Reno, NV—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (1-4) closes out its trip to Reno against Sacramento State (0-5) on the final day of the Nugget Classic. Tip-off is set for 11:30 am on Sunday at Lawlor Events Center.
GAME NOTES
DAY ONE DEFEAT
UC Riverside was defeated by SMU, 73-51 on day one of the Nugget Classic on Friday. The Highlanders had a season-high three players score in double-figures, as Skyler Lewis and Lauren Holt scored 14 points apiece and Jannon Otto added 12. However, UCR allowed a season-high 19 made free throws and was outrebounded 48-to-30.
SLOW STARTS, STRONG FINISHES
UC Riverside has outscored three of its five opponents in the second half of games this season.The Highlanders have had most of their troubles in the opening ten minutes though, as they have entered the second quarter trailing by double-digits in four of five games. UCR's only win this season came against Fresno State on Nov. 19, after outscoring the Bulldogs 13-11 in the first quarter.
CHEF CURRY
Senior guard Michelle Curry had her most efficient game of the season at Fresno State last Sunday, going for 15 points on 7-of-12 field goals with season-highs of six rebounds and three assists. Her three-game run of 15-point games ended in the loss to SMU, but she has still scored 12 or more in 13 of her last 15 outings. Curry is the Highlanders' only double-digit scorer (10.4 ppg), and has the fourth-most made free throws (15) in the Big West.
OTTO-MATIC
Redshirt sophomore Jannon Otto has started each of the last four games after an impressive season-opener against LMU in which she had team-highs of 13 points, five boards and four steals. She has four games of 9+ points this season—most on the team. Otto ranks first on the team in field goal percentage (.476), assists (2.4 apg) and steals (1.6 spg), and is second in scoring (9.6 ppg).
CAREER DAY AGAINST THE BULLDOGS
Skyler Lewis recorded her second career double-double and the first of the season for the Highlanders at Fresno State on Nov. 19, helping UCR win its first game of the season. She also had three blocks and a 4-of-6 mark at the free throw line, as 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.
LEWIS POSTS HISTORIC STATLINE
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 (.214) and 76th in field goal percentage (.357). 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 lead the Big West in both three-point defense and scoring defense (62.6 ppg).
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 .500 record in contests played outside of SRC Arena, going 20-20 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.
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. The remaining non-conference road matchups include Sacramento State (Nov. 26), UCLA (Nov. 28), UNLV (Dec. 2), Iowa State (Dec. 17), South Dakota (Dec. 19) and Minnesota (Dec. 22).
HOLT HAS RANGE
Lauren Holt connected on 57-of-149 three-pointers last year, making the most threes of any Highlander in their debut season. That mark stands at No. 6 in program history for a single season, while her 38.3 three-point percentage ranks 9th.
ALL-CONFERENCE, ALL DAY
UC Riverside had at least four players named to the various All-Big West for the third consecutive year last season—something it had never done before. Michelle Curry (Honorable Mention) earned her third career all-conference selection, while Lauren Holt (Honorable Mention) and Skyler Lewis (All-Freshman) were both honored in their first seasons in the conference.
TOP QUARTER SCORERS
The NCAA switched from halves to quarters in the 2015-16 season. With ten points in the second quarter at Fresno State on Nov. 19, Skyler Lewis currently holds the Highlander-high for the 2017-18 season.
To view this game's complete Game Notes in PDF form, click here.
