Icardo Center - Bakersfield, Calif.

All-Time Record vs. the Roadrunners: 6-4

Last Meeting: Dec. 14, 2019: CSU Bakersfield 66, UCSB 64

TV: ESPN3 Friday | ESPN3 Saturday | Live Stats

 

G14: Hawai'i 72, UCSB 62:  UCSB surrendered an eight-point halftime lead in the second half of its matchup with the Rainbow Wahine to fall at the Thunderdome. Kasey Neubert and Daejah Phillips posted 19 apiece for Hawai'i in the victory, while the Gauchos were led by junior forward/guard Taylor Mole with 14 points and 10 rebounds, her third consecutive double-double, in just under 34 minutes of action.

 

G15: UCSB 72, Hawai'i 50: Redshirt senior guard Doris Jones led the way with 23 points and six rebounds on 9-of-16 shooting, including a trio of threes, while freshman guard Alyssa Marin scored 12, dished out a team-leading five assists, and drew six fouls to snap the Gauchos' six-game losing streak and nab their first home win of the season.

 

The Roadrunners suit up for their final scheduled regular season series this weekend against the Gauchos. Bakersfield has found success in its first season in the Big West with a 7-5 mark through 12 league games played. Jayden Eggleston leads the 'Runners with 12.6 points per game and Miracle Saxon is tops on the team in rebounding, carrying a 6.1 boards per game average heading into the final weekend. Bakersfield is extremely efficient defensively, holding Big West opponents under 60 points five times and only twice allowing a team to score more than 65 points.

 

The Gauchos rank in several statistical categories nationwide, both individually and as a team. Danae Miller's 2.61 assist-to-turnover ratio is the best mark in the Big West Conference and it's also good for 28th among all NCAA Division-I athletes. As a team, UCSB is second in the Big West and 36th in the country in free-throw percentage (75.5%). In addition, the Gauchos are 41st in the nation in three-point field goals per game (8.1) and second in the league.

 

On Jan. 4, Doris Jones earned her first career Big West Player of the Week Award and the first for the Gauchos in the 2020-21 season. The Houston transfer scored 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and added six rebounds, three blocks, and two steals in UCSB's 83-54 win over Cal State Fullerton on New Year's Day. The following night, the Oakland native put up 17 points with six rebounds, three assists, and a block as the Gauchos defeated Fullerton 79-60 to improve to 2-2 in conference play. In total, Jones committed just four turnovers in 59 minutes of court time, while shooting 54.5% (18-of-33) from the floor and 45.5% (5-of-11) from beyond the arc.

 

In 6-4 redshirt senior center Natalia Bruening's absence since Dec. 18, the Gauchos have transitioned to a small-ball scheme as their lineups have featured just one player over six feet in height, junior transfer Taylor Mole, in four of the six games played since then. There's no better example of the team having fully embraced the philosophy than its last two games at Cal State Fullerton over New Year's weekend, as UCSB had 38 assists on 57 makes over the course of the series. The Gauchos also converted on 27 triples, including 14 in the second game of the series, just one short of the single-game record set at UC Irvine on Jan. 28, 2017.

 

The blue and gold was picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason Big West Coaches Poll, finishing nine points back of second-placed UC Irvine and 22 behind four-time defending champions UC Davis. The Gauchos finished fourth in the media poll, behind Davis, Irvine, and Hawai'i. In terms of individual recognition, senior point guard Danae Miller added a selection to the Preseason Big West Women's Basketball All-Conference First Team to her ever-growing list of accolades, after earning selection to the All-Big West Honorable Mention list at the conclusion of the previous season and to the Second Team the year before that.

 

This season, UCSB Athletics and Fall Productions are working together to begin a new chapter in delivering high-quality broadcasts to fans. Each of the Gauchos' eight Big West Conference home games will be streamed on ESPN3, beginning with UCSB's back-to-back conference-opening series against UC Irvine on Dec. 27 and 28. UCSB's away matchups at UC San Diego and CSU Bakersfield will also be aired on ESPN3.

 

On Dec. 16, the NCAA Division I Council granted a blanket waiver allowing all tranfer student-athletes to compete immediately. The decision will allow San Jose State transfer Megan Anderson and Colorado State transfer Taylor Mole to suit up for the Gauchos this season, pending the conclusion of fall quarter. Anderson, a Fresno native, started in every game over the past two seasons for the Spartans, averaging 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 steals in a team-leading 31.7 minutes per game in her most recent campaign. Mole averaged 1.6 points and 1.1 rebounds per game in her two seasons with the Rams. Mole set career-highs in points (12), shooting (4-4 3PT, 4-8 FG), blocks (2), and minutes (28) over the course of the 2019-20 season.