Women’s Hoops Heads To Hawai’i, Then Hosts UCSB

RIVERSIDE, Calif.— The UC Riverside Women's Basketball team heads to the Big Island (O'ahu) to take on Hawai'i Thursday night at 7:30 pm PT in Big West competition. They'll continue in the conference on Saturday, when they host in UC Santa Barbara at 7 pm in the SCR Arena.

The Highlanders (5-10, 1-0) enter the week having won back-to-back contests for the first time this season. They closed out the non-conference slate with a, 53-52, victory over CSU Bakersfield and held off a feisty UC Davis squad in the Big West home opener last Thursday, 75-70.

"We're starting to apply some of the lessons learned earlier in the season and the players have a strong understanding of what is required from each one of them for us to win." said Head Coach Seyram Bell.

As a team, the Highlanders rank 45th in the country with a 74.6 free-throw percentage. On the defensive end, they're holding opponents to 36.7 percent shooting, good enough for 67th in the nation, while also hitting the boards hard, pulling down 40.80 rebounds per outing— 79th nationally.

Jannon Otto leads the UCR scoring attack with 15.8 points a game (6th in Big West) and 7.6 rebounds a game (4th). Her 85.7 free-throw percentage leads the conference, and ranks 32nd in the country. She'll arrive in paradise with a six-game double figure scoring streak in tow, over which, she's averaging 19 points a game.

Marina Ewodo averages 11.2 points and grabs 7.2 rebounds (5th in the Big West) per game for the blue and gold. She is also averaging 1.2 blocks per game, which is second in the league. Keilanei Cooper has notched double figures in three of the last four games, averaging 11.3 points a game over that span. She has a team-high 18 connects from three-pointer range this season.

UC Riverside has won three of last four matchups in Honolulu against the Rainbow Warriors, and they're first one came three years ago on the same date as Thursday's game. January 16th.

GAME NOTES

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.

SEY IT WITH YOUR BEST!
Head Coach Seyram Bell is the only championship-winning player to ever be a head coach in the history of the Big West Conference. She won back-to-back titles in 2006-07 at UCR and remains in the all-time top-10 of several statistical categories.

SHOOTING THEIR (FREE) SHOTS
Through 15 games this season, the Highlanders are shooting 74.7% from the free-throw line, which is 45th nationally.

MISS ME WITH THAT, JUST A FEW TIMES
Marina Ewodo is 26-29 (89.7%) from the free-throw line, and Lauryn Pointer is a perfect 7-7 at the charity stripe.

LOCKED-IN-TO A BLOCK PARTY
The UC Riverside defense top the Big West holding opponents to 36.7 percent shooting from the field, which ranks 67th in the nation. They're also turning away 3.9 shot attempts per game and if teams want to hoist from long distance … UCR is limiting squads to 29.7 percent shooting beyond the arc— both figures rank second the Big West.

CHAIRWOMEN OF THE BOARDS
The Highlanders are the only team in the conference to have three players averaging over six rebounds per game: Jannon Otto 7.6 — Marina Ewodo 7.2 — Daphne Gnago 6.0

DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB-CLUB
UC Riverside is the only team in the Big West to have four players tally double-doubles this season.

Jannon Otto-3, last on 12/31/19 vs. CSU Bakersfield 16pts-13rbs
Keilanei Cooper-2, last on 1/9/20 vs. UC Davis 16pts-13rbs
Marina Ewodo-2, last on 12/19/19 at S. Utah 10pts-10-rbs
Daphne Gnago-1, last on 11/9/19 at UTEP 14pts-11rbs