Jan. 19, 2010

UCI HOSTS LONG BEACH; TRAVELS TO RIVERSIDE: The UC Irvine women’s basketball team (5-13, 2-4) will host Long Beach State Thursday (Jan. 21) at 5:00 p.m. in the Bren Center then travel to UC Riverside Saturday (Jan. 23) for a 5:00 p.m. game at the Student Recreation Center.

Thursday’s game is a double-header with the men tipping-off against the Forty-Niners at 7:35 p.m.

VERSUS THE OPPONENTS: UCI trails both Long Beach State (8-47) and UC Riverside (11-25) in the series records.

Long Beach State won the first meeting of the year, 67-55, in Long Beach on Jan. 9. The Forty-Niners out-scored UCI, who led by 10 with 11 minutes remaining, 47-31 in the second half including a 24-12 advantage in the final five minutes. UCI's Mikah Maly-Karros led all players with 19 points, a team-high six rebounds and three steals, while Rebecca Maessen added 12 points. Long Beach State was led by Karina Figueroa with 17 points, hitting eight of 10 from the line. Ashley Bookman and Ally Wade each scored 10 points with all of Wade's points coming in the second half. The Forty-Niners enter the game with a 7-10 overall record and a 3-2 conference mark.

UC Riverside has won the last six meetings with UCI. The Anteaters last win against the Highlanders came on Feb. 4, 2006 when Kelly Cochran hit a last second shot to give UCI a 65-63 victory in Riverside. The Highlanders enter the week 5-12 overall and 2-2 in league play.

BLACK & BLUE SERIES: Thursday’s game with Long Beach State is part of the “Black & Blue Rivalry Series” presented by Duke’s of Huntington Beach. Currently, the Forty-Niners hold a 10-6 lead. UCI has captured the title the last two years.

BIG WEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Jan. 18)

TEAM                         BIG WEST      OVERALL

Cal Poly                     4-1     .800     11-5   .688

UC Davis                   4-1     .800     11-6   .647

Cal State Fullerton     4-2     .667     8-10   .444

Long Beach State     3-2     .600     7-10   .412

UC Riverside             2-2     .500     5-12   .294

UC Santa Barbara     2-3     .400     5-12   .294

UC Irvine                    2-4     .333     5-13   .278

Pacific                       1-4       .200    3-12   .200

Cal State Northridge  1-4     .200     3-12   .200

HOME SWEET HOME: UCI is 4-5 at home this year, but just 1-8 on the road. The Anteaters have won four of their last five games at home.

STICKY FINGERS: UCI had 12 steals versus Pacific which is the second most this season. Rebecca Maessen and Jazmyne White each had a career-high four steals.

MALY-KARROS LEADS CONFERENCE IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Sophomore Mikah-Maly Karros leads the Big West in double-doubles with five She leads UCI with a 16.1 scoring and 10.7 rebound average. The forward pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds versus UC Santa Barbara which is the most in the Big West this season. Maly-Karros does not show up in the Big West overall statistics until she plays in 75% of the teams games, but she ranks fifth in scoring in league games only with a 14.3 mark and leads the conference in rebounding with a 11.0 average.  

ANTEATERS SPLIT A PAIR OF GAMES LAST WEEK: Last week, UC Irvine suffered a 77-44 loss to UC Davis before picking up a 68-57 victory over Pacific.

UCI’s 33-point margin of defeat against the Aggies was the second worst this season after falling by 39 at Gonzaga (96-57). The Anteaters’ 21 points in the first half was the fourth lowest offensive output in 20 minutes of a game this season.

UCI shot 50 percent from the field in the second half (13-26) and out-scored Pacific 38-27 in the final 20 minutes after being tied 30-30 at the half. Guard Jade Smith-Williams led UCI with 17 points and six assists, while guards Rebecca Maessen and Keyonna Johnson each recorded 14 points, which was a career-high for Johnson. Forward Mikah Maly-Karros had her fifth double-double of the year with 12 points and 12 rebounds off of the bench. Freshman forward Jazmyne White tied her career-high with 11 rebounds to go with seven points and four steals.