Minneapolis, MN—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (3-9) plays its final non-conference road game at Minnesota (10-2) on Friday. Tip-off is set for 11 am PT at Williams Arena.
GAME NOTES
SOUTH DAKOTA RECAP
Facing South Dakota on Tuesday, UC Riverside overcame an early 11-point deficit, taking the lead on several occasions in a tightly contested third quarter. However, the Highlanders were outscored by seven in the fourth on the way to a 75-66 defeat. Senior guard Michelle Curry scored a team-high 19 points, surpassing the 1,000 career point mark in the process. UCR shot 50 percent (25-50 FG) from the field, its second-most efficient outing of the season, as four players scored in double-figures for the third straight game.
CHEF CURRY
Michelle Curry became the 18th 1,000-point scorer in program history, going for 19 points on 6-of-11 (.545) from the field and 7-of-8 (.875) from the free throw line at South Dakota. Curry has scored 15 or more points in eight of her 11 appearances this season. The Los Angeles, California native ranks seventh in the Big West in scoring (13.7 ppg) and second in free throws per game (3.6).
COLD WINTER, HOT DECEMBER
UCR has a 2-3 record this month, having improved in nearly every significant statistical category on offense. Comparing the Highlanders' four December games to the seven they played in November, they have improved in points per game (68.6 to 55.3), field goal percentage (.430to .352), three-point percentage (.303to .194), assists per game (18.6to 13), free throws per game (12.2to 8.3) and free throw percentage (.701 to .580).
CASHING OUT
Lauren Holt has been very consistent on the offensive end of late, averaging 17.6 points per game on 45.2 percent shooting in the month of December. Her efforts have moved her into the conference top-10 in both scoring (12.6 ppg, 9th) and three-pointers (18). Holt has at least one triple in nine straight games, currently tied for the longest three-point streak of her career. She has also been on the court for an average of 32.8 minutes per game, ranking third in the Big West.
ADD 'EM UP
Michelle Curry has reached several significant milestones this season, including joining the program's 1,000-point club and cracking the all-time top-10 in career assists and free throws made. She currently sits No. 9 in assists (268) and No. 7 in free throws (254).
FREE THROW DISPARITY
UC Riverside has struggled to keep opposing teams off the free throw line this season, currently allowing 24.5 free throw attempts—which would set a new single-season record—and 16.5 free throw makes per game. The Highlanders have attempted fewer free throws this season (166) than their opponents have made (181).
SETTING THE TONE
The first quarter has been a predictor of UC Riverside's success early in the season. In seven of their nine losses, the Highlanders faced a double-digit deficit in the opening ten minutes. However, UC Riverside has gone a perfect 3-0 when holding the lead after one.
SHARING THE ROCK
The Highlanders rank third in the conference in assists per game (15.3), led by Michelle Curry (3.5). UC Riverside has tallied at least 17 assists in three consecutive games.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
UC Riverside defeated UNLV, 95-88 on Dec. 2, posting the third-highest scoring total in the Highlanders' Division I era. UCR shot 59.3 percent (35-59 FG) for the game and tallied 29 assists, good for the fourth-highest field goal percentage and seventh-most assists in the program's single-game history. Lauren Holt (28) and Michelle Curry (27) became the first Highlander tandem with 25 points apiece since Brittany Crain (30) and Réjane Vérin (25) at UC Davis on Feb. 20, 2016.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
There are three Highlanders with a double-double this season: Skyler Lewis (3), Michelle Curry (1), and Marina Ewodo (1). No other Big West team had more than two players with a double-double entering the week.
SHE DID WHAT?
Redshirt sophomore forward Skyler Lewis has three of UC Riverside's five double-doubles this season, tied for third-most in the Big West. Her first double-double of the season came in the Highlanders' first win at Fresno State on Nov. 19, as she put up 20 points (8-13 FG) and 15 rebounds—both career-highs—while adding season-highs of three blocks and two assists.
SKYLER'S HISTORIC STATLINE
Lewis' dominant performance against the Bulldogs was the program's 25th 15-rebound game, and its 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.
DEFENDING THE TOP-25
UCR has had two top-25 opponents this season: No. 14 Stanford on Nov. 17 and No. 7 UCLA on Nov. 28. After entering the game averaging 80.5 points per game, the Bruins were held to 68 points. Stanford scored just 53 points—a mark which ranks as the second-fewest points allowed by the Highlanders against a top-25 team in the team's Division I era (2001-Pres). 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.
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
The Highlanders rank third in the Big West in opponent field goal percentage (.402) and second in opponent three-point percentage (.312). The program's all-time season-lows for opponent field goal and three-point percentage are 36.1 percent and 29.4 percent, respectively, both set in the 2006-07 season.
R' HOUSE
UC Riverside began the year with a pair of games at SRC Arena, where it has gone 31-11 since the 2014-15 season. Following this week's three-game road trip, the Highlanders will play their final non-conference game at home against UTEP on Dec. 30.
ROADS OF THE RECENT PAST
Since 2015-16, UCR has a .457 record in contests played outside of SRC Arena, going 21-25 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. Lauren Holt scored 22 points in her first game with the team against San Diego State on Nov. 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.
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 only remaining non-conference road matchup is at Minnesota (Dec. 22).
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).
ALL-CONFERENCE, ALL DAY
UC Riverside had at least four players named to the various All-Big West teams 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.
HOLT HAS RANGE
Lauren Holt connected on 57-of-149 three-pointers last year, making the most threes of any Highlander in her debut season. That mark stands at No. 6 in program history for a single season, while her career 35.7 three-point percentage as a Highlander ranks fifth all-time.
TOP QUARTER SCORERS
The NCAA switched from halves to quarters in the 2015-16 season. The Highlanders' single-quarter scoring highs for team and player this season both came against Sacramento State on Nov. 26. UCR scored 31 points in the fourth quarter, including 14 points from Lauren Holt. Two of the program's six 30-point quarters have come this season.
To view this game's complete Game Notes in PDF form, click here.
