SPOKANE, Wash. — On Sunday, the NCAA Selection Sunday show announced that the No. 4 seed Gonzaga women's basketball team is facing off at home against the No. 14 seed UC Irvine.
Who are the UC Irvine Anteaters?
From Irvine, Calif., the Anteaters won their conference tournament to punch their ticket for the big dance. The team went 23-8 overall and 16-4 in the Big West conference during the regular season.
This is the first time the team will be back in the NCAA Tournament since 1995, making it 28 years since the team has been part of March Madness.
UC Irvine's leading scorer is Déja Lee, averaging 13.9 points, 2.2 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Lee is a guard from British Columbia. Behind Lee is Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba, averaging 11.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Sidi Baba is a guard from Sweden.
The UC Irvine Starters (based on previous games):
#01 Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba, a 6'1" graduate student guard from Stockholm, Sweden.
#03 Nikki Tom, a 5'9" freshman guard from San Jose, Calif.
#13 Déja Lee, a 5'9" junior guard from Surrey, British Columbia.
#23 Diaba Konate, a 5'7" senior guard from Paris, France.
#24 Nevaeh Dean, a 6'2" senior forward from Hamilton, Ohio.
UC Irvine Conference Championship
The Anteaters faced UC Davis in the Big West Conference championship game, winning 53-39. During that game, Lee had 21 points, 2 steals and 6 rebounds. Sidi Baba had 13 points of her own, with 9 rebounds. Konate scored 10 points, had 3 assists, 2 steals and 6 rebounds.
During the championship game, UC Irvine scored 15 points off of turnovers, 18 points in the paint, 5 fast break points, and 11 second chance points. They had a 34.7% field goal average, 40% 3-point average and a high 75% free throw average.
Gonzaga vs UC Irvine
The Gonzaga Bulldogs and UC Irvine Anteaters match-up is on March 23 at 4:30 p.m. in Spokane, Wash. The game will air live on ESPN2.
Points per game
- Gonzaga - 81.2 points
- UC Irvine - 63.2 points
Points allowed per game
- Gonzaga - 60 points
- UC Irvine- 55 points
Record
- Gonzaga: 30-3 overall, 16-0 in conference
- UC Irvine: 23-8 overall, 15-4 in conference
NET ranking
- Gonzaga is 12th in the NET.
- UC Irvine is 123rd in the NET.
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