MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team is still on the road for a Tuesday night game at Simpson, but will return home on Saturday to host the league-leading University of Antelope Valley Pioneers on Saturday.
Tuesday, February 6
UC Merced (7-14, 6-8) at Simpson (11-10, 9-5)
Time: 5:30pm
Location: James M. Grant Center (Redding, Calif.)
Watch | Live Stats | Simpson Map
Saturday, February 10
UC Merced (7-14, 6-8) vs. University of Antelope Valley (15-8, 12-3)
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium (Merced, Calif.)
Watch | Live Stats | Tickets
LAST TIME OUT
UC Merced fell 73-71 at La Sierra University on Saturday. Nagra scored 21 points, while Leilani Blecha hit three three-pointers on her way to a Cal Pac career-high 15 points. Nicole Lukito added 12 rebounds, seven points, and four blocks. Despite the loss, UC Merced held a game-high lead of 13 points towards the end of the third quarter and was still up by double figures 60-50 with six minutes left. A La Sierra 14-4 run tied the game with two minutes left, but Nagra put the Bobcats back up 68-66 in the final minute. The Golden Eagles followed with a 5-0 run and finished the game defensively to beat the Bobcats.
CLOSE CALLS
UC Merced has lost each of its last two games by a possession and have lost four of their eight Cal Pac games overall by three points or less. Overall, UC Merced has played three consecutive one-possessions game but won 70-68 over Cal Maritime as the Bobcats forced a Keelhauler turnover on the final possession.
ALL-TIME SERIES
UC Merced is 10-11 all-time against Simpson and 4-11 against UAV. The Bobcats dropped both games this season and the four games last season against the two foes, but combined to go 3-0 in 2021-22 in the meetings and won the games by an average margin of victory of 29 points. The Bobcats last road win at Simpson was 71-44 on January 22, 2022, while the last home win against UAV was five days prior 92-51. UC Merced also beat UAV at home on February 14, 2019 when the Pioneers were ranked #10 in the nation and that win remains the highest ranked win in program history. All-time the Bobcats are 4-5 in Redding and are 3-3 at home against the UAV Pioneers.
FRESHMAN SENSATION
Nicole Lukito is the only player in the nation this season averaging at least 12.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game in conference play. She is ranked inside the top five in the Cal Pac in multiple categories including first in rebounding (13.9 RPG), first in blocks (1.9 BPG), third in field goal percentage (53.8%), seventh in free throw percentage (80.3%), and tenth in scoring (10.9 PPG). Her 13.9 rebounds are fourth in the NAIA and her 1.9 blocks are good for 19th. She has grabbed 15+ rebounds six times, blocked at least three shots five times, and has scored in double figures nine times.
Her career-high's are 27 points, 26 rebounds, and five blocks. Lukito has ten double-double's this season and recently became the first player in program history and the first Cal Pac women's basketball player in nearly a decade to earn back-to-back Cal Pac Player of the Week awards. Her second one came with this performance against PUC: 27 points, 26 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Her stat line was the first of its kind in UC Merced history and her 26 rebounds were one shy of tying the Cal Pac single-game record.
With five regular season games left, here is where Lukito stands in both the program's and the conference's single-season record book. The below numbers are over the entire campaign, rather than just conference play.
Stat UC Merced Single-Season Rank (Cal Pac Single-Season Rank)
Ten double-double's 2nd (T-15th)
11.9 Rebounds PG 2nd (2nd)
250 Rebounds T-2nd (NA)
55.0 Field Goal % 3rd (5th)
80.6 Free Throw % T-4th (NA)
32 Blocks T-6th (NA)
1.5 Blocks PG T-3rd (NA)
Also of note, Lukito is working towards becoming the first player in program history to shoot over 50% from the field and 80% from the free throw line.
HERE COMES NAGRA
Sarina Nagra is coming off another 20-point performance which gives her two in the last three outings. Nagra scored 21 on Saturday at La Sierra two games after she scored a career-high 27 in the win over Cal Maritime. Her 27 points tied Nicole Lukito for the most points any Bobcat has scored this season. She reached that scoring output shooting 69% (9-13) from the floor and 80% from the charity stripe. The freshman also had a career-high four steals and a career-high two blocks. Leading up to the outburst, Nagra had scored in double figures in two of the previous three games while knocking down six total three-pointers.
OTHER FRESHMEN LEADERS
Eleven of the Bobcats 17 players on the roster are freshman. Along with Lukito, Imani Johnson leads the Bobcats with 47 total assists, Leilani Blecha holds team-high and is ranked eighth in the conference with 31 three-point makes, and Jazzy Beltran is first on the team with 29 steals. Beltran is currently riding a season-long three-game steal streak. Also of note, she has started a team-best 16 consecutive games. Blecha has six games this year with at least three triples.
MORE ON JOHNSON
The Bobcats assists leader Imani Johnson has also been scoring and forcing turnovers at a solid rate. She has made three field goals in seven straight games and has scored in double figures in four of the last six games overall. Defensively, she has a steal in eight straight games and has totaled 16 steals in the stretch.
PEREZ CAN SCORE
Junior Emily Perez, who has missed the Bobcats last six games, still ranks seventh in the Cal Pac with 14.5 PPG. She opened up the year with eight straight double figure scoring efforts and has scored at least ten points in eleven of the 13 games she has played in. In a five-game stretch from November 30-January 2, Perez scored at least 18 points four times and reached 20 points twice, including a season-high 24 points against Embry-Riddle on December 2.
BOLSTERING THE FRONT COURT
Megan Williams and Niamey Guillory have each turned in 15-point outings in the last three games with Williams doing so in the victory over Cal Maritime and Guillory reaching that mark at Embry-Riddle. Also of note, both players did so while shooting 50% or better from the field. Williams scored her UC Merced high 15 points making 7-9 field goals. The Folsom Lake College transfer also grabbed seven rebounds in the win and has grabbed that number in three of the last four contests.
PALOMA FROM DOWNTOWN
Paloma Ramirez has hit a three-pointer in back-to-back games to move ahead of Shelby Bohlmann for ninth in program-history with 53 career three-point makes. Ramirez, only a sophomore, needs four more triples to own the #8 spot in program history. She has made a three-point field goal in back-to-back games four different times this season.
SEASON-LONG FOUR-GAME WINNING STREAK
UC Merced won a season-best four straight games from January 18-27 which was tied for the longest winning streak in the Kellie Bernard era. Overall, it marked the third straight season that the program has a winning streak of that length in Cal Pac play and the seventh time in the last eight years. The Bobcats best win in the stretch was a 74-60 win over Westcliff University, a Cal Pac semifinalist a year ago and a team that is in a position for another postseason run in 2024. UC Merced also beat USK, Pacific Union College, and Cal Maritime. The Bobcats got back to .500 in Cal Pac play with the streak, but have dropped two since to fall to 6-8.
SCORING 70 OR MORE POINTS AND COMING CLOSE TO THE CENTURY MARK
UC Merced is 5-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points and are 11-4 under Bernard when hitting that mark over the last two years. The Bobcats had won five straight games when scoring at least 70 prior to Saturday's loss at La Sierra. UC Merced scored a Bernard era high 99 points in the 99-65 win against PUC on January 25. All-time, it was the sixth highest scoring output in program history and the third highest in a Cal Pac game. The Bobcats made 41 shots shooting 46%. Thirteen Bobcats scored and at least ten different Bobcats made two or more field goals. Lukito led all scorers with 27 points, while Megan Williams added 12 points and Jazzy Beltran finished with ten. Also of note, the Bobcats have scored at least 67 points in six straight games after only reaching that output in three of the first 15 games.
DEFENSE IS ROLLING
The Bobcats defense has been making things tough on opponents since the flip of the calendar. UC Merced has held nine consecutive opponents under 40% shooting and have forced 15 turnovers in four straight games and seven times in the last eight. Before January, 1, UC Merced's opponents were shooting 43.5%. From January 1-present, opponents shoot just 35.8%. Overall, the Bobcats are ranked 41st in the country with an opponents .363 field goal percentage.
REBOUNDING COMES
Twice this season, the Bobcats have outrebounded their opponent by at least ten rebounds three games in a row. The first streak was December 2-8 and it resulted in a 2-1 record, while the three-game streak from January 20-27 saw the Bobcats go 3-0. UC Merced outrebounded PUC by 31 on January 25 with Lukito grabbing more rebounds than the entire Pioneers squad combined.
AT THE FOUL LINE
UC Merced has a knack of getting to the foul and has been successful there this season. The Bobcats have made at least ten free throws in four straight games which is tied for the longest streak since the 2019-20 season. The Bobcats made a season-high 25 free throws in the 70-68 win over Cal Maritime on January 27. Also of note, the Bobcats are shooting 69.3% from the foul line which is the best success rate since 2018-19. If the Bobcats stay over 69%, it will mark the third highest free throw percentage in program history.
SCOUTING SIMPSON
Simpson is the Cal Pac's top defensive team allowing just 55.1 PPG in league play and are ranked #3 limiting opponents to a .353 field goal percentage. Simpson also gets it done on the offensive end with the third most three-pointers (83) in Cal Pac play and a top four field goal percentage overall. Rory Hetrick stuffs the stat sheet with 14.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.2 APG, and 1.5 SPG. Rachel Gafford and Nikki Thompson average close to eight points per game, while Gafford also dishes out a team-best 2.9 assists per game. Hetrick's 14.4 PPG is seventh in the conference.
ABOUT UAV
UAV is solid on both ends of the floor ranking third in the Cal Pac with 67.2 PPG and ranks first in opponents field goal percentages allowing the opposition to shoot just 34.7% from the floor and 25% from downtown. They also force 20 turnovers a game. Janae Turner started as one of Cal Pac's top scorers with 16.9 PPG but she has been sidelined since January 6. Even without Turner, UAV still has two more double figure scorers with Danaya Murray averaging 11.8 points and Jordan Rogers-McAdams at 10.7 points per game. April Tuason is at 9.9 PPG. All three Pioneers also lead the team in another category. Murray is the leading rebounder with 6.5 RPG, Tuason averages a team-best 2.5 APG, and Rodgers-McAdams leads the team and is top ten in the Cal Pac with 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
HOSTING THE CALIFORNIA PACIFIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2024 California Pacific Conference Championships will be hosted Mar. 2-5 inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium on the campus of the University of California, Merced in Merced, Calif. The top six teams in the standings, with the top two getting a bye, will qualify for the championships. The winner of the championship receives the Cal Pac's second automatic berth to the NAIA National Championships. The regular-season champion will receive the first. If the regular-season champion also wins the tournament, the second berth will go to the tournament runner-up. Merced will serve as the host city for the first time ever. UC Merced is tied with University of Antelope Valley for the most Cal Pac Championships among all active teams. UC Merced won the tournament title in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2022. UAV has won it in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2023.
