Riverside—At 5-0 in Big West conference play, the UC Riverside Women's Basketball team is atop the standings and now holds the record for the best start to conference play in the school's history as a member of the Big West. Thursday night they host Cal Poly in an ESPN3 televised game at 7 pm PT.
UCR (12-7, 5-0), got 25 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists from Rejane Verin, in a, 92-81, win over UC Santa Barbara Saturday night. (
box score/
recap) Verin leads the Big West in steals, and is second in scoring, field goal percentage and minutes played.
Brittany Crain poured in 23 points, her ninth 20 point plus game of the season. She leads the conference in scoring at 19.4 a game, which ranks 34
th in the country.
Annelise Ito tallied 17 points, seven rebounds along with five assists in the win. She's second in the conference in assists per game at 4.9.
Michelle Curry matched her season-high with 15 points, making it four players to score 15 points or more in the game—the second time that has occurred this season (12/21 at Seattle U).
Senior Akilah Martin equaled her season-high with six assists to go with her seven points on the evening.
As a team, UCR established season-highs from the free throw line with 23 makes out of 25 attempts, a 92 percent connect rate. The Highlanders remain 5
th in the nation with 19.6 assists per contest, and their 1.36 assist to turnover ratio is good enough for 7
th.
Cal Poly (10-8, 3-2) is tied for fourth place in the conference standings and split last week's games, prevailing 66-62 over CSUN in overtime, and falling at home to UC Davis, 75-57.
The Mustangs bring in the top rebounder in the Big West, Hannah Gilbert. Her 9.5 rebounds coupled with her 13.3 points nearly put her at a double double a game.
Senior shooting guard Beth Balbierz is the squad's second-leading scorer at 11.9 points per game, she's also the conference's sixth-leading 3-point shooter, connecting at a 36.4 percent clip.
The Highlanders split with the Mustangs last season, winning, 82-78 at the SRC Arena and dropping a close, 70-68, decision in San Luis Obispo. The squad's have played their all-time series even at 33 wins apeice. (
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