Reno, NV—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (1-3) resumes its seven-game road trip this weekend as it travels to Reno, Nevada to face SMU (1-3) on day one of the 2017 Nugget Classic. Tip-off is set for 4:30 pm this Friday at Lawlor Events Center.
GAME NOTES
FIRST WIN IN FRESNO
UC Riverside closed out its first weekend on the road with a 68-56 win at Fresno State—its first of the season. The Highlanders shot a season-best 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field, led by Skyler Lewis' 20 point-15 rebound double-double on 8-of-13 shooting.
LEWIS DOMINATES THE BULLDOGS
Lewis recorded her second career double-double and the first of the season for the Highlanders at Fresno State, adding three blocks and a 4-of-6 mark at the free throw line to an already robust statline. She bested her previous career-highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds, both of which were set in a 63-45 win over Hawai'i on Feb. 2, 2017.
CHEF CURRY
Senior guard Michelle Curry had her most efficient game of the season at Fresno State, going for 15 points on 7-of-12 field goals with season-highs of six rebounds and three assists. She has at least 15 points in three straight, and has now scored 12 or more in 13 of her last 14 outings. Curry is also the Highlanders' only double-digit scorer (12.5 ppg), and has the second-most made free throws (13) in the Big West.
SLOW STARTS, STRONG FINISHES
UC Riverside has outscored three of its four opponents in the second half of games this season, for a total score of 119-111 over the final 20 minutes. The Highlanders have had most of their troubles in the opening ten minutes, as they entered the second quarter trailing by double-digits in each of their first three games. UCR ended that run on Sunday, outscoring Fresno State 13-11 in the first quarter.
OTTO-MATIC
Redshirt sophomore Jannon Otto has started each of the last three games after an impressive season-opener against LMU in which she had team-highs of 13 points, five boards and four steals. She ranks second on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg) and leads UCR in assists (2.3 apg) and steals (1.5 spg).
LEWIS POSTS HISTORIC STATLINE
Skyler Lewis' dominant performance at Fresno State on Nov. 19 was the program's 25th 15-rebound game, and the tenth 20 point-15 rebound double-double. It also made her the only Highlander not named Kemie Nkele to have a game with 20 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
UC Riverside's defense is off to a historically good start through four games, ranking 11th in the nation in opponent three-point percentage (.190) and 40th in field goal percentage (.335). The program's current all-time lows for field goal and three-point percentage allowed in a season are 36.1 percent for field goals and 29.4 percent for three-pointers, both set in 2006-07. The Highlanders also sit first in the Big West in points allowed (60.0 ppg) and second in blocked shots (4.3 bpg).
RANKED OPPOSITION
The Highlanders held No. 14 Stanford to just 53 points on Nov. 17—a mark which ranks as the second-fewest points allowed against a top-25 team in program history. The only time UC Riverside allowed fewer points against a nationally ranked opponent was in a 50-47 win over No. 16 Vanderbilt on Dec. 6, 2008.
R' HOUSE
UC Riverside began the year with a pair of games at SRC Arena, where it has gone 30-11 since the 2014-15 season. The Highlanders' next game will be the third of seven straight on the road. From Nov. 17-Dec. 22, UCR will play 11 games, only one of which will be at home.
ROADS OF THE RECENT PAST
Since 2015-16, UCR has a .513 record in contests played outside of SRC Arena, going 20-19 in away and neutral games combined.
DAZZLING DEBUT
Jannon Otto's 13 points in her UC Riverside debut are the second-most of any Highlander currently on the roster. Redshirt senior transfer Lauren Holt scored 22 points in her first game with the team against San Diego State on November 11, 2016.
READY TO PLAY
Freshman guards Tianna Eaton (.444) and Keilanei Cooper (.438) rank first and second on the team, respectively, in field goal percentage this season.
LOOK BACK TO LAST YEAR
The Highlanders qualified for postseason play for the third consecutive season in 2016-17, after posting a 16-15 overall record and 9-7 mark in Big West play to take the No. 5 seed into the Big West Tournament. UCR went on to defeat UC Irvine 92-60 in the First Round, setting a new program postseason record for single-game points, and ending a five-year drought with its first playoff win since 2011.
SOCRATES, PLATO, ARISTOTLE, MARGARITIS
Last year's Big West Tournament win over UC Irvine was Head Coach John Margaritis' 200th victory with the program, making him just the fourth Big West coach ever to reach 200 wins. Now in his 14th season with the team, Margaritis will look to add to his six combined NCAA Tournament and WNIT appearances, three Big West Tournament titles and two Big West Conference regular season titles.
FOUR IN, FOUR OUT
After the departure of four players from last year's roster — including leading scorers Réjane Vérin and Simone DeCoud — the Highlanders bring four new faces to the team for 2017-18. They are redshirt freshman Halle Sam-Boudreau (Oak Hills HS), and true freshmen Tianna Eaton (Rowland HS), Keilanei Cooper (Vista Murrieta HS), and Daphne Gnago (Insep Scolarité, France).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Highlanders have 30 regular season games on their schedule this year, 18 of which will be played on the road. Following Sunday's game at Fresno state, the other confirmed non-conference road matchups include SMU (Nov. 24), UCLA (Nov. 28), UNLV (Dec. 2), Iowa State (Dec. 17), South Dakota (Dec. 19) and Minnesota (Dec. 22).
To view this game's complete Game Notes in PDF form, click here.
