UC Irvine (17-5, 9-2 Big West) at
Cal Poly (6-14, 3-9 Big West)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 9
Time: 6 p.m. (PST)
Location: Mott Athletics Center (3,032) - San Luis Obispo, Calif.

UC Irvine (17-5, 9-2 Big West) at
UC Riverside (5-17, 3-9 Big West)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 11
Time: 6 p.m. (PST)
Location: SRC Arena (3,168) - Riverside, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball is back on the road this week, starting with a trip to San Luis Obispo for a 6 p.m. showdown at Cal Poly on Thursday, Feb. 9. The Anteaters will then make their way to the Inland Empire for another 6 p.m. tilt against UC Riverside on Saturday, Feb. 11.
 
STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• For the first time since the start of the Big West season, UC Irvine (9-2) is not at the top of the standings. With a 52-50 setback to Long Beach State (10-2) last weekend, UCI dropped to second, sitting a half-game behind the Beach. Both of the Anteaters' conference losses have come by two points on their home court.
 
• 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 34 regular-season conference victories and a .773 win percentage.
 
• UCI came in at No. 18 in the latest College Insider Women's Mid-Major Top 25. The Anteaters have been featured in the poll for seven-straight weeks with a high ranking of 13th. The 'Eaters are also seventh in the nation in scoring defense (as of Feb. 7). They have held 17 of their 22 opponents to 60 points or less and are 14-3 in those contests.
 
• The Anteaters put together a school-record tying nine-game win streak from Dec. 17-Jan. 19. They fell just short of the program's first 10-game win streak with a 66-64 overtime loss to Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 26. That loss came after starters Olivia Williams (Jan. 19) and Naomi Hunt (Dec. 31) went down with season-ending injuries.
 
• Diaba Konate has made 28 consecutive free throws. She ranks first in The Big West and fourth in the nation in free throw percentage (93%).

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly (6-14, 3-9 Big West) split its two games last week as it had an impressive 69-64 win over UC Santa Barbara, before falling at Hawai'i, 80-58. Annika Shah, who has started every game, leads the Mustangs with 10.4 points and 2.8 assists per outing. Natalia Ackerman is also tops on the squad with 5.4 rebounds per contest.
 
SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with Cal Poly, 37-29, but has won five in a row. UCI swept the regular-season series last year, defeating the Mustangs, 68-59, on the road (Jan. 29, 2022) and 67-66 at home (March 3, 2022).
 
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside (5-17, 3-9 Big West) snapped a six-game skid with a 66-63 overtime win over Cal State Fullerton last Saturday. Jordan Webster has paced the Highlanders with 11.4 points per game, while Matehya Bryant is also averaging 8.4 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per outing.
 
SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with UC Riverside, 41-25. The Anteaters have won three in a row, including a 60-44 victory in the most recent meeting at UCR on Feb. 10, 2022.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine dropped a heartbreaker to Long Beach State last Saturday, falling 52-50 at the Bren Events Center. In a battle for the top spot in the Big West standings, it was the Beach that escaped with the win in the final seconds. The Anteaters, who led for most of the contest, were up 50-49 with 1:25 remaining. Despite getting a couple stops, UCI was unable to capitalize and LBSU eventually pulled ahead, 51-50 on a putback with 21.4 ticks on the clock. Long Beach then knocked down 1-of-2 at the foul line to make it a two-point game with just under five seconds remaining. The 'Eaters had one more opportunity, but Diaba Konate's driving layup to tie it up rimmed out at the buzzer. Hunter Hernandez led all players with 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. It was her third double-double of the season. Nevaeh Parkinson added eight points and four boards, while Nevaeh Dean finished with six points. Nikki Tom also registered a team-best five steals and three assists.
 
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 34-10 (.773) 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 9-2 record sitting a half-game behind Long Beach State and one game ahead of third-place UC Santa Barbara.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
UCI dropped two spots to No. 18 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
The 'Eaters are seventh in all of NCAA Division I in scoring defense with their 53.1 points allowed per game coming in behind No. 1 South Carolina, Norfolk State, Campbell, No. 9 Duke, Fairleigh Dickinson and Little Rock. The Anteaters have held 17 of their 22 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 24th in the nation in steals (10.6 spg) and 28th in turnovers forced (20.1/gm).
 
FROM THE LINE
UC Irvine ranks first in The Big West in free throw percentage (76.5%). The Anteaters have had some of their best performances at the charity stripe in conference games as they were 8-for-8 against CSU Bakersfield and at Long Beach State, 16-of-17 at UC Santa Barbara and 20-of-24 at CSUN. Individually, Diaba Konate is tops on the squad and in The Big West with a 93% clip.
 
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 more than nine this season with three of its five setbacks being decided by only two points.
 
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.
 
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 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 109 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 five games, which includes a pair of OT contests, Hernandez is averaging 40.8 mpg. Tom has also logged 35+ minutes in nine consecutive outings. On the year, Tom ranks fourth in The Big West at 33.3 mpg.
 
WEEKLY HONORS
Sophomore Hunter Hernandez earned her first career Big West Player of the Week award on Jan. 23. She was recognized for her performance in a tough road trip where she averaged 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 12 double-figure scoring games with eight coming in conference play. In UCI's 9-2 league start, the 5-foot-9 guard has led the way with 12.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg.
 
SEEING DOUBLE
Hunter Hernandez registered her third double-double of the season last Saturday, Feb. 4, with 19 points and a career-best 13 rebounds against Long Beach State. She was one point shy of her career-high scoring total, which she established in her first start of the year vs. Westcliff (Dec. 14) where she had 20 points and 10 boards. She dropped 20 again three days later in a 72-57 win over Dartmouth, while putting up her second 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 (3.2 apg) and steals (2.3 spg) per game. Konate has dished out  3+ dimes 12 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 13-3 overall, and 11-2 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 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals. She has nine 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 (968) needs 32 more points to join the 1K club.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
The Anteaters have played 12 of their 22 games away from Irvine and are 9-3 in those contests. They are 5-0 in Big West road games.

DOWN TO THE WIRE
UC Irvine has had a handful of close contests this season with 10 of its 22 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 has another busy Big West stretch coming up where it will play five games in 11 days, starting with a Wednesday (Feb. 15) showdown with UC Santa Barbara. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.