UC Irvine (17-4, 8-2 Big West) at
Cal State Bakersfield (7-14, 2-9 Big West)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 5
Time: 6:30 p.m. (PST)
Location: Icardo Center (3,497) - Bakersfield, Calif.

UC Santa Barbara (15-5, 7-4 Big West) at
UC Irvine (17-4, 8-2 Big West)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 7
Time: 2 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball starts the week on the road with a 6:30 p.m. showdown at Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, Feb. 5. The Anteaters then return to the Bren Events Center to host UC Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7. It will be UCI's Breast Cancer Awareness and National Girls & Women in Sports Day game.
 
STARTING FIVE: STORYLINES
• UC Irvine will be looking to get back in the win column after coming up short against UC San Diego and Hawai'i. Prior to their two-game skid, the 'Eaters strung together a program-record 16 wins in a row (Nov. 15-Jan. 22). That win streak is the sixth-longest in all of NCAA Division I women's basketball this season (as of Feb. 2).

• UCI has 17 wins through 21 games for the third time in program history. The Anteaters are three victories away from their fifth-straight 20-win season.

• Seniors Hunter Hernandez (390) and Jada Wynn (326) have been a formidable duo, combining for nearly half of UC Irvine's total points. Hernandez enters the week ranked third in the Big West and 38th in the nation with 18.8 ppg. Wynn is also seventh in the conference in scoring (15.5 ppg), sixth in rebounding (7.6 rpg), and fourth in assists (3.9 apg).

• Since 2020-21, the Anteaters have not lost more than five games in Big West regular season play, combining for a league-leading 80-21 (.792) record during that stretch.

• With a win on Thursday, the 'Eaters would secure their second Big West regular-season series sweep of the year, and their fifth-straight against Cal State Bakersfield.

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS
Cal State Bakersfield (7-14, 2-9 Big West) split a pair of road games last week, defeating Cal Poly, 62-58, before falling to UC Davis, 76-68. Crishawn Coleman leads the Roadrunners with 17.3 points per outing. Marley Langi is also averaging 10.1 points per contest while knocking down a team-best 35 3-pointers. Tena Ikidi has been a force down low as she is tops on the squad in rebounding (7.7 rpg) and blocks (1.2 bpg).

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara (15-5, 7-4 Big West) dropped a couple of close games last week, coming up short to UC San Diego, 52-49, and at Cal State Fullerton, 62-60. Zoe Borter (15.1 ppg) and Olivia Bradley (14.5 ppg) lead the Gauchos in scoring. Bradley is also tops on the squad in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and blocks (1.4 bpg). UCSB has multiple threats from beyond the arc as it has five players with 20+ 3-pointers made. Jessica Grant has paced the group with 42 threes, while shooting at a 40.4% clip.

SERIES RECORDS
UC Irvine took a 14-13 lead in its all-time series with Cal State Bakersfield following an 82-63 victory in the first meeting of the year on Jan. 1. Hunter Hernandez paced the Anteaters with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Jada Wynn added a career-high 25 points. The Roadrunners were led by Crishawn Coleman, who finished with a game-high 29 points and 11 boards. The 'Eaters have swept CSUB in the regular-season series in each of the last four years.

UC Irvine trails in its all-time series with UC Santa Barbara, 68-41. Last year, the Anteaters fell to the Gauchos, 62-52, on the road (Feb. 13), before claiming a 62-49 victory at the Bren Events Center on March 8. Saturday will be the first meeting of the season between UCI and UCSB.

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END
After a pair of road losses to drop to 1-2 on Nov. 12, UC Irvine reeled off a program-record 16 wins in a row. The streak, which is the sixth-longest in all of NCAA Division I women's basketball this season, came to an end with a 68-66 loss to UC San Diego on Jan. 24. The Anteaters nearly doubled their previous best of nine consecutive victories in 1976 and in 2022-23. During their 16-game win streak from Nov. 15 through Jan. 22, the 'Eaters averaged 74.3 ppg, and owned a +18.7 scoring margin. 

MID-MAJOR RANKINGS
UC Irvine dropped to No. 20 in this week's College Insider Women's Mid-Major Poll. This is the seventh-straight week the 'Eaters have been in the top-25. On Jan. 20, the Anteaters earned their highest mid-major ranking in program history at No. 12.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine fought until the final buzzer but was unable to erase a double-digit deficit late in the fourth quarter, falling at Hawai'i, 55-50, last Thursday. The Anteaters were down by 12 with 1:24 remaining. With their backs against the wall, the 'Eaters put together a furious 10-2 rally to make it a four-point game, but time was not on their side as they couldn't get any closer in the final 25 seconds. Jada Wynn finished with a team-high 17 points and three assists. Hunter Hernandez added nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Shirel Nahum chipped in eight points and five boards, while Nohe'alani Stores went 4-for-6 from the field for eight points.

BIG WEST DOMINANCE
In their 8-0 start to Big West play, the 'Eaters were dominant with a +19.3 scoring margin. They held a lead of 20 or more in six of those games and ended up winning two of them by 30+ with a 77-40 victory at UC Riverside in the conference opener on Dec. 4, 2025, and a 73-42 rout of UC Davis on Jan. 17. UC Irvine trailed by double digits in a Big West game for the first time on Jan. 24 when it fell behind UC San Diego by 10 with 9:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Anteaters then faced their largest deficit of the conference season (14) with 3:07 left in their five-point loss at Hawai'i.

DYNAMIC DUO
Seniors Hunter Hernandez and Jada Wynn have been the top duo in the Big West this year. Through 10 conference games, Hernandez ranks second in the league in scoring (20.8 ppg), while Wynn is fifth (17.1 ppg). Hernandez (7.4 rpg) and Wynn (7.1 rpg) are also among the top-eight in rebounding. In addition, Wynn is first in 3-point field goal percentage (44.4%), second in 3-pointers made (2.8/game), and tied for third in assists (4.0 apg). Hernandez and Wynn have combined for 15 of the Anteaters' 16 20-point performances this season. They scored 20+ in the same game against Cal State Bakersfield (Jan. 1) and at LBSU (Jan. 8).

ELITE COMPANY
On Dec. 13, Hunter Hernandez became the 16th member of UCI women's basketball's 1,000-point club. Hernandez, who needed 21 points to reach the milestone, finished with a game-high 27 in a win over California Baptist. She has since moved up to seventh in program history with 1,216 career points. On Jan. 22, the San Jose native also pulled down her 500th career rebound, making her the 11th Anteater to join the exclusive 1,000-point/500-rebound club.

OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
UCI ranks first in the Big West in scoring defense (57.3 ppg), and second in scoring offense (70.9 ppg). The Anteaters have finished with 70+ points in 13 of their 21 games, while also holding their opponents to under 60 points on 13 occasions. The 'Eaters have been among the top defensive teams in the nation over the last few years as they were 10th in scoring defense in 2024-25 (54.3 ppg), 14th in 2023-24 (55.7 ppg), and seventh in 2022-23 with a school-record 53.2 ppg. UCI currently ranks 33rd in all of NCAA Division I in scoring defense and eighth in field goal percentage defense (34.6%).

GETTING TO THE LINE
Through games of Feb. 2, UC Irvine ranks fourth in all of NCAA Division I in free throw percentage (80.6%), and fifth in free throws made (17.6/gm). The Anteaters have five or fewer misses from the charity stripe in 16 of their 21 games. Individually, Hunter Hernandez is 17th in the nation in free throws made (107). Six 'Eaters are shooting 80% or better at the foul line, led by Jada Wynn at 85.8% (97-113).

DEFEND THE BREN
Since 2017-18, UCI is 91-27 (.771) at the Bren Events Center. Last year, the 'Eaters went 12-2 in Irvine, tying the single-season school record for home wins. This year, the Anteaters are 10-1 with four regular-season home games remaining on the schedule.

SCORING SPREE
From Dec. 6-Jan. 24, Hunter Hernandez had eight of her 10 20-point games including two with 30+. During that stretch, she averaged 23.5 ppg, while shooting 45% from the field, 49% from distance, and 81% at the free throw line. In the non-conference finale at UTEP (Dec. 18), Hernandez went off for a career-high 36 points, which is tied for the fourth-highest individual scoring total in single-game school history. She recently saw a 17-game double-figure scoring streak come to an end with nine points at Hawai'i on Jan. 29. On the year, Hernandez leads the 'Eaters, is third in the Big West, and 38th in the nation with 18.8 ppg. With 10 regular-season games remaining, she already has a single-season career-high 394 points. She is 199 shy of the school record set by Cheri Graham (593) in 1983-84. Hernandez, who is UCI's only returning starter, is a two-time first-team All-Big West selection, and made the All-Freshman Team in 2021-22. She missed the 2023-24 season with a second ACL injury.

WEEKLY AWARD REPEAT
Hunter Hernandez became the first Anteater in program history to win four Big West Player of the Week awards in a season when she earned the honor on Jan. 12. Hernandez's fourth recognition came after leading UCI with game-highs of 21 points at LBSU and 20 vs. Hawai'i. The 5-foot-9 guard previously claimed three consecutive player of the week nods from Dec. 8-22, 2025. Hernandez took home her first of the year following her first career 30-point game at CSUN (31). She was bestowed with the honor once again for a 27-point performance vs. CBU. Her 21st point against the Lancers was the 1,000th of her career. Hernandez made it three in a row after setting a career high for the second time in three weeks with 36 points in 34 minutes of a 93-72 victory at UTEP. She was 13-of-18 (72%) from the field, 4-for-5 (80%) from beyond the arc, and a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line against the Miners. Hernandez was the first individual to win three-straight Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week awards since February 2017.

WYNN-ING MENTALITY
After averaging 3.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists at Texas Tech, senior transfer Jada Wynn is putting up career numbers as an Anteater. She ranks second on the squad with 15.5 points per game, while leading the team in rebounding (7.6 rpg), assists (4.0 apg), and 3FG made (51). The 6-foot-1 guard has 18 double-figure scoring games, five 20-point performances, and five double-doubles, including three-straight from Dec. 4-13. During that stretch, she pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds at UC Riverside (Dec. 4). In a New Year's Day win over Cal State Bakersfield, she also scored a career-best 25 points. On the year, Wynn is shooting 40.6% from the field, 41.1% from deep, and 85.8% at the free throw line. She ranks third in the Big West in FT%, 3FG%, and threes made per game (2.4). A local product from Yorba Linda, California, Wynn is the eldest daughter of UCI assistant coach Derek Wynn.

WATCH LIST
On Jan. 21, Jada Wynn was named to the midseason watch list for the 2026 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. Wynn was one of 15 athletes from 15 different teams and 13 conferences to make the list. She is the Anteaters' first representative on the watch list for the Becky Hammon Award which is in its seventh year.

SUMMAH TIME
Junior Summah Hanson is averaging 7.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks since making her season debut against California Baptist on Dec. 13. The 6-foot-3 forward, who missed the first 10 games recovering from an injury, has pulled down 5+ rebounds in nine of her 11 appearances with a best of nine boards against Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 3. She has started to find her offensive rhythm over the last four games where she has reached double figures in scoring twice, including a season-high 18 points against UC San Diego. Since Jan. 17, Hanson is shooting 54.5% (12-22) from the field, 70% (7-10) from deep, and is a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line. Hanson was named the 2024-25 Big West's Best Sixth Player. 

SHARPSHOOTER
Sophomore Lauryn Madsen is second on the squad and fifth in the Big West with 44 made threes. On Dec. 16, she matched her career high with 15 points on a 5-of-8 performance from distance at New Mexico State. She previously went 5-for-9 for 15 points in a win over Bowling Green on Nov. 21. Madsen was the first Anteater to knock down five 3-pointers in a game since March 2, 2024. On the season, 44 of her 49 field goals and 139 of her 151 attempts have been from beyond the arc. In 43 career games played, Madsen has a triple in 33 of them, and drained multiple threes 14 times. The 5-foot-11 guard is averaging 7.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and a team-best 2.0 steals per contest. 

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 had a breakout performance in a 90-75 win over NAU as she finished with a career-high 23 points. Nahum has also settled in as a primary playmaker with 3+ assists in 13 of her 21 appearances. She dished out a career-best seven dimes in a win over Colgate on Nov. 29. On the year, Nahum is averaging 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.1 steals.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will face Cal Poly for the first time this season when it welcomes the Mustangs to the Bren Events Center for a 6 p.m. showdown next Thursday, Feb. 12. The Anteaters will then make the short trip to Cal State Fullerton for a 2 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Feb. 14.