2024 Hercules Tires Big West Championship - Semifinals
[2] UC Irvine (21-8, 16-4 Big West) vs. 
[7] Long Beach State (15-17, 8-12 Big West)
Date: Friday, March 15
Time: 2:30 p.m. (PDT)
Location: The Dollar Loan Center (5,567) - Henderson, Nevada

HENDERSON, Nev. - UC Irvine women's basketball makes its way to The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada, for the 2024 Hercules Tires Big West Championship. The second-seeded Anteaters will open the tournament against No. 7 seed Long Beach State in the second semifinal at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 15. 
 
STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• Junior Déja Lee headlined UC Irvine's end-of-season awards as she became the first Anteater in program history to be named The Big West Player of the Year. Lee was recognized after closing out the conference season ranked second in the league in scoring (14.8 ppg), second in steals (3.1 spg), fourth in field goal percentage (46.1%), fifth in 3FG percentage (37.4%) and fifth in 3FG made (2.0gm). She was also a first-team All-Big West selection, marking the seventh-straight year an 'Eater has made the first team. Overall, Lee has reached double figures in scoring 19 times with six 20-point performances. She is currently tied for first in single-season school history with 74 steals and tied for 10th with 51 threes made. 

• Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba was tabbed the 2023-24 Big West Newcomer of the Year and earned second-team all-conference distinction. Diaba Konate was recognized as the Best Defensive Player, while also receiving an all-conference honorable mention nod and making the All-Defensive Team for the second year in a row. In addition, Shirel Nahum earned a spot on the Big West All-Freshman Team.

• For the first time in program history, the Anteaters have three-straight 20-win seasons. Since 2021-22, UCI owns a 67-27 (.713) record. Four of the program's six 20-win campaigns have come under the direction of eighth-year head coach Tamara Inoue.

• The 'Eaters have placed among the top-two in The Big West in each of the last five seasons where they are 66-21 against league foes. In 2022-23, they set a school record with 16 conference wins and matched that total this year.

• UCI ranks 14th in the nation in scoring defense (55.5 ppg). The Anteaters gave up a season-high 76 points in an OT win at Long Beach State (March 2), snapping a 60-game streak of holding their opponents to under 70. The 'Eaters returned to their defensive prowess in the next game, allowing a season-low 31 in a 34-point victory at Cal Poly on March 7. UC Irvine is also 26th in all of NCAA Division I in turnover margin (4.59), 30th in steals (10.6 spg) and 37th in turnovers forced (19.3/gm).

POSTSEASON NOTABLES
The Anteaters are the No. 2 seed in The Big West Championships for the third time in the last four years, and sixth time in program history. They are 8-6 and have advanced to the championship game five times as the second seed (1984, 1985, 1997, 2021 & 2022). UC Irvine, which is making its 35th appearance in the conference tournament, won its only Big West Championship title as the No. 3 seed in 1995.

BIG WEST AWARDS
Junior Déja Lee headlined UCI's end-of-season awards as she became the Anteaters' first Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Lee was also a first-team all-conference selection. Graduate transfer Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba was recognized as the Newcomer of the Year and garnered second-team All-Big West distinction. Fifth-year senior Diaba Konate was tabbed the Best Defensive Player, received an All-Big West honorable mention nod and made the All-Defensive Team for the second year in a row. Shirel Nahum also landed on the Big West All-Freshman Team.

SCOUTING THE BEACH
Seventh-seeded Long Beach State (15-17, 8-12 Big West) won its first two games of the Hercules Tires Big West Championship, defeating No. 6 seed UC Santa Barbara, 90-75, in Wednesday's opening round, before upsetting No. 3 seed UC Riverside, 83-75, in overtime in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Savannah Tucker leads the Beach with 12.5 points per game, while Sydney Woodley is averaging 10.8 points and a conference-best 3.4 steals per outing.

SERIES RECORD
UCI trails in its all-time series with the Beach, 64-23, but swept the regular-season series. The 'Eaters routed LBSU, 74-59, at home on Jan. 25, and won an 86-76 overtime decision in Long Beach on March 2. The two teams are tied at 2-2 in the postseason with their last meeting coming in the first round in 2007.

20-20-20
The Anteaters have secured their third-straight 20-win season for the first time in program history. 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, and finished with a school-record 25 victories in 2022-23. 

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Since 2020-21, UC Irvine owns a league-leading 57-14 record (.803) in regular-season conference games. During that stretch, the Anteaters have not lost more than four Big West games in a season. Last year, they went 16-2 to win the first Big West regular-season championship in program history. Their 16 conference victories were also a school record.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine closed out the regular season in dominating fashion as it led for the entirety of a 69-53 Senior Day win over Cal State Fullerton last Saturday at the Bren Events Center. Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba led all players with 20 points and nine rebounds. Déja Lee added 16 points and Nikki Tom had 10 (3-3 FG). Diaba Konate also finished with eight points and a game-high seven assists.

TRENDING UP
The Anteaters are riding a season-long tying four-game win streak into postseason play. All four of those victories came by double digits as they own a +17.5 scoring margin since Feb. 29. Their biggest win of the season came last Thursday, March 7, when the 'Eaters routed Cal Poly, 65-31 on the road. UCI is also 8-0 when scoring more than 70 points this season. Five of those 70+ point performances came in Big West play including a season-high 86 in an overtime win at Long Beach State on March 2.

SHARP SHOOTER
Over the last six games, Déja Lee has made 17 threes (2.8/gm) and registered a 46% clip from beyond the arc. She tied her career high with five triples (on six attempts) at Long Beach State on March 2. Her 51 3-pointers on the year are tied for 10th in single-season school history.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
UC Irvine has outscored its opponents in bench points by a 12.5 margin. Their 26.6 bench points per game rank 14th in all of NCAA Division I. Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba (11.4 ppg) and Nevaeh Parkinson (8.4 ppg) have led the charge as they rank second and third on the team in scoring in a reserve role.

DEFENSIVE MINDED
The 'Eaters rank 14th in all of NCAA Division I with 55.5 points allowed per game. They have held 20 of their 29 opponents to 60 points or less and have given up fewer than 10 points in a quarter 23 times. At Cal Poly, UCI held the Mustangs to a season-low two points in the third period and 31 points for the game. The Anteaters also rank among the top-40 in the nation in turnover margin (26th, 4.6), steals (30th, 10.6 spg) and turnovers forced (37th, 19.3/gm).

ON THE REBOUND
The Anteaters have won the rebounding battle 17 times (15-2). Over the last nine games of the regular season, they held a +8.7 margin on the glass. The 'Eaters set season highs in total (52) and offensive boards (31) at Cal State Bakersfield on Feb. 17. They also held a double-digit advantage at Cal Poly (42-28), vs. CSUN (51-32) and vs. UC Santa Barbara (43-25) during that stretch. Since Feb. 8, Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game. She pulled down a season-high 15 boards at CSUB, and had 12 against both CSUN and Long Beach State.

STEALING THE SHOW
Déja Lee (74), Diaba Konate (62) and Nikki Tom (56) have accounted for over 60% of UC Irvine's steals. They each have at least three games with 5+ steals this season. Lee had a career-high six takeaways at UC Davis (Jan. 6) and at UC San Diego (Jan. 18), while Konate also had six vs. Long Beach State (Jan. 25). Lee's 74 steals on the year are tied for first in single-season school history.

DÉJA VU
Junior Déja Lee has six of UCI's nine 20-point performances this season. Lee led all scorers with 20 points against CSUN on Feb. 29, before dropping a career-high 29 (5-6 3FG) two days later at Long Beach State. In those two games, she shot 52% from the field and a blistering 57% (8-14) from beyond the arc. The 5-foot-9 guard also finished with 23 points at Pepperdine (Nov. 7) and vs. St. Thomas (Nov. 24), 22 vs. Cal State Bakersfield (Dec. 30) and 21 at Hawai'i. Against the Rainbow Wahine, she scored all 13 of the Anteaters' third-quarter points. Lee, who was named the Big West Player of the Week on Jan. 1, ranks first on the team in scoring (13.8 ppg) and steals (2.6 spg), and is second in assists (2.3 apg). She upped her numbers in Big West play, sitting among the top-five in the conference in scoring (2nd, 14.8 ppg), steals (2nd, 3.1 spg), FG% (4th, 46%), 3FG% (5th, 37%) and 3FG made (5th, 2.0/gm). Overall, Lee has 34 career 10+ point games and eight 20-point efforts.

POWER 5 IMPACT
Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba, a graduate transfer from Miami, is averaging 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in 24 games played. Sidi Baba has accounted for four of the Anteaters' five double-doubles this year. Two weeks ago, she went back-to-back with 20 points/12 rebounds at Long Beach State (March 2) and 14 points/12 boards vs. CSUN (Feb. 29). The 6-foot-1 guard/forward also had 12 points and a season-high 15 rebounds at Cal State Bakersfield (Feb. 17). Sidi Baba's first double-double of the season came in the non-conference finale against Colorado State where she had 19 points/11 rebounds. Back on Nov. 29, Sidi Baba drained a career-high 21 points at Big 12 member Texas Tech where she was 8-for-16 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line. She had her third 20-point outing in a 69-53 Senior Day win over Cal State Fullerton on March 9 with 20 points and nine boards. On the season, Sidi Baba has 16 double-figure scoring games, including in each of the last seven outings.

GIVE AND TAKE
Senior Diaba Konate is tops on the squad in assists (108) and second in steals (62). She dished out a season-best nine dimes against UC San Diego on Feb. 24, and had a UCI career-best six steals in a win over Long Beach State on Jan. 25. In Big West games, Konate was first in the conference in assists (3.7 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.65), while she was eighth in steals (2.1 spg). In her collegiate career at both Idaho State and UC Irvine, Konate has amassed 1,291 points, 426 rebounds, 492 assists and 277 steals.

IRON WOMAN
Junior Nikki Tom has played in every game since her arrival at UC Irvine in 2021-22. She leads the team with 94 consecutive appearances and 2,737 minutes in an Anteater uniform. Her streak of 70 consecutive starts came to an end on Senior Day (March 9). This season, Tom is averaging 6.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.9 steals per outing. She is also tops on the squad with an 86.0 free throw percentage (49-57). The Fresno native has nine double-figure scoring games with a season-high 15 points at Pacific. Tom was named to the All-Big West Preseason Coaches Team.

SPARK OFF THE BENCH
Senior Nevaeh Parkinson, the 2022-23 Big West Best Sixth Player, has continued to provide a spark off the bench for the Anteaters. The 6-foot-3 center is averaging 8.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 52.5% from the field. She has led UCI on the glass 15 times this season and has pulled down 10+ boards on six occasions, five of which came in Big West play. She recorded her first double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds at Cal Poly on March 2, while she tied her season high with 11 boards vs. CSUN (Feb. 29). Earlier in the year, Parkinson went 8-of-11 from the floor for a career-high 17 points vs. Seattle U (Nov. 11).

FRESH TAKE
Shirel Nahum ranks among The Big West's top-10 freshmen in scoring (5.5 ppg), rebounding (2.4 rpg), assists (1.1 apg), steals (0.9 spg) and minutes (20.4 mpg). Nahum has six double-figure scoring games with a season-high 16 points at New Mexico State on Dec. 5.

DEAN FROM DOWNTOWN
Senior Nevaeh Dean has made a career-high eight 3-pointers this season (36%). Against Eastern Washington on Nov. 20, the 6-foot-2 forward went 6-of-9 from the floor and knocked down both of her threes for a career-high 15 points. She reached double figures again vs. UC Riverside (Feb. 10), finishing with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. She made six-straight field goals before her first miss with 5:55 left in the fourth. Dean, who transferred from Cincinnati last year, has started 60 of 61 games played at UC Irvine.

100 AND COUNTING
Eighth-year head coach Tamara Inoue ranks second among the program's all-time winningest coaches with 138 career victories. She is 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 UCI to the program's first Big West regular-season title (2022-23), three of the Anteaters' four 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).

UP NEXT
The winners of Friday's semifinal games will meet in the championship Saturday, March 16, at 3 p.m.