Riverside— The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team takes on Big West frontrunners Long Beach State this Saturday in game two of a three-game homestand. Tip is set for 7 pm PT.
UC Riverside heads into the weekend coming off a 77-69 home victory over Cal State Fullerton. Brittany Crain led the Highlanders with a near double-double of 20 points (on 7 of 14 shooting from the field) and a career-high nine assists.
That performance extended her program Division I era record of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts to 31 straight games. Crain leads the Big West with a 23.9 points per game scoring average which is also the third highest average in the nation as of February 5.
Annelise Ito is averaging 14.0 points in her six games back since sustaining an injury and ranks eighth in the conference in scoring. Against CSF, Ito recorded her third double-double of the season, snagging 12 boards and 14 points.
In her third game back after missing six straight with an injury, Simone DeCoud is averaging 8.3 points per game, but foul trouble limited her to just three points in 19 minutes in Thursday's win
Also contributing to the Highlanders' scoring efforts was Michelle Curry and Dynese Adams, both netting 10 points.
At 14-8 overall, UC Riverside is off to its best start since the 1994-95 season when the Highlanders won 16 of their first 22 games.
LBSU heads into Saturday with a 19-3 overall record including 6-2 in conference, following a 62-46 win over UC Irvine.
The 49ers' leading scorer is sophomore Raven Benton, who averages 11.9 points per game. No other member of the team averages double-figures in scoring.
The Highlanders lead the overall series against Long Beach State, 17-15, but fell in the last meeting 89-81 March 8 of last year.
