Davis–Two of the most efficient offenses on the West Coast will be on display Thursday, when the UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team takes on the UC Davis Aggies inside The Pavilion in a tip-off slated for 7 pm PT.
The Highlanders will also visit Long Beach State on Saturday, January 28 at 4 pm PT.
UC Riverside picked up victories in both of its games last week, Thursday at UC Irvine, 79-58, and Saturday over Cal State Fullerton, 68-45 at the SRC Arena.
In the victories over the Orange County schools, the Highlanders were able to play senior forward Réjane Vérin an average 26 minutes–she averaged 37.5 minutes over the first 16 games of the season.
They were also able to get double digit scoring outputs from five different players all while remaining in a three-way tie with Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara atop the Big West standings.
Coach Margaritis' defense has held conference opponents to a league-low 55 points a game, while forcing them into 17.4 turnovers per contest–the highest of any team during conference play.
UCR ranks 20th in the NCAA with 17.3 assists per game, and their 1.23 assist-to-turnover ratio is 25th nationally, both figures lead the Big West. They also lead the conference in shooting the three making 35.4 percent of their attempts this season.
Vérin currently leads the league in scoring (17.1/g), and assists (4.6/g), while coming in second in rebounding (7.9/g). Riverside native Simone DeCoud moved into second place on the program's career assists list with four helpers versus the Titans.
DeCoud and shooting guard Lauren Holt average 12.2 points and 11.2 points per game respectively to give the Highlanders three players in double digits. They share the team lead with 30 made threes this year.
Skyler Lewis has provided a spark as of late averaging 7.1 points, and 7.1 rebounds over the last three games. Lewis had a career-high five blocks last game, and now has recorded a block in four straight games.
UC Davis is coming off a narrow, 64-62, defeat at the hands of Long Beach State, who made a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds to play in securing the win. Saturday's loss was the Aggies' second of the conference season to the preseason favorites.
Against the 49ers, Davis was led by Morgan Bertsch's 17 points, but committed 15 turnovers compared to just 13 assists. Bertsch is second behind Vérin in scoring at 16.8 per contest.
The Aggies currently rank 27th in the nation with a 1.22 assist-to-turnover ratio. They are also 31st in the country with a .447 field goal percentage, and their .756 free-throw percentage is 34th nationally.
UC Davis has held league opponents to .354 shooting from the field, and .287 from long distance, which has contributed to their four conference victories that have all been by 15 points or more.
Dani Nafekh checks in at 12.1 points per game this season. Her 45 percent connect rate from three-point range ranks 14th in the NCAA.
This season, six UC Davis players have connected on 14 or more triples with Nafekh holding team-high honors with 36.
The Pac-12s Oregon State (1.33) and Washington (1.32), both of whom made the final four in 2016, are the only schools along the West Coast that have a better assist-to-turnover ratio than UC Riverside (1.23) and UC Davis (1.22).
The last meeting between the Aggies and Highlanders was in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament, where Davis upset top-seeded UCR, 81-72.
