Pepperdine (1-0) at
UC Irvine (0-1)
Date: Thursday, Nov. 7
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball continues a season-opening and season-long four-game homestand on Thursday, Nov. 7, when it welcomes Pepperdine to the Bren Events Center for the program's third annual Kids Day. The Anteaters have invited local elementary schools to campus for the 11 a.m. tip-off.

STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• This is the third-straight year UC Irvine will bring in local elementary schools to a game as part of a field trip day. On Thursday, approximately 1,500 students from 10 local Title 1 schools will make their way to the Bren Events Center. Last year, the event broke UCI women's basketball's attendance record with a crowd of 2,294 being treated to a 74-59 win over Long Beach State (Jan. 25, 2024). 

• UCI is searching for its first win of the season after dropping its opener to New Mexico State, 57-49, Monday in Irvine. The 'Eaters cut a 17-point third-quarter deficit down to two, but the Aggies never relinquished the lead, finishing strong for the win. Sophomore transfer Summah Hanson led three Anteaters in double figures with 16 points. Senior Nikki Tom also had a game-high seven assists and four steals. Tom now has 161 career steals, which ranks ninth among the program's all-time leaders.

• UC Irvine has claimed back-to-back Big West championships, winning the tournament in 2023-24 and the first regular-season title in program history in 2022-23. Last year, the 'Eaters earned a No. 13 seed in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995. They closed out the campaign with a 23-9 overall record, marking their third consecutive 20-win season. UCI was ranked 23rd in the final College Insider Women's Mid-Major Poll. 

• UC Irvine returns seven letterwinners including four starters from last year's squad. Leading the way are seniors Déja Lee, Nikki Tom, Nevaeh Dean and Amelia Scharpf. Lee made history as the program's first Big West Player of the Year while also earning first-team all-conference honors. She averaged 13.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.1 assists per game. Tom has played in all 98 games of her career with 75 starts, while Dean has started 64 of 65 outings in her two-plus years as an Anteater. Scharpf has also logged 1,484 minutes in 88 career games.

• UCI welcomes back juniors Hunter Hernandez and Olivia Williams, who sat out last season while recovering from their respective knee injuries. Hernandez was a first-team All-Big West selection as a sophomore in 2022-23, while she and Williams were also named to the Big West All-Freshman Team in 2021-22.

SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine (1-0) trailed by as many as 14 and erased a 10-point deficit over the final eight minutes for a season-opening 59-57 win over Cal State Fullerton Monday in Malibu. Megan Harkey, Ornela Muca and Ella Brubaker all had 10 points to tie for the team lead. Harkey, Brubaker and Addi Melone also pulled down five rebounds each. It was the first career win for Katie Faulkner, who was named Pepperdine's head coach in April 2024.

SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with Pepperdine, 22-14. Last year, the Waves defeated the Anteaters, 63-58, in both teams' season opener at Firestone Fieldhouse on November 7, 2023. The 'Eaters scored the first 12 points of the game and led 22-10 after the opening quarter. Pepperdine came storming back in the second and third periods where it outscored UCI, 41-21. Déja Lee led all scorers with a then career-high 23 points. Nikki Tom also reached double figures with 14 points.

MID-MAJOR POLL
For the second-straight year, UC Irvine was ranked in the final College Insider Women's Mid-Major Poll, coming in at No. 23. It was the first time the Anteaters cracked the top-25 in 2023-24, but they had been receiving votes 14 times. They start the 2024-25 season back in the RV section.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
UCI was picked second in The Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. The defending Big West Champion Anteaters earned five of the 11 first-place votes and 95 total points in a narrow race with Hawai'i, which won the 2023-24 Big West regular season title. The Rainbow Wahine (96) received six first-place votes and came in one point ahead of the 'Eaters. Reigning Big West Player of the Year Déja Lee was named to the six-member All-Big West Preseason Team. Lee was also included on the World Exposure Report's Top-50 Mid-Major Players to Watch.

REIGNING CHAMPS
In 2023-24, UC Irvine won the second conference tournament title in program history, and first in 29 years. The second-seeded Anteaters received a double-bye into the semifinals where they defeated No. 7 seed Long Beach State, 69-57. They then took down fifth-seeded UC Davis, 53-39, in the final. The 'Eaters earned the conference's NCAA automatic bid, marking their third-straight national postseason tournament appearance, and fifth overall. UCI also made it to the 2023 WNIT (second round), 2022 WNIT (first round), 2018 Women's Basketball Invitational (first round) and 1995 NCAA Tournament (first round).

20-20-20
For the first time in program history, the Anteaters recorded three-straight 20-win seasons. UCI finished with 20+ wins in 1983-84 and 1984-85 before a 34-year drought. Head coach Tamara Inoue then led the 'Eaters to 20 wins in her third season at the helm (2018-19). Her squad also went 21-12 in 2021-22, finished with a school-record 25 victories in 2022-23 and went 23-9 in 2023-24.

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
UC Irvine has become a powerhouse in The Big West under ninth-year head coach Tamara Inoue. The Anteaters placed among the top-two in the conference in each of the last five years, including the first regular-season title in program history in 2022-23. Since 2020-21, UCI has not lost more than four conference games in a season, combining for a league-leading 57-14 (.803) record during that stretch. The 'Eaters also advanced to the championship game of the Big West tournament three times in the last four years.

TENACIOUS D
UC Irvine ended each of the last two seasons ranked among the top-15 in the nation in scoring defense. Last year, the Anteaters allowed 55.7 points per game to rank 14th in all of NCAA Division I. They held 22 of their 32 opponents to 60 points or less and gave up fewer than 10 points in a quarter 25 times. In 2022-23, the 'Eaters were seventh in the country with a program-record 53.2 points allowed per contest.

BETTER AT THE BREN
Since 2017-18, UCI is 69-25 (.734) at the Bren Events Center. Last year, the 'Eaters went 10-2 with a +12.0 scoring margin on their home court. They finished fourth in The Big West in average home attendance (821). The Anteaters set a program record with a crowd of 2,294 on Kids Day against Long Beach State on Jan. 25, 2024.

TRAVELING ANTEATERS
After playing their first four games of the season at home, the 'Eaters will be on the road for the remainder of the calendar year. They have a 46-day stretch where they play seven games, all on the road, with trips to Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Denver, Bakersfield and Oregon. Following its final non-conference game at the University of Oregon on Dec. 19, UCI has a two-week layoff over winter break. The Anteaters then return home to resume Big West play against Cal Poly on Jan. 2. The 46 days in between home games is the second-longest stretch among NCAA DI teams this year, behind only Columbia (47).

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
UC Irvine has six international student-athletes from five different countries - Summah Hanson (Australia), Déja Lee (Canada), Clara Djoko (France), Ines Gnahore (France), Shirel Nahum (Israel) and Daniela Falcón Hernández (Spain). 

100 AND COUNTING
Ninth-year head coach Tamara Inoue ranks second among the program's all-time winningest coaches with 140 career victories. She is only 18 wins behind 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 UCI to a pair of Big West Championships, four of the Anteaters' five national postseason tournament appearances, their first victory in a national postseason tournament (WNIT), four of their six 20-win campaigns and school records in both overall (25) and conference wins (16).

STEALING THE SHOW
Senior Nikki Tom had four steals in the season opener against New Mexico State to give her 161 in her career. Tom ranks ninth in program history and is 35 steals behind school-record holder Andee Ritter (196). 

Senior Déja Lee, who set a single-season school record with 82 steals last year, also has 154 career takeaways, putting her four away from entering UCI's all-time top-10.

CHASING 1,000
Déja Lee has 791 career points, putting her 209 away from joining the 1,000-point club. If she accomplishes the feat, she would be the first Anteater to do so since Stephanie Duda in 2008.

HISTORY MADE
Déja Lee made history as UC Irvine women's basketball's first Big West Player of the Year. In 2023-24, she averaged a team-best 13.9 points per outing, while also registering 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.6 steals per contest. The 5-foot-9 point guard upped her numbers in conference games where she ranked among the top-five in the league in scoring (14.8 ppg), steals (3.1 spg), field goal percentage (46%), 3-point field goal percentage (37%) and 3-pointers made (2.0/gm). She had seven 20-point outings with a career-high 29 (5-6 3FG) in an overtime win at Long Beach State. Lee is a two-time All-Big West selection, earning first team honors in 2023-24 and honorable mention recognition in 2022-23. She was also named the 2024 Big West Championship MVP after a 21-point effort (8-12 FG) against UC Davis in the final.

IRON WOMAN
Nikki Tom has played in every game since her arrival at UC Irvine in 2021-22. Her 98 consecutive appearances, 75 starts and 2,873 minutes played lead the team. Last year, Tom averaged 6.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.9 steals per outing. She was also tops on the squad with an 86.0 free throw percentage (49-57), which is the seventh-best in single-season school history. The Fresno, California, native has 23 career double-figure scoring performances and was a 2022-23 All-Big West honorable mention selection.

SHARP SHOOTERS
Lee and Tom were the only two 'Eaters with 30+ 3-pointers made last year. Lee led the squad with 56 triples, which ranks seventh in single-season school history. She has 100 in her career which is eight shy of entering UCI's all-time top-10. Tom also knocked down 31 threes in 2023-24, a year after making a career-best 41 from beyond the arc.

SUPER SENIOR
Graduate student Nevaeh Dean is back for her fourth collegiate season and third at UC Irvine. Dean transferred to UCI from Cincinnati and made an immediate impact as a starter on the Anteaters' back-to-back Big West championship teams. She has started 64 of 65 games played and is averaging 4.5 points and 3.6 rebounds, while shooting 43% from the field as an 'Eater. Dean graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminology, law and society in June 2024, and is currently working toward her master's in Legal and Forensic Psychology.

LEADER ON AND OFF THE COURT
Senior Amelia Scharpf played in all 65 games with 26 starts over the last two-plus years. She finished the 2022-23 regular-season championship campaign as a starter, averaging a career-best 5.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest. Off the court, Scharpf serves as the president of UCI's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

ON THE MEND
Two important pieces are back for UC Irvine in 2024-25. Last year, both Hunter Hernandez and Olivia Williams redshirted while rehabbing from knee injuries sustained during the 2022-23 conference season. Hernandez ended up missing seven games that year, but was still the Big West regular-season champion Anteaters' only first-team all-conference selection. She averaged 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals in 25 outings. In addition, Hernandez was a Big West All-Freshman Team selection in 2021-22.

Williams started the first 18 games of the 2022-23 campaign before her season-ending injury at Hawai'i (Jan. 19, 2023). She was averaging 8.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per outing. Williams was also named to the Big West All-Freshman Team in 2021-22.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine returns to the Bren Events Center on Monday, Nov. 11, for a 2 p.m. showdown against William & Mary.