#3 Oregon, First Stop On Bi-Coastal Three-Game Road Trip For Women's Basketball

RIVERSIDE, CA — After an entire week off for final exams, the UC Riverside Women's Basketball team sets to embark on a three-game bi-coastal road trip that begins with a Monday morning matchup at #3 Oregon.

The Highlanders will then head to Cedar City, UT to take battle Southern Utah on Thursday night, before touching down on the East Coast for a Sunday afternoon affair with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

"This is a unique opportunity to apply additional focus on basketball and each other." said Head Seyram Bell on playing games over the holiday break. "These girls have worked extremely hard on all aspects of being a student-athlete and also made progress in all areas." she added.

UC Riverside (3-7,0-0) picked up an, 80-64, victory in the Riverside "Crosstown Showdown"over CBU, thanks to double-doubles from Jannon Otto (21pt-14rebs) and Keilanei Cooper (18pt-11rebs) to go along with Andriana Kasapi's nine points and eight assists against zero turnovers.

Through the first 10 games of the season, the Highlanders have been led by the scoring of Jannon Otto at 12.9 and Marina Ewodo at 11.9 a game.

Monday morning's 11am matchup with the #3 Ducks represents the highest ranked team UCR has faced since 2006, when they took on then #1 North Carolina (75-51, L).

PRE-SEASON ACCOLADES… WE'RE HONORED
Seniors Jannon Otto and Marina Ewodo were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team by the coaches.
Last season Otto was named to the Big West First-Team, while Ewodo was named to the Second-Team and All-Defensive Team.
As a team, the Highlanders were picked to finish third by both the coaches and the media.

SHOOTING THEIR (FREE) SHOTS
Through 10 games this season, the Highlanders are shooting 75% from the free-throw line, which is tied for 44th nationally.

MISS ME WITH THAT, JUST ONCE
Senior forwards Jannon Otto and Marina Ewodo are both 17-18 (94.4%) from the free-throw line this season. Their stellar 94.4% connect rate tops the Big West conference.

LOCKED-INTO A BLOCK PARTY
The UC Riverside defense top the Big West holding opponents to 36.2 percent shooting from the field, which ranks 72nd in the nation. They're also second in the conference in blocks, turning away 3.9 attempts per game.

CHAIRWOMEN OF THE BOARDS
The Highlanders lead the Big West with a 3.5 per game rebounding margin while they down 41.7 rebounds per contest, good enough for second in the league. They also led the conference on the offensive glass, collecting 13.2 caroms a game.

They also are the only team in the conference to have four players averaging over six rebounds per game:
Jannon Otto 7.0 — Marina Ewodo 6.8 — Daphne Gnago 6.4 — Skyler Lewis 6.0