UC Irvine (10-5, 4-1 Big West) at
Cal State Fullerton (2-14, 0-6 Big West)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 16
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Titan Gym (4,000) - Fullerton, Calif.

UC Irvine (10-5, 4-1 Big West) at
Cal Poly (8-8, 3-3 Big West)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 18
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Mott Athletics Center (3,032) - San Luis Obispo, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball is back on the road this week, starting with a short trip to Cal State Fullerton for a 7 p.m. showdown on Thursday, Jan. 16. The Anteaters will then head to the Central Coast to square off against Cal Poly at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18.

STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• Three of UCI's four Big West wins have come by 20+ points. In their four victories, the 'Eaters have allowed 45.8 points per game and own a +20.8 scoring margin. Their 29-point win over CSUN last Thursday was their largest margin of victory this season.

• Junior Hunter Hernandez leads three Anteaters averaging double figures in scoring, and ranks sixth in The Big West at 13.5 points per game. Hernandez has scored 10+ points on 10 separate occasions this season with a pair of 20-point outings. 

• Senior Déja Lee is fourth in school history with 185 career steals. She is on pace to break the all-time school record as she is 11 behind Andee Ritter who swiped a program-best 196 steals from 2015-19. Lee is also seventh in school history with 118 career 3-pointers made, and is 68 points away from becoming the 15th member of UC Irvine's 1,000-point club.

• Sophomore Summah Hanson ranks first in The Big West and 18th in the nation in free throw percentage (92%). Hanson owns streaks of 12 and 16 consecutive free throws made this year, and enters Thursday's action without a miss on her last 10 foul shots.

• Since 2020-21, UC Irvine has not lost more than four conference games in a season, combining for a league-leading 61-15 (.803) record during that stretch.

SCOUTING THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton (2-14, 0-6 Big West) is still searching for its first Big West and NCAA Division I win. The Titans are on a four-game losing streak after falling to UC Davis and Hawai'i last week. Aaliyah Stanton, a sophomore transfer from UTEP, is tops on the squad with 14.1 points and 2.0 assists per outing. Sophomore Eva Levingston also owns a team-best 8.1 rebounds per contest.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly (8-8, 3-3 Big West) is coming off back-to-back wins over UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. Against the Gauchos, Ashley Hiraki's and-one with four seconds left gave the Mustangs a 51-50 road victory. On the season, senior Annika Shah leads the team in scoring (14.6 ppg) and assists (2.7 apg). Sophomore Mary Carter has also put up 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

SERIES RECORDS
UC Irvine leads in its all-time series with Cal State Fullerton, 50-40. The Anteaters, who have won 10 of the last 11, swept the regular-season series last year. They defeated the Titans, 68-44, on the road before picking up a 69-53 victory at the Bren Events Center.

UCI trails in its all-time series with Cal Poly, 37-32, but has won the last eight. The Anteaters and Mustangs are set to meet for the second time in the last two weeks as they will wrap up their regular-season series Saturday. In the first game, UCI routed CP, 60-38, at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 2. Hunter Hernandez paced the 'Eaters with a game-high 18 points and a team-best seven rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine earned a hard-fought 73-66 victory over UC San Diego last Saturday at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters withstood a hot-shooting Triton team that went 13-for-24 from beyond the arc with a well-rounded offense of its own. For the first time since Nov. 8, 2022, five 'Eaters reached double figures in scoring. Summah Hanson was perfect from the field (5-5) and at the free throw line (5-5) for a team-high 15 points. Nevaeh Dean was also efficient with 10 points on a 5-for-7 shooting performance. Dean added a team-best seven rebounds. Déja Lee totaled 14 points, six boards and four assists, while Hunter Hernandez tallied 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. Nikki Tom rounded out UC Irvine's double-figure scorers with a season-high 11 points, including three clutch triples in the second half. 

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 61-15 (.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.

ONE SIDED
UC Irvine played 162 minutes against Big West opponents before its first lead change. The Anteaters never trailed in their first three wins and never led in their loss at UC Riverside. In victories against Cal State Bakersfield, Cal Poly and CSUN, the 'Eaters combined for a +25.3 scoring margin and held all three opponents to 40 points or less.

DEFENSIVE IDENTITY
UCI ended each of the last two seasons ranked among the top-15 in the nation in scoring defense. In 2023-24, the Anteaters allowed 55.7 ppg, which was 14th in all of NCAA Division I. In 2022-23, the 'Eaters were seventh in the country with a program-record 53.2 points allowed per contest. This year, they have held 10 of their 15 opponents to 60 points or less, including a season-low 38 vs. Cal Poly. As of Jan. 14, UCI ranks second in The Big West and 22nd in the nation in scoring defense (55.3 ppg).

RECEIVING VOTES
UC Irvine was receiving votes in the College Insider Women's Mid-Major Poll for the ninth time this season. The Anteaters and Long Beach State are the only two Big West members in the RV section this week.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
Ninth-year head coach Tamara Inoue ranks second among the program's all-time winningest coaches with 150 career victories. She is only eight wins behind Dean Andrea (158), who spent 13 years at the helm from 1978-1991. Inoue has led UCI to a pair of Big West Championships, four of the Anteaters' five national postseason 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).

CHASING 1,000
Senior Déja Lee has 932 career points, putting her 68 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.

GIVE AND TAKE
Déja Lee leads UCI and ranks third in The Big West in both assists (3.3 apg) and steals (2.2 spg). Lee has dished out four assists in each of the last four games and had multiple steals in seven of the last eight.

STEALING THE SHOW
Déja Lee is fourth among UC Irvine's all-time leaders with 185 career steals, while Nikki Tom is right on her heels in sixth (176). They are both on pace to surpass the school record of 196 that was established by Andee Ritter in 2019. Tom entered the program's top-10 after swiping four steals in the opener against New Mexico State. Lee, who set a single-season school record with 82 steals last year, also cracked UCI's top-10 with her 160th career takeaway at Drexel on Nov. 20.

MAKING IT COUNT
Sophomore Summah Hanson is tops in The Big West and 18th in the nation in free throw percentage (92%). Hanson has missed only four free throws on 50 attempts this season. She made her first 12 foul shots of the year before sinking 16 consecutive FTs from Nov. 21-Dec. 15. Hanson is now on her third double-digit streak as she has not missed on her last 10 attempts from the line.

ON THE HUNT
Junior Hunter Hernandez has not missed a beat in her return to the court. Hernandez, who sat out the 2023-24 campaign recovering from a knee injury sustained on Feb. 15, 2023, leads the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg). The 5-foot-9 guard has scored 10+ points in 10 of her 13 outings with a pair of 20-point performances. In a 72-55 win over William & Mary on Nov. 11, Hernandez poured in a career-high 29, while she also finished with 20 at Penn on Nov. 21. 

SUMMAH TIME
Summah Hanson has made an immediate impact at UC Irvine as she is tied for first on the team in rebounding (5.5) and ranks second in scoring (11.2 ppg). Hanson, a sophomore transfer from Sacramento State, has reached double figures in scoring eight times with a season-high 20 points at Penn on Nov. 21. The 6-foot-3 forward added 10 rebounds against the Quakers for the Anteaters' only double-double of the season. She was named The Big West Player of the Week (Nov. 25) for her effort. 

STEADY HAND
Reigning Big West Player of the Year Déja Lee has continued to be a steady force in all facets of the game for the Anteaters as she is averaging 10.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.2 steals. Lee had a season-best 20 points at New Mexico where she was 7-for-12 from the floor and 3-of-5 from distance. The 5-foot-9 point guard also pulled down a career-high nine rebounds at Cal State Bakersfield on Dec. 5. In addition, she has dished out a season-best six assists on two occasions. Lee is fourth in program history in career steals (185) and is seventh in threes made (118).

THREE-POINT THREAT
Junior Olivia Williams is tops on the squad in 3-pointers made (25) and is third in efficiency (minimum 5 3FG) at 35.8%. She has knocked down multiple threes on eight occasions with a career-high tying four vs. Saint Mary's (4-6) and at New Mexico (4-7). Williams' start in the season opener on Nov. 4 was her first game since suffering a knee injury in the opening quarter at Hawai'i on Jan. 19, 2023. The 6-foot-1 guard, who is averaging 9.4 ppg, has reached double figures in scoring seven times, including in three of the last four outings. She finished with a career-high 18 points at UNM on Nov. 27.

IRON WOMAN
Senior Nikki Tom has played in every game since her arrival at UC Irvine in 2021-22. Her 112 consecutive appearances, 89 starts and 3,253 minutes are the most among UCI's active players. This year, Tom ranks second on the team in assists (35) and third in steals (19). The Fresno, California, native is coming off her best offensive performance of the season, finishing with 11 points (3-6 3FG) and four assists in last Thursday's 73-66 win over UC San Diego. It was her 24th career double-figure scoring game. 

DEAN DELIVERS
Graduate student Nevaeh Dean is averaging a career-best 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. She has pulled down 5+ boards nine times with a season-high nine in a 72-68 overtime win at Penn. She also has three double-figure scoring games with a season-best 11 at Drexel (Nov. 20), 10 vs. Saint Mary's (Nov. 16) and 10 vs. UC San Diego (Jan. 11). In those three contests, the 6-foot-2 forward combined to shoot 60% (15-25) from the field. Dean has started 78 of 79 games played in her two-plus years at UC Irvine. She transferred to UCI from Cincinnati prior to the 2022-23 season. 

DEFEND THE BREN
Since 2017-18, UCI is 75-25 (.750) at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters, who have won six in a row on their home court, are 6-1 at the BEC this year. They have not lost more than four home games in each of the last seven seasons.

FAMILIAR ROAD
After playing their first four games of the season at home, the 'Eaters hit the road for the remainder of the 2024 calendar year. They had a 46-day stretch where they played seven away games with trips to Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Denver, Bakersfield, Corvallis and Eugene. Following its final non-conference game at the University of Oregon on Dec. 19, UCI had a two-week layoff over winter break before its Big West home opener against Cal Poly on Jan. 2. The 46 days in between home games was the second-longest stretch among NCAA DI teams this year, behind only Columbia (47).

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will look to avenge its only Big West loss of the season to date when it hosts UC Riverside on Thursday, Jan. 23. The Anteaters then make the trek to Hawai'i for their first meeting with the Rainbow Wahine on Saturday, Jan. 25.