FULLERTON, Calif. — Fresh off last night's 79-66 win over No. 7 seed Long Beach State, No.6 UC Riverside (10-21, 6-10) will take on No. 3 UC Irvine (18-12, 10-6) in a Big West Tournament Quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at Titan Gym in Fullerton.
ROUND 1 RECAP
No. 6 UC Riverside topped No. 7 Long Beach State on Tuesday behind a near triple-double from senior Michelle Curry, who finished with 20 points (8-16 FG), 12 rebounds and seven assists. Senior Lauren Holt poured in a game-high 22 points (5-9 3FG), tying the UCR postseason record for three-pointers. In just her fifth start of the year, freshman Tianna Eaton put in a career-high 19 points (6-12 FG). It was the Highlanders' first win away from home since Dec. 2 vs. UNLV, ending a run of 12 straight defeats.
HIGHLANDERS vs. ANTEATERS
UC Irvine swept the season series over the Highlanders, winning at UC Riverside 81-71 on Jan. 25 and at UC Irvine 76-63 on Feb. 10. The Highlanders were without Michelle Curry in the first meeting, but Lauren Holt took over offensive responsibilities to the tune of a career-high 33 points. Holt averaged 26.5 points and 2.5 steals per game against the Anteaters this season.
UCR holds a 2-0 all-time record over UCI in the Big West Tournament. In their most recent playoff meeting last March, the Highlanders set a new program postseason scoring record in a 92-60 win – the 200th Big West win of Head Coach John Margaritis' career.
TOURNAMENT TIME
This is the fourth consecutive year that UCR has qualified for postseason play and the second straight that it has made the Big West Tournament Quarterfinals. The Highlanders have been tournament champions three times under Margaritis, with the most recent championship coming in the 2009-10 season. A win on Wednesday night would pit UC Riverside against No. 1 UC Davis on Friday at noon at the Honda Center in Anaheim on ESPN3.
AGGIE TAKEDOWN
In their final game of the regular season against top-seeded UC Davis, the Highlanders looked as good as they have all year, defeating the Aggies 76-62 at home. It was the fourth of five times this season that both Lauren Holt (23 points) and Michelle Curry (20 points) hit the 20-point mark, as Holt knocked down a career-high 5-of-7 (.714) from deep. The Highlanders ended the regular season with the lowest three-point percentage (.251) in the Big West, but shot 7-for-12 (.583) against Davis for their most efficient three-point outing of the year.
CONSISTENT CASH
From Dec. 2, 2017 - Feb. 24, 2018, Lauren Holt had 21 consecutive double-digit scoring efforts, tied for the third-longest streak in the Highlanders' Division I era (2001-pres). The only players to surpass 21 straight games are Réjane Vérin (24 games, 2016-17) and Brittany Crain (37 games, 2013-14).
DYNAMIC DUO
Michelle Curry (19.6 ppg) and Lauren Holt (17.7 ppg) were both named to the All-Big West Second Team on Monday, finishing conference play ranked 3rd and 7th in scoring. They are the two Highlanders to surpass 1,000 career points this season, as Curry became the 18th player in program history to hit the milestone against South Dakota on Dec. 19, while Holt – who scored 344 points with Portland State (2013-15) – surpassed it with a career-high 33 points against UC Irvine on Jan. 25. Both players have 11 20-point performances apiece this year. The Highlanders are 3-2 in games where both players score 20 points.
CHEF CURRY
Michelle Curry earned her fourth consecutive All-Big West selection, having previously been named Freshman of the Year (2014-15) and earning back-to-back Honorable Mentions (2015-16, 16-17). During Big West play, Curry also finished top-5 in assists (4.0 apg, T-3rd), steals (2.2 spg, 4th) and free throws (4.9 per game, 5th). Among guards, she was tied for second in double-doubles (3) and was third in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Her top-two scoring performances this season both came against UCSB, when she put up a career-high 30 points in an 84-76 home win on Feb. 8, and topped that with 31 points in a 72-70 defeat on Feb. 24.
ADD 'EM UP
Michelle Curry has reached numerous significant milestones this season, including cracking the all-time UCR top-10 in a number of statistical categories. She currently sits No. 8 in points (1,341), No. 4 in assists (339) and No. 6 in free throws (331).
LEADING THE PACK
During conference play, UC Riverside led the Big West in blocked shots (4.6 bpg) and tied UC Davis for the fewest turnovers (14.2 per game). The Highlanders also ranked second in both rebounds (39.9 rpg) and free throw percentage (.739).
THE TWO TOWERS
More than half of the Highlanders' blocks during conference came from Skyler Lewis (1.8 bpg) and Marina Ewodo (1.3), who ranked 2nd and 5th in the Big West. Both players also ended the year in the top-10 in rebounds, with Lewis sitting 9th (6.7 rpg) and Ewodo finishing right behind in 10th (6.4 rpg).
BIG WEST SUCCESS
The Highlanders hold a 31-17 (.646) record in conference games since the 2015-16 season. That year, UCR became just the second Big West team ever to go undefeated in conference, posting a perfect 16-0 mark.
FREE THROW DISPARITY
UC Riverside has struggled to keep opposing teams off the free throw line this season, allowing 23.1 free throw attempts and 15.6 free throw makes per game entering the postseason, both good for the second-highest averages since 2001-02.
However, those numbers have dropped since the beginning of conference play to 18.4 attempts and 13.6 makes per game. UC Riverside (.739) has also shot significantly better from the line than its opponents (.665) during Big West.
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 (4), Michelle Curry (4), and Marina Ewodo (2). The only other Big West teams that have three players with a double-double this season are Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton.
SHE DID WHAT?
Redshirt sophomore forward Skyler Lewis has four of UC Riverside's ten double-doubles this season, tied for 6th in the Big West entering the playoffs. 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.
R' HOUSE
UC Riverside won six of its last seven home games during conference, ending the year with a 7-5 mark at home. The Highlanders have won .725 of their home games since the start of the 2014-15 season, going 37-14 at SRC Arena.
ROADS OF THE RECENT PAST
The Highlanders did not have the same kind of success on the road during the regular season, going 0-8 during conference and 2-16 in neutral and away games combined. Their win over No. 7 Long Beach State on Tuesday ended a run of 12 consecutive losses away from home.
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.
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 35.4 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.
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