SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team returns home after a two-game stretch in San Diego this past weekend. The Gauchos will host UC Santa Cruz tomorrow Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. Santa Barbara will then hit the road for a contest against the Nevada Wolf Pack on Saturday, Dec. 2.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Santa Barbara split their games down in San Diego. They dropped their opening game to UNLV, but bounced right back with a 10-point victory over Weber State. The Gauchos were led by Anya Choice and Mary McMorris in the contests with the duo combining for 38 of the Gauchos 61 points on Saturday's contest against Weber State.
 
BATTLING THE BANANA SLUGS
UC Santa Cruz comes into the game 4-2 overall on the season. Most recently the Banana Slugs hosted four teams over Thanksgiving weekend going 1-1. UCSC picked up a 73-57 victory over Bethany (W.V.) but fell to in-state opponent Cal Lutheran 59-45.
 
The Banana Slugs are averaging 60.3 points per contest with a +4.5-scoring margin. They shoot the fall at a .375 clip from the floor but struggle from three-point range shooting it just over 27 percent. UC Santa Cruz is very active on the defensive end of the floor forcing 18.8 turnovers per game and posting a +3.0 turnover margin. If and when UCSC gets to the free-throw line they cash in on their opportunities shooting .798 from the charity stripe. The mark puts them 10th in the country among Division III institutions.
 
UC Santa Cruz is led by Ariel Anderson who is averaging 15.0 points per game and 8.3 rebounds in three contests. Anderson is also a force on the defensive end averaging just under two blocked shots a game. Behind her is Amanda Inserra who is averaging 9.3 points and 6.5 rebounds over six games played. Inserra shoots it at just over 42 percent from the floor and over 40 percent from three.  
 
WRANGLING THE WOLF PACK
Before the Gauchos and Wolf Pack meet on Saturday, Nevada will host the University of San Diego on Wednesday. They enter the week 4-2 overall coming off two wins over the past weekend against South Alabama and Central Arkansas.
 
The Wolf Pack enters this week averaging 62.8 points per game while allowing 62.7. What has kept them in games is their defense, as they are forcing 21.5 turnovers a game and recording 13.5 steals. Additionally, they block over four shots a game.
 
Two players are averaging over nine points per game for Nevada, Audrey Roden and Lexie Givens. Roden is currently averaging over 11.5 per game and on the defensive end is recording three steals per game. Givens is averaging just under 10 points while grabbing 5.7 boards per contest and blocking just about two shots per game.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos and Banana Slugs will tip off at 7 p.m. in the Thunderdome on Tuesday, Nov. 28. For those unable to attend in person the game will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
UC Santa Barbara's contest against Nevada will be on Saturday, Dec. 2 with a tip time of 1 p.m. For those unable to make the trip to Reno, Nev. the game will be streamed through the Mountain West Network.