BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team embarks on a two-game road trip starting Thursday, Jan. 11. The Gauchos will travel to Cal State Bakersfield as they take on the Roadrunners at 7 p.m. Thursday night. They will then travel south to Long Beach State to take on The Beach at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos are coming off a week that saw them go 1-1. After a loss at UC San Diego, the Gauchos regrouped and got back to their winning ways as they defeated rival Cal Poly in overtime Saturday night in The Thunderdome. The Gauchos are off to a 3-1 start in Big West action and currently sit tied for second in the standings.
MATCHING UP WITH THE ROADRUNNERS
Cal State Bakersfield enters the contest with a 4-8 overall record and a 1-2 Big West record. Over the full season, the Roadrunners have two players averaging in double-figures, but in conference games, the production has slipped and only one student-athlete has a double-digit scoring average.
The Roadrunners started Big West action off on the right foot with a win over UC San Diego. Since then, Bakersfield dropped their next two matchups to UC Irvine and Hawai'i and are averaging 45.5 points per game.
Shaunae Brown leads the Roadrunners scoring 15.3 points per game. During the season Brown has taken 165 field goal attempts, of those, 108 have been three-point shots. She shoots the three-ball at a .361 clip. As a team, about 41 percent of all shots come from distance for the Roadrunners. Down low the Gauchos will have to look out for Sophia Tougas who has blocked 12 shots in 12 games this season.
BATTLING THE BEACH
Long Beach State enters week three of Big West play with a 6-8 overall record and 1-3 in The Big West. The Beach defeated CSUN but has fallen to Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly and UC Riverside through the first two weeks of conference play.
Although they carry a losing record Long Beach State currently averages the most points per game of all Big West teams posting 70.2 per contest. Their defense is where they rank second in both opponent field goal percentage and opponent three-point field goal percentage allowing teams to shoot it .374 from the floor and .253 from deep.
Long Beach State has three players averaging in double-figures on the season. Savannah Tucker leads the way with 13.6 and behind her are Sydney Woodley and Cheyenne Givens who are averaging 10.7 and 10.1 respectively. The trio accounts for just about 48 percent of the Beaches' total offense.
FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos and Roadrunners will meet on Thursday, Jan. 11 in Bakersfield. The game is set to tipoff at 7 p.m. from the Icardo Center. Following that contest UC Santa Barbara will take a trip to Long Beach as they take on The Beach on Saturday, Jan. 13. The game is set to tip at 3 p.m. from the Walter Pyramid. For those unable to make the trip both games will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats also available.
