SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team (13-10, 7-6 Big West) returns to the Thunderdome for matchups with a pair of fellow UC institutions this week, hosting UC Irvine (16-6, 10-2 Big West) on Thursday and UC Riverside (10-13, 6-7 Big West) on Saturday. This week is a chance for the Gauchos to make a statement heading into the final stretch of the season; the Anteaters sit right behind Hawai'i at the top of The Big West standings and the Highlanders defeated Santa Barbara in their first meeting of the year in Riverside.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos are back home after what is typically the toughest road trip of The Big West season, a visit to Hawai'i on Saturday. Santa Barbara started hot on the islands, leading 26-7 after the first quarter, but the Rainbow Wahine's elite defense got back on form for the next three quarters and the hosts came away with a 65-58 win. Skylar Burke scored a team-high 20 points in Manoa; she averaged a double-double last week with a season-high 12 rebounds in the Gauchos' home win over Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday.
 
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (16-6, 10-2 Big West) have built their success around a suffocating defense this season, with four of their last five wins coming despite the offense scoring fewer than 60 points. The Anteater defense ranks among the top 15 in the country for both opponent field goal percentage (35.9, 13^th) and points allowed per game (54.3, 11^th). On the flip side of that coin, the Anteater offense ranks just 280^th out of 353 Division I teams in points scored per game, averaging exactly 60. Irvine is vulnerable on the road too, with five of their six losses this season coming away from home.
 
Holding the Anteaters under 60 will mean stopping Hunter Hernandez and Deja Lee, who are averaging 13.6 and 10.2 points per game, respectively, this season. Summah Hanson, the only Big West player with a higher free-throw percentage than Alyssa Marin (90.0 to 87.1) is averaging 9.8 points per game off the bench, adding a third point to Irvine's attack. Hernandez and Hanson lead the Anteaters on the boards as well, averaging 5.8 and 5.5 rebounds per game respectively. Lee is Irvine's premier playmaker, ranking fourth in the conference for assists, averaging 2.9 per game.
 
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside (10-13, 6-7 Big West) went 2-5 in the seven games since they last saw the Gauchos, beating Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly but also losing to UC San Diego twice and Cal State Bakersfield in their most recent game. The Highlanders will host UC Davis on Thursday before visiting the Gauchos.
 
The Highlanders shot a remarkable 61.5% from the field in their first meeting with Santa Barbara, well above their season average of 37.0. Zoe Tillery went off for 13 points in that game, also well above her season average of 6.4. Makayla Rose, the Highlanders' leading scorer on the season was also their leader against the Gauchos a month ago with 14 points; Esther Matarranz and Seneca Hackley added 10 each. A strong presence inside, Matarranz is one of the top rebounders in The Big West, averaging 7.2 boards a game. She also ranks sixth in the conference for steals per game, averaging 1.74, though that is not the team lead. Rose is averaging nearly two swipes a contest, good for fourth in The Big West.
 
And the grab-happy duo of Rose and Matarranz are part of Riverside's game; the Highlanders average the second-most steals per game and force the second-most turnovers per game in the conference as a team. Importantly, they do so cleanly as well, getting whistled for an average of just 15.6 fouls per game, second-fewest in the conference. That number is important to keep low against the Gauchos, who lead the country in free-throw percentage, making 81.7 of their shots from the stripe as a team. The Gauchos come into the weekend averaging 17.6 free throw attempts per contest.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Thursday night's game will be UC Santa Barbara's Black History Month Celebration in the Thunderdome, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Gauchos will celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day, hosting a meet-and-greet session with coaches and players after the game. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Both of this week's games will also be live on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com.