Riverside— The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team heads into this week on a five-game win streak and having recently moved into a tie for second place in the conference. The Highlanders will take on Hawai'i, the top team in the conference, Thursday Tip is set for 7 pm PT.
UC Riverside heads into the week coming off a 80-74 home victory over Long Beach State. Brittany Crain led the Highlanders with 27 points making good on 13 of 17 attempts from the free-throw line.
That performance extended her program Division I era record of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts to 32 straight games and earned her the Big West Play of the Week award for games February 2-8. Crain leads the Big West with a 24.0 points per game scoring average which is also the fourth highest average in the nation as of February 9.
Annelise Ito is averaging 14.5 points in her seven games back since sustaining an injury and ranks eighth in the conference in scoring. Against LBSU, Ito recorded 18 points and seven rebounds.
In her fourth game back after missing six straight with an injury, Simone DeCoud is averaging 7.5 points per game and three steals per game.
Freshman Michelle Curry notched a career-high 20 points against LBSU for her fifth-straight game of double-digit scoring. Curry also grabbed 10 rebounds, marking her third double-double this season.
At 15-8 overall, UC Riverside is off to its best start since the 1994-95 season when the Highlanders won 17 of their first 23 games.
Hawai'i heads into Thursday as the new leaders of the Big West, passing Long Beach State with a 7-2 conference mark and 15-7 overall record, following a 79-64 win over Cal Poly.
The 'Bows leading scorer is senior Shawna-Lei Kuehu, who averages 12.3 points per game. Ashleigh Karaitiana and Destiny King both average 10.5 points per game, rounding out Hawaii's leading scorers.
Hawai'i leads the overall series against the Highlanders, 6-0, after winning the most recent meeting, 69-58 on January 17 earlier this year.
