UC Irvine (1-1) at
Idaho State (2-0)
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 12
Time: 6 p.m. (PST)
Location: Reed Gym (3,040) - Pocatello, Idaho

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball stays on the road this week as they head to Idaho State for a  7 p.m. (MT)/6 p.m. (PT) non-conference game on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
 
STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• Through its first two games of the season, UC Irvine ranks first in the Big West and is among the top-six in the nation in both free throws made (4th, 23.0) and free throws attempted (6th, 30.5) per game. In Sunday's loss at Arizona, the Anteaters drew 32 fouls and got to the line 33 times. They were also 23-of-28 at the charity stripe in their season-opening win over San Diego. Individually, Jada Wynn is second in all of NCAA Division I with 19 free throws made, and fifth with 25 attempts. Wynn started the season with a streak of 12 consecutive foul shots made before her first miss in the 2Q at Arizona.

• The Anteaters return seven letterwinners from last year's squad that went 21-10 overall and 15-5 in the Big West (2nd). Leading the way is fifth-year senior Hunter Hernandez, who is UCI's only returning starter. Hernandez earned her second career first-team All-Big West honor after ranking first on the squad in both scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg). It was an impressive comeback season for Hernandez as she missed the entire 2023-24 campaign recovering from a second ACL injury. 

• The six other returners combined for two starts last year. One went to Summah Hanson, who was named the 2024-25 Big West Best Sixth Player. Hanson appeared in all 31 games, averaging 8.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per contest. In addition, the 6-foot-3 forward was tops on the squad in free throw percentage (89.7%). She is currently sidelined with an injury. Shirel Nahum also made one start in 29 appearances last year. Daniela Falcon Hernandez and Lauryn Madsen played in 22 and 23 games, respectively, in their first collegiate seasons. Nahum, Falcon Hernandez, and Madsen all started the first two games of the 2025-26 campaign.

• UC Irvine is looking to continue the most successful stretch in program history. The Anteaters have reached 20+ wins and placed among the top-two in the Big West regular season standings in each of the last four years. Since 2021-22, the 'Eaters are 91-38 overall, and 61-15 in conference play. In the past three seasons, UCI won a Big West Championship (2023-24) and the program's first Big West regular season title (2022-23).

• The Anteaters will face the Bengals for the eighth time in program history. The most recent meetings came in the first two years of UCI head coach Tamara Inoue's tenure. Idaho State won both, coming out on top, 65-54, in Pocatello (Nov. 19, 2016), and 78-72 at the Bren Events Center (Nov. 19, 2017). ISU leads the all-time series, 6-1.

SCOUTING THE BENGALS
Idaho State (2-0) defeated Westminster, 99-47, in its season opener, before taking down Grand Canyon on the road, 67-55. Graduate student Tasia Jordan leads the Bengals with 23.0 points per game. Junior Piper Carlson is also averaging 14.5 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds, while senior Kacey Spink is tops on the squad in assists (10) and steals (9). Seton Sobolewski is in his 18th year at the helm of the program where he has accumulated a 273-218 career record.

SERIES RECORD
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with Idaho State, 6-1. The two teams last met on Nov. 19, 2017, when the Bengals erased an 11-point deficit late in the third quarter to come away with a 78-72 victory at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters will be looking for their first win in Pocatello as they are 0-3 at ISU.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine fell to Big 12 member Arizona, 75-61, Sunday afternoon at McKale Center. The Anteaters got out to a strong start as they never trailed and went up by as many as eight in the first quarter. UA stormed back in the second period with back-to-back threes giving the home team their first lead. After a 5-0 'Eater run, the Wildcats reclaimed the advantage for good. The teams were whistled for 55 fouls with a total of five players fouling out. They also combined to shoot 57 free throws. Hunter Hernandez led UCI with a team-high 23 points to go along with a season-best eight rebounds. Jada Wynn added 12 points and nine boards.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
UCI was picked second in The Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll for the third-straight year. The Anteaters received four first-place votes and 90 total points in a narrow race with Hawai'i, which won the 2024-25 Big West regular-season title. The Rainbow Wahine (91) also received four first-place votes and came in one point ahead of the 'Eaters. UC Davis was picked third with 83 points (one first-place vote), while UC San Diego had two first-place nods but took fourth with 77 points. UC Santa Barbara (61) rounded out the top five. Hunter Hernandez was named to the All-Big West Preseason Coaches' Team. Hernandez is the conference's only returning All-Big West first-team selection. She averaged 13.1 points and 5.5 rebounds last year.

MID-MAJOR RANKINGS
UC Irvine was receiving votes in the College Insider Women's Mid-Major Preseason Poll. Fellow Big West member Hawai'i came in at No. 25, while non-conference opponents Northern Arizona and Bowling Green were also featured in the RV section.

20-20 VISION
Last year, the Anteaters went 21-10 for their fourth-straight 20-win season. Since 2021-22, UCI is 91-39, marking the best four-year stretch in program history. Prior to that, the 'Eaters recorded 20+ victories in 1983-84 and 1984-85. They then went through a 34-year drought until head coach Tamara Inoue led UC Irvine 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.

DEFEND THE BREN
Since 2017-18, UCI is 82-26 (.759) at the Bren Events Center. Last year, the 'Eaters went 12-2 at the Bren, tying the single-season school record for home wins. The Anteaters have 15 home contests in 2025-26.

NEW LOOK
UC Irvine will have a new look in 2025-26. Five members of the Anteaters' core group that led them to four-straight 20-win campaigns graduated after last season. UCI reloaded with a young squad that features eight underclassmen, including five who are in their first season at the NCAA level.

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
UC Irvine has become a powerhouse in The Big West under 10th-year head coach Tamara Inoue. The Anteaters placed among the top-two in the conference in each of the last six years, including the first regular-season title in program history in 2022-23. Since 2020-21, UCI has not lost more than five conference games in a season, combining for a league-leading 72-19 (.791) record during that stretch. The 'Eaters also advanced to the championship game of the Big West tournament three times in the last five years, winning it all in 2023-24.

DEFENSIVE IDENTITY
UCI has ended each of the last three seasons ranked among the top-15 in the nation in scoring defense. The Anteaters closed out the 2024-25 campaign at No. 10 with 54.3 points allowed per game, while they were also fifth in field goal percentage defense (35.4%). UC Irvine held its opponents to 60 points or less in 21 of its 31 contests. In 2023-24, the 'Eaters ranked 14th in all of NCAA Division I in scoring defense (55.7 ppg). In addition, their school-record 53.2 points allowed per game in 2022-23 was seventh-best in the country.

CHASING 1,000
Senior Hunter Hernandez has 858 career points, putting her 142 away from becoming the 16th member of UC Irvine women's basketball's 1,000-point club. If she accomplishes the feat, it would be the second-straight season an Anteater reached the 1K milestone as Déja Lee did it in 2024-25.

THE GOAT
Tamara Inoue has cemented her legacy as the most accomplished head coach in program history. On Feb. 27, 2025, Inoue earned her 159th career victory to surpass Dean Andrea (1979-1991) as UCI's all-time winningest head coach. Inoue owns a 162-117 career record in her nine-plus seasons at the helm. She has led UC Irvine to a pair of Big West Championships, four of the Anteaters' five national postseason appearances, their first victory in national postseason tournament (WNIT), five of their seven 20-win campaigns, and single-season school records in both overall (25) and conference (16) wins.

TAKING THE LEAD
Fifth-year senior Hunter Hernandez is UC Irvine's only returning starter. Last season, Hernandez was tops on the squad in both scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg). The 5-foot-9 guard has 43 career double-figure scoring games including six 20-point performances. She poured in a career-high 29 in a 72-55 victory over William & Mary on Nov. 11, 2024. In addition, she owns five career double-doubles. Hernandez is a two-time first-team All-Big West selection (2024-25 and 2022-23), while she made the All-Freshman Team in 2021-22. She missed the 2023-24 season recovering from a second ACL injury.

STATEMENT DEBUT
Freshman Nohe'alani Stores made a statement in her collegiate debut. The 6-foot-2 forward tied for the team lead with 17 points (7-8 FG), while pulling down five rebounds in the Anteaters' 72-54 season-opening win over San Diego. Through two games, Stores is tops on the squad in field goal percentage at 88.9% (8-9).

FAMILY TIES
Senior Jada Wynn returns home for the final season of her collegiate career. After spending the last two years at Texas Tech, the Yorba Linda native is back in Orange County and ready to play in front of her family. One family member will be on the bench as Jada is the eldest daughter of UCI assistant coach Derek Wynn. She brings a wealth of experience after helping the Lady Raiders advance to the quarterfinals of the WBIT in 2024-25. She was also a member of Colorado's NCAA Sweet 16 team as a freshman in 2022-23. In her UC Irvine debut, Wynn had 17 points (9-9 FT) and a career-high seven assists. Through the first two games, Wynn is averaging 14.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists.

SHARPSHOOTER
Sophomore Lauryn Madsen set career highs in both points (12) and rebounds (8) in the first game of the season. Madsen went 4-for-8 from beyond the arc in the Anteaters' 72-54 win over San Diego. All five of her field goals and 12 of her attempts have been from 3-point range this season. In 24 career games played, Madsen has knocked down a three in 15 of them, and drained multiple threes four times. The 5-foot-11 guard graduated from Warden High School in Washington as the program's all-time leading scorer.

ON POINT
Junior Shirel Nahum has taken on the starting point guard role after the graduation of two-time first-team All-Big West selection and 2023-24 Big West Player of the Year Déja Lee. Nahum earned Big West All-Freshman Team honors two seasons ago and has extensive international experience. Most recently, she helped Israel to a sixth-place finish at the 2025 FIBA U20 Women's EuroBasket. In 2023, she was the fifth-leading scorer at the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship (17.0 ppg).

FRENCH CONNECTION
Sophomore Naomy Zonzon-Huyghe (La Roche-sur-Yon, France) joins the Anteaters in 2025-26, making it the fourth year in a row UCI women's basketball has had a native of France on their roster. Zonzon-Huyghe comes to UC Irvine after an impressive year at Arizona Western College where she was an NJCAA second-team All-American, first-team all-conference, and first-team all-region selection. She averaged 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in 27 games played for the Matadors last season.

POST PLAY
UC Irvine has a pair of underclassmen looking to make an impact in the post this year. Sophomore Daniela Falcon Hernandez is expected to play a bigger role after averaging 1.5 points and 0.7 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per outing as a redshirt freshman in 2024-25. The 6-foot-2 forward scored a season-high nine points (3-5 FG) at Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 6. Falcon Hernandez spent one year at Utah but did not play. Freshman Nohe'alani Stores also has the ability to contribute right away. Originally from the Bay Area, Stores graduated from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. An injury hampered her senior season, but the 6-foot-2 forward was still named a 2025 McDonald's All-American Game nominee.  

UP NEXT
The Anteaters return to Irvine for their second home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 15, when they welcome Northern Arizona to the Bren Events Center for a 3:30 p.m. (PST) showdown.