UC Davis (18-10, 12-6 Big West) at
UC Irvine (19-9, 13-5 Big West)
Date: Thursday, March 6
Time: 6 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.

UC Santa Barbara (18-11, 12-7 Big West) at
UC Irvine (19-9, 13-5 Big West)
Date: Saturday, March 8
Time: 1 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine closes out the regular season with two home games this week. The Anteaters welcome UC Davis to the Bren Events Center for a 6 p.m. showdown on Thursday, March 6, before hosting UC Santa Barbara at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 8. UCI will honor its four seniors - Nevaeh Dean, Déja Lee, Amelia Scharpf and Nikki Tom - in a postgame ceremony on Saturday.

STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• UCI (13-5) is second in the Big West standings. The Anteaters are one-game back of league-leading Hawai'i (14-4) and one game ahead of UC Davis and UC San Diego, who are tied for third with identical 12-6 conference records. 

• With their next victory, the 'Eaters will secure their fourth-straight 20-win season. UC Irvine had 23 wins last year, a school-record 25 in 2022-23 and 21 in 2021-22.

• UCI ranks sixth in the country in field goal percentage defense (.353) and 11th in scoring defense (54.2 ppg). The Anteaters have been even better in Big West play where they have held their opponents to under 50 points in 10 of 18 conference games and are allowing a league-leading 51.6 ppg. Last Saturday at Long Beach State, the 'Eaters gave up more than 70 points for just the second time this season.

• Since 2020-21, UC Irvine has compiled a conference-best 70-19 (.787) record in Big West regular-season games.

• The Anteaters are 10-2 at the Bren Events Center, marking the fourth-straight year they have reached double-digit wins at home. With two victories this week, they will tie the program record for most home wins in a season (12).

BIG WEST SCENARIOS
Big West tournament seedings are still up in the air at the start of the final week of the regular season. UC Irvine can control its own fate for a double-bye into the Big West semifinals as they would clinch a top-two seed with a victory over UC Davis on Thursday. The Anteaters can still win an outright conference championship and claim the No. 1 seed with two wins and two Hawai'i losses. The Rainbow Wahine host Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN this week. UCI and UH could also share the regular season title with two 'Eater wins and a 1-1 week for the 'Bows. In that scenario, Hawai'i would be the No. 1 seed as it has the head-to-head tiebreaker. 

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
UC Davis (18-10, 12-6 Big West) brings a three-game win streak to Irvine. Last week, the Aggies defeated CSUN, 66-45, on the road, before taking down Hawai'i, 74-66, at home. UCD is tops in The Big West and second in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.329). Tova Sabel leads the team in scoring (15.1 ppg), while Megan Norris is averaging 10.9 points and a team-best 7.7 rebounds. Sabel (33) and Norris (45) have also combined for 78 of the squad's 123 blocks.

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara (18-11, 12-7 Big West), which has a bye on Thursday, has won four in a row after defeating CSUN and Cal Poly last week. The Gauchos rank first in the nation in free throw percentage (.819). Alyssa Marin leads UCSB in scoring at 14.3 points per outing. Skylar Burke has also registered 10.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest. Jessica Grant has been the team's biggest threat from deep with 65 3-pointers made (40.9%).

SERIES RECORDS
UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with UC Davis, 34-15. The 'Eaters edged UCD, 52-49, in Davis on Feb. 1. It was their first road win over the Aggies in 11 years.

UCI trails in its all-time series with UC Santa Barbara, 68-40. The Gauchos won the first meeting of the season, 62-52, at the Thunderdome on Feb. 13. They snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series with their first victory over the Anteaters since Feb. 5, 2020.

LAST TIME OUT
It was a close game until the fourth quarter when Long Beach State outscored UC Irvine, 25-7, to run away with a 73-52 victory last Saturday at the Walter Pyramid. The Anteaters opened the final frame with a 3-pointer to pull even at 48-48, marking the eighth tie of the afternoon, but they then went cold, making just two field goals over the final nine minutes. UCI's struggles, coupled with the best offensive quarter of the game for the Beach, resulted in LBSU's first win over the 'Eaters in two years. Hunter Hernandez was UC Irvine's only double-digit scorer with 14 points. Olivia Williams and Déja Lee added seven points each. Lee also had four assists and three steals. Nikki Tom had a team-high six rebounds and four steals.

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 20 of their 28 opponents to 60 points or less. As of March 3, UC Irvine ranks 11th in the nation in scoring defense (54.2 ppg) and sixth in field goal percentage defense (35.3%).

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
UC Irvine has become a powerhouse in The Big West under ninth-year head coach Tamara Inoue. The 'Eaters placed among the top-two in the conference in each of the last five years, including winning 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 70-19 (.787) record during that stretch. The defending champion Anteaters have also advanced to the final of the Big West tournament three times in the last four years.

THE GOAT
Head coach Tamara Inoue has cemented her legacy as the most accomplished head coach in program history. Last Thursday, Inoue earned her 159th career victory to pass Dean Andrea, who spent 13 years at the helm from 1979-1991, as UCI's all-time winningest head coach. Inoue has also led UC Irvine 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).

STEALING THE SHOW
Senior Nikki Tom broke the all-time school record that was set by Andee Ritter in 2019 with her 197th career steal, which came just one minute and 19 seconds into last Thursday's 62-34 win over Cal State Fullerton. Two days later, Tom had four takeaways at Long Beach State to make her the first 'Eater to surpass 200 career steals. 

1K FOR DJ
Senior Déja Lee became the 15th member of UC Irvine's 1,000-point club on a free throw with 17 seconds left in a 52-49 win at UC Davis on Feb. 1. She has since moved up to No. 11 in program history (1,072). Lee is the first 'Eater to accomplish the feat with all 1,000 points coming at UCI since Stephanie Duda in 2008. Transfers Diaba Konate '24 and Naomi Hunt '23 both scored 1,000 points in their collegiate careers that included three seasons at previous institutions. 

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
The Anteaters have used the same starting lineup in all but two games this season. Nevaeh Dean, Hunter Hernandez, Déja Lee, Nikki Tom and Olivia Williams have taken the court as the first five 26 times and UCI is 19-7 in those contests. Hernandez is the only one to have missed a start as she did not play in losses at New Mexico (Nov. 27) and at Denver (Nov. 30) due to an injury.

CAN'T GUARD THEM ALL
Seven 'Eaters, including all five starters, have knocked down 10+ 3-pointers this season. Olivia Williams leads the way with a team-high 37 threes. Déja Lee also has 33 and Hunter Hernandez has 30. Nikki Tom (13) and Nevaeh Dean (13) round out the starting five, while Summah Hanson and Lauryn Madsen have buried 20 and 15 triples, respectively, off the bench.

ON THE HUNT
Junior Hunter Hernandez, who sat out the 2023-24 campaign recovering from a knee injury sustained on Feb. 15, 2023, leads the team in scoring (13.3 ppg) and is tied for first in rebounding (5.5 rpg). The 5-foot-9 guard has scored 10+ points in 20 of her 26 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. In addition, Hernandez has two double-doubles this season with 18 points/10 rebounds at Cal Poly (Jan. 18) and 16 points/11 rebounds against Long Beach State (Jan. 30). On Feb. 20, Hernandez was perfect from the floor, going 5-for-5 overall, 3-of-3 from deep and 2-for-2 at the free throw line for 15 points at CSUN.

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 10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals. Lee, who has reached double figures in scoring 17 times, had a season-best 20 points at New Mexico (Nov. 27) 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, and dished out a season-best seven assists at CSUN on Feb. 20. Lee is tied for second in program history in career steals (196) and ranks sixth in threes made (132).

MAKING IT COUNT
Sophomore Summah Hanson is tops on the squad in free throw percentage (90.3%). Hanson has missed only six free throws on 62 attempts this season. The 6-foot-3 forward made her first 12 foul shots of the year before sinking 16 consecutive FTs from Nov. 21-Dec. 15. Hanson earned UCI's lone 2024-25 Big West Player of the Week award on Nov. 25, following a season-best 20-point, 10-rebound effort in an OT win at Penn. In last Thursday's win over Cal State Fullerton, she recorded her second double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, while notching a career-best five blocks. Hanson is currently tied for first on the team in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and ranks third in scoring (8.9 ppg).

THREE-POINT THREAT
Junior Olivia Williams is tops on the squad in 3-pointers made (37) and ranks second in efficiency at 33.9%. She has knocked down multiple threes on 12 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 7.8 ppg, has reached double figures in scoring nine times, including three-straight from Jan. 2-9. 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 125 appearances, 102 starts and 3,638 minutes are the most among UCI's all-time leaders. This year, Tom ranks first on the team in steals (45) and second in assists (65). The Fresno, California, native has also found her stride offensively with all three of her double-figure scoring efforts coming in Big West play.

DEAN DELIVERS
Graduate student Nevaeh Dean is averaging a career-best 5.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game. She has pulled down 5+ boards 14 times with a career-high 10 in a 56-49 win at UC San Diego on Feb. 8. She also has a team-leading 29 blocks. Offensively, Dean owns three double-figure scoring games with a season-best 11 points at Drexel (Nov. 20), 10 vs. Saint Mary's (Nov. 16) and 10 vs. UCSD (Jan. 11). In those three contests, the 6-foot-2 forward combined to go 15-for-25 (60%) from the field. Dean has started 91 of 92 games played in her three years at UC Irvine. She transferred to UCI from Cincinnati prior to the 2022-23 season. 

UP NEXT
The Hercules Tires Big West Women's Basketball Championships, presented by Credit Union 1 will take place, March 12-15, at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada.