Riverside–The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team looks to extend the longest home winning streak in the Big West Saturday, when they host CSUN at 5 pm PT inside the SRC Arena.
The Highlanders, who have won 13 straight conference home games dating back to the 2014-15 season, will were pink uniforms when they take on the Matadors in honor breast cancer awareness in the "Think Pink Game".
UCR is fresh off a, 79-59, victory over Hawai'i on their annual trip to the island. Réjane Vérin posted a 26 point-12 rebound double-double, and Lauren Holt poured in 21 points in the win against the Rainbow Wahine, which snapped their nine-game conference home winning streak.
Vérin went scoreless in the first period last game, before erupting for 14 points in the second–a UC Riverside high among active players. She leads the Big West in scoring at 18.2 a game in league play. She now has 934 total points at UCR, just 66 shy of becoming the 18th member of the 1,000 point club.
Holt has come on strong as of late. She scored 12 of her 21 points at Hawai'i in the opening quarter. The junior from San Jose is averaging 17.3 points over her last three games, and has connected on eight of her 15 attempts from long distance over that span.
Michelle Curry chipped in 14 points in 20 minutes against the Rainbow Wahine. Curry has scored in double-digits in three of last four games, and has 31 points in her 38 minutes of play over the last two games.
Head Coach John Margaritis now sits at 197 victories while at UC Riverside, and could soon become just the fourth coach in Big West history to notch 200 wins.
As a team, UCR leads the conference with a plus 3.9 rebounding margin, 18.4 forced turnovers a game, while allowing the second-lowest amount of points with 58.4 per game.
CSUN completed the season sweep of UC Santa Barbara Thursday night with a, 62-55, victory in Santa Barbara. Channon Fluker had a 17 point-20 rebound double-double, and Serafina Maulupe hit four threes on her way to a game-high 22 points in the win.
The Matadors arrive in the Inland Empire with the league's top rebounder and double-double threat in Fluker. The 6-4 sophomore has posted double-doubles in each of the last five games, which a includes a pair of 20 rebound performances. She averages 12.6 boards a game to go with her 15.0 points in during league play.
Maulupe leads the Matadors in scoring at 16.0 a game, and has knocked down 40 percent of her attempts from three point range, which ranks ninth in the Big West.
CSUN reserves Claudia Ramos (42.1) and Emily Cole (40.7) both shoot the three at better than 40 percent during conference games. Their connect rates are fourth and seventh in the league respectively.
UCR swept the season series last year, and has won three out of the last four match-ups–they dropped previous six against the Matadors prior to their recent success.
