Women's Basketball Heads Into Important Week of Competition vs. Hawaii and UCSB

HONOLULU—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball team begins an important two-game conference stretch when it plays Hawaii on Wednesday and UC Santa Barbara at home on Saturday. This is the first time the Highlanders are facing both teams this season.

UCR got its second Big West win on Thursday in a 73-59 victory over Long Beach State. After trailing by three points in the first half, the Highlanders (8-11, 2-3) dominated in the second half, outscoring the Beach by 17 points.

Marina Ewodo led all scorers with 25 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter. Three other Highlanders scored in double digits, including Jannon Otto, who had 22 points.

"The team is starting to develop an identity in that they are not giving up easily," head coach John Margaritis said after the win. "We hung in there and really battled a team that is playing well."

SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WAHINE
Hawaii (7-11, 3-2) is coming off one of its more successful weekends of conference play in recent memory by sweeping Cal Poly and UCSB. The sweep marks only the second time UH has done so against the Mustangs and Gauchos since joining the conference in 2012-'13. Senior guard Leah Salanoa and junior forward Makenna Woodfolk led the way as they scored in double digits in the two wins.

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UCSB (4-13, 1-3) will hit the road to play UC Irvine on Thursday and then head to Riverside. The team is currently eighth in the conference. The Gauchos offense struggled in a 47-35 loss vs. Hawaii on Saturday, shooting just 23.5 percent and scoring eight points or fewer in three different quarters.

BIG WEST HARDWARE
Marina Ewodo joined Jannon Otto as the second Highlander to win Big West Player of the Week honors on Jan. 28. Against LBSU on Jan. 26., Ewodo scored a career-high 25 points. She also tallied eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

OTTO-MATIC
Jannon Otto has scored 20 or more points in four of the six games since winning Big West Player of the Week. She is averaging 13.7 points per game and has four double-doubles this season. She is also third in the Big West in free throw percentage (.786) and her 17.4 ppg in conference is second in the Big West.

BLOCK PARTY
The Highlanders are first in the Big West in blocked shots with 93, with an average of 4.9 per game. Marina Ewodo has 38 of those and is averaging 2.0 blocks per game, which is second in the Big West. The team has out-blocked opponents 93-33.

ASSISTING SUCCESS
UCR has out-assisted opponents so far this season. The team is averaging 14.6 assists per game. Opponents are averaging 12.3. Its 15.8 assists during conference play is first in the Big West.