UC Irvine Battles Cal State Fullerton In First Round Of The Big West Tournament
March 9, 2010
UCI BATTLES TITANS IN FIRST ROUND OF BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: The seventh seed UC Irvine women's basketball team (9-20, 6-10) will battle sixth-seeded Cal State Fullerton Wednesday (Mar. 10) at approximately 2:30 p.m. in the first round of the Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. VERSUS THE TITANS: The Anteaters and Titans split a pair of games this season with UCI taking the first contest, 73-65 and Cal State Fullerton winning the second, 76-74, on a last second shot by Mya Olivier. The two teams are very similar statistically over the first two games. UCI tops the Titans in field goal percentage .417-.413 and scoring 73.5-70.5, while CSF leads in free throw percentage, .783-.750 and rebounds, 34.5-34.0. All-time, Cal State Fullerton leads the series, 30-28 with the Titans beating UCI, 61-43 in the first round of last year's Big West Tournament. Only four UCI players (Maessen, Theus and the Johnson sisters) played in the tournament game last year versus the Titans that may possibly see the court this year. SLAP HAPPY: UCI and Cal State Fullerton have combined for 107 fouls in the first two games they have played this year. The teams combined for 59 fouls in the first meeting with UCI going to the line 45 times and making 35, the most made and attempted by a Big West team in a conference game this season.
AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: UCI is 11-20 at the Big West Tournament, going 2-8 since the tournament has been held in Anaheim. The Anteaters and Titans have met four times, splitting the games 2-2. UCI has lost in the first each of the last four years. WHITE NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Forward Jazmyne White was named Big West Freshman of the Year. She is the first Anteater to garner the top rookie distinction. White ranks third in the conference in rebounding with a 6.8 average. The forward also ranks fourth in the league in offensive rebounds (2.55) and ninth in steals (1.52). She is averaging 4.8 points and has swatted 18 blocks this season. White, who was also named to the All-Freshman Team, recorded a career-high 12 rebounds against Cal Poly last week. MORE ALL-BIG WEST SELECTIONS: Mikah Maly-Karros was named to the All-Big West first team, while Jade Smith-Williams earned honorable mention accolades. Maly-Karros becomes the sixth Anteater player to be named to the league's first team and is the first since Angie Ned garnered the award in 2005-06. The sophomore leads the team in scoring (19.6) and rebounding (11.2) overall and joins Cal Poly's Kristina Santiago as the only two players in the conference to average a double-double on the year. She leads the Big West and ranks 27th nationally in double-doubles with 13 in 21 games. Maly-Karros scored 35 points at Pacific which is the most by a Big West Player this year. Smith-Williams is second on the team and is seventh in the conference in scoring at 12.9 points per game and leads the team and is fourth among Big West players in assists with a 4.2 average. The junior guard has recorded 30 or more points three times this year, including a career-best 33 against Long Beach State. She also ranks ninth in the league in free throw percentage with a .804 mark. UCI's three honorees is the most in one year since the 2002-03 squad had five selections. ON THE RECORD: UCI owns a 9-20 overall record, a two game improvement in the win column from last year. The Anteaters finished seventh in the league standings with a 6-8 mark. UCI's win total is the most since the 2005-06 team was 9-19 overall and 7-8 in league. The last time the Anteaters had double-digit wins dates back to the 2002-03 season when they were 17-12. The Anteaters have not played on a neutral court this year, but are 3-11 away from Irvine. MALY-KARROS SETS SEASON FREE THROW RECORD: Mikah Maly-Karros set the UCI season record for free throws made with 138. She broke Natasha Parks' school record of 135 made in 1988-89. Maly-Karros also ranks tied for seventh in free throws attempted with 172. Stephanie Duda (2007-08) and Katherine Hamilton (1982-83) share the top with 189. SMITH-WILLIAMS IN THE SEASON RECORD BOOKS AS WELL: Jade Smith-Williams can also be found in the UCI season records tied for seventh in assists with 123 and in eighth with 115 free throws made. PICKING IT OFF THE GLASS: Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine are the top two teams in the Big West in offensive rebounds. The Titans average 15.47, while UCI averages 14.59 offensive boards per game. STEPPING UP TO THE LINE: UCI is shooting .699 from the free throw line making 476-681 in 29 games this season. The Anteaters were 340-531 (.640) overall from the line in 2008-09 and 403-604 (.667) in 2007-08. The school record for most free throws made in a season is 490 set in 1994-95. LONG RANGE D: UCI leads the Big West Conference in three-point defense with a .318 mark. FROM DOWNTOWN: UCI has averaged 5.8 three-pointers over the last five games. The Anteaters average 3.6 on the year. Eight different Anteaters have knocked down a three this year. MORE MALY-KARROS: Sophomore Mikah-Maly Karros holds the Big West top mark for points (35), free throws made (16) and attempted (23) in a game. Maly-Karros does not show up in the Big West overall statistics until she plays in 75% of the team's games, but she ranks second in scoring in league games only with a 19.5 mark and leads the conference in rebounding with a 11.1 average. She has totaled double-figure scoring in each of the last 12 games, including 20 or more points in seven of those games. PUTTIN IT IN THE HOOP: The Anteaters are averaging 63.2 points per game overall this year after managing just 49.5 a year ago. UCI has scored more than 60 points 19 times this year, while only doing it six times over 30 games in 2008-09. SOO CLOSE: The Anteaters have lost eight games this year by six points or less, including five contests by three or less.
