alexis Tucker leads the Gauchos with 13.3 points per outing, while Ila Lane is also averaging 13.1 points and a team-best 8.8 rebounds per contest.
 
SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with UC Santa Barbara, 67-37, but has won the last five. The Anteaters defeated the Gauchos, 70-60, in the teams' first meeting of the season at The Thunderdome on Jan. 16. Hunter Hernandez and Diaba Konate led the 'Eaters with 14 points each, while Alexis Whitfield paced UCSB with a game-high 15 points. Ila Lane also registered a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine continued its defensive dominance with a 56-45 win over UC Riverside last Saturday at SRC Arena. The Anteaters held their opponent to under 60 points for the fifth-straight game and 18th time this season. UCI raced out to an early lead that it would not relinquish. The 'Eaters would go up by as many as 21 before closing out the 11-point victory. Hunter Hernandez had her third-straight double-figure scoring performance with a game-high 16 points to go along with six rebounds. Déja Lee added 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting (2-3 3FG). Nyagoa Gony had an impressive defensive effort, finishing with eight rebounds and a career-high six blocks. Her six rejections are tied for third in UC Irvine's single-game history. Nevaeh Parkinson was also a big presence down low, corralling a career-high tying 11 boards. Diaba Konate chipped in seven points and five assists, while Nikki Tom had seven points and four steals.
 
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Over the last two-plus seasons, no team has been better in Big West regular-season games than UC Irvine. The 'Eaters are coming off back-to-back four-loss campaigns, combining for a 36-10 (.783) league record since 2020-21. They had a streak of 11 consecutive regular-season conference wins come to an end with their overtime loss to Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 26 being their first since a defeat at Hawai'i on Feb. 19, 2022. The Anteaters are second in The Big West standings with their 11-2 record sitting a half-game behind LBSU and two games ahead of third-place UCSB.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
UCI moved up one spot to No. 17 in the latest College Insider Women's Mid-Major Top 25. The Anteaters have been featured in every poll since Dec. 27 and were receiving votes for five weeks prior to that. Their highest ranking was 13th on Jan. 24.
 
TENACIOUS D
UC Irvine is seventh in all of NCAA Division I in scoring defense with its 52.8 points allowed per game coming in behind No. 1 South Carolina, No. 9 Duke, Norfolk State, Campbell, Fairleigh Dickinson and Little Rock. The 'Eaters have held 19 of their 24 opponents to 60 points or less. Their season-high in points allowed was 67 in an overtime win at Hawai'i on Jan. 19. UCI also ranks 21st in the nation in steals (10.5 spg) and 30th in turnovers forced (19.8/gm).
 
FROM THE LINE
UC Irvine ranks first in The Big West and 28th in the NCAA in free throw percentage (77.2%). The Anteaters have been even better in conference games where they are shooting 78.4%. They had three flawless performances, going 7-for-7 at UC Riverside, and 8-for-8 against CSU Bakersfield and at Long Beach State. Individually, Diaba Konate is tops in The Big West and sixth in the nation with a 92% clip. She made 28 consecutive free throws before missing her first attempt at Cal Poly on Feb. 9.
 
WINS AND LOSSES
The 'Eaters, who had a school-record tying nine-game win streak from Dec. 17-Jan. 19, are on pace to break the program record of 21 overall victories that was set in 1984-85, and matched last year. UCI has not lost by double digits this season with three of its five setbacks, including its only two conference defeats, coming by two points. In addition, the Anteaters have not had back-to-back losses this season.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
The Anteaters have played 14 of their 24 games away from Irvine and are 11-3 in those contests. They are 7-0 in Big West away games and own a program record 10 true road victories.
 
ATTENDANCE RECORDS
UC Irvine has set two of the program's top-eight attendance records this season. On Dec. 14, the Anteaters hosted Kids Day where they brought in eight local elementary schools for their sixth-best attendance mark of 1,101. Against UC Davis (Jan. 5), the 'Eaters also welcomed 1,093 fans to the Bren Events Center. It is the first time since 2011 that UCI women's basketball has seen a home crowd of over 1,000. UC Irvine ranks third in the Big West in average home attendance this year.
 
100 AND COUNTING
Seventh-year head coach Tamara Inoue earned her 100th career win in the non-conference finale against Grand Canyon on Dec. 21. Inoue is the second coach in program history to reach the century mark as her 111 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 two of the program's three national postseason tournaments and two of their four 20-win campaigns.
 
HUNT, WILLIAMS OUT FOR SEASON
UC Irvine has lost two starters, Naomi Hunt and Olivia Williams, to season-ending injuries in Big West play. Hunt, who was leading the Anteaters in both scoring (11.7 ppg) and rebounding (4.9 rpg), has been out since the conference opener against CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 31. Williams also suffered a season-ending injury at Hawai'i on Jan. 19. She had started every game this year, averaging 8.9 points and tying for the team lead with 24 triples.
 
RACKING UP THE MINUTES
After two starters went down with season-ending injuries, sophomores Hunter Hernandez and Nikki Tom have seen a  steady increase in minutes played. Over the last seven games, which includes a pair of OT contests, Hernandez is averaging 37.7 mpg. Tom has also logged 35+ minutes in 11 consecutive outings. On the year, Tom ranks fourth in The Big West at 33.7 mpg.
 
WEEKLY HONORS
Sophomore Hunter Hernandez earned her second Big West Player of the Week award on Feb. 13. She was recognized after averaging 20.5 points in a pair of double-digit road victories at Cal Poly and UC Riverside. The 5-foot-9 guard shot 56% from the field and 92% at the free throw line in those two games. Hernandez's first honor came on Jan. 23, following a road trip where she put up 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in wins at UC Santa Barbara and at Hawai'i. On the season, Hernandez has 14 double-figure scoring games with 10 coming in conference play. Through 13 league games, she has registered 13.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.3 apg and 1.3 spg.
 
SEEING DOUBLE
Hunter Hernandez has a team-leading three double-doubles and three 20-point games. She recently dropped a career-high 25 at Cal Poly (Feb. 9) where she was 7-for-13 from the field and 9-of-10 at the free throw line. That performance came after she put up 19 points and a career-best 13 rebounds against Long Beach State on Feb. 4. Hernandez also had 20 points and 10 rebounds in her first start of the year vs. Westcliff (Dec. 14), before dropping 20 again three days later in a 72-57 win over Dartmouth. In addition, the San Jose native had a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards in the non-conference finale against Grand Canyon.
 
GIVE AND TAKE
Junior transfer Diaba Konate leads the team and ranks among the top-five in The Big West in both assists (3.3 apg) and steals (2.3 spg) per game. Konate has dished out  3+ dimes 14 times with a season-high seven coming vs. LIU on Nov. 25. She has also recorded at least one steal in every appearance, including a season-best five takeaways at Fresno State (Dec. 11). The Paris, France, native, has been one of UCI's top offensive threats as well, averaging 7.7 points per contest.
 
STARTING LINE
UC Irvine is 15-3 overall, and 13-2 this season, when sophomore Déja Lee is in the starting lineup. On Jan. 5, she stepped seamlessly back into the first five as she registered career highs of 22 points, eight rebounds and five steals to lift UCI to a 67-38 win over UC Davis. The 5-foot-9 point guard had her second 20-point effort against UC San Diego where she was 5-for-8 from deep while also dishing out a career-high seven assists. In the season opener, Lee came off the bench to lead all players with 16 points (7-9 FG), eight boards, five dimes and no turnovers against Whittier.
 
COURT PRESENCE
Sophomore Nikki Tom has been a steady presence on the court for UCI, starting every game and averaging 7.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals. She has 10 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 on Nov. 25. Tom also had 15 points (4-6 FG, 6-6 FT) in a 54-52 win at CSUN on Jan. 28. In addition, the 5-foot-9 guard registered a career-high five steals and six assists vs. Westcliff on Dec. 14. She also had five takeaways vs. LBSU (Feb. 4).
 
ON THE HORIZON
Diaba Konate, who dished out her 300th career assist at Eastern Washington on Dec. 1, is approaching another benchmark as she is on pace to reach 1,000 points. Konate (984) needs 16 more points to join the 1K club.
 
HOME COOKING
Since 2017-18, UC Irvine is 56-22 (.718) at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters, who are 8-2 at the Bren this year, saw a 13-game home win streak snapped on Jan. 26.
 
DOWN TO THE WIRE
UC Irvine has had a handful of close contests this season with 10 of its 24 games decided by five points or less (6-4). In non-conference play, the 'Eaters had two game-winners in the final seconds as Diaba Konate sank the go-ahead jumper with 0.2 ticks on the clock in a 60-58 triumph at Sac State (Nov. 12), and Nevaeh Parkinson converted a layup with 4.2 seconds remaining to give UCI a 54-53 victory at Seattle U (Nov. 19).
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will make its way to UC Davis on Saturday, Feb. 18, before hosting Cal Poly at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 20.