Dec. 1, 2004

The Schedule
Game 3 • Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 • 7:00 p.m. • Santa Barbara, CA
UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 13 Purdue • The Thunderdome (6,000)
Game 4 • Sunday, Dec. 5, 2004 • 1:00 p.m. • Santa Barbara, CA
UC Santa Barbara vs. Oregon State • The Thunderdome (6,000)

2004-05 Gaucho Record
1-1 overall/0-0 Big West Conference
0-1 home/1-0 away/0-0 neutral
USA Today/ESPN Ranking: RV
Associated Press Ranking: NR

Gauchos Have Not Lost Back-to-Back Home Games in Four Years
After seeing its string of 12 straight wins in the Thunderdome snapped, the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team looks to start another streak as it concludes a three-game homestand against major conference schools. On Friday, Dec. 3, the Gauchos host their second consecutive opponent from the Big Ten Conference as 13th-ranked Purdue (3-1) comes to town for a 7:00 p.m. clash. It will mark the fifth consecutive season UCSB has faced the Boilermakers. Two days later, Santa Barbara plays the first of two straight contests against Pacific-10 squads as Oregon State invades the Thunderdome at 1:00 p.m. The Gauchos will look to avoid back-to-back home losses for the first time since the 1999-2000 season finale and 2000-01 home opener.

Gauchos on the Air
The UCSB-Purdue showdown will air live on KTMS 990AM clash will air live on KTMS 990AM, with "Showtime" Steve Wendt handling play-by-play duties and "$1.98" Don Ford providing color commentary. The same dynamic announcing duo will then move up the dial to KTLK 1340AM when the Gauchos host OSU on Dec. 5. All of Santa Barbara's contests this season can also be heard live via the internet by pointing your browser to www.ucsbgauchos.com and purchasing the "College Sports Pass". Finally, Cox Community 8 will televise UCSB vs. Purdue on a tape-delay basis, with the first of several rebroadcasts slated for Dec. 3 at 11:00 p.m. John Martony (play-by-play) and Kristen Koch (color commentator) serve as the announcers for Cox.

Michigan Wins 57-51 Defensive Battle to Spoil UCSB's Home Opener
In a Friday, Nov. 26 showdown between two teams which pride themselves on playing pressure defense, Michigan handed the Gauchos a 57-51 defeat to spoil their 2004-05 Thunderdome debut. UCSB built a 45-40 lead with 7:01 to play following Karena Bonds' layup, however the Wolverines rallied thanks to some clutch baskets down the stretch. None was bigger than Tabitha Pool's three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining that was ultimately the game's final score. After falling behind by as many as nine points in the first half, Santa Barbara regrouped to pull ahead before trailing 26-24 at the break. The home team shot just 30.8% prior to halftime and 37.7% overall, compared to 44.9% by U-M, which has now won both meetings between the two schools.

Francophile
UC Santa Barbara alumnus Mark French enters his 18th season as head coach of the Gauchos and the 26th year of his immensely successful career. He currently owns a UCSB record of 360-155 (.699) and an overall mark of 458-270 (.629). Since the 1991-92 campaign, a period spanning 13 years, French's Gauchos have won 11 Big West Conference titles and advanced to ten NCAA Tournaments - including five second rounds and a Sweet 16 appearance - as well as one Postseason WNIT. Individually, French has earned an unprecedented seven Big West Coach of the Year honors, while in 2002-03 he was named WBCA District 8 Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award. He is the dean of Big West coaches, with nine more years of experience in the league than any of his current counterparts.

Probable Starters	Notes
#15 • Brandy Richardson • Sr. • F	Team-high 8.5 rebounds in the early season
#44 • Kristen Mann • Sr. • F	Wooden Award and Wade Trophy candidate
#33 • Jenna Green • So. • C	Tied career-high of 19 points at Saint Mary's
#21 • Mia Fisher • Sr. • G	10 points shy of 1,000 in her career
#32 • Karena Bonds • Jr. • G	Equaled personal best of eight points in loss to U-M
Reserves	Notes
#3 • Jessica Wilson • Fr. • G	Saw first action as a Gaucho vs. Michigan
#5 • Kate Bauman • Sr. • C	Start vs. Wolverines was first of her career
#11 • Sha'Rae Gibbons • Fr. • G	Played seven minutes at SMC; DNP in home opener
#12 • Courtney Young • Jr. • G/F	Out indefinitely with a knee injury
#22 • Erin O'Bryan • So. • G	Tallied two "treys", career-high four boards at SMC
#23 • Ana Onaindia • Fr. • G	Scored all 18 of her points from three-point range
#24 • Hillary Jager • Jr. • F/C	Will miss 2004-05 campaign due to torn left ACL
#25 • Brittanie Taylor-James • Fr. • G/F	Six total minutes of floor time this season
#34 • Autumn Nichols • Jr. • F	Five assists at Saint Mary's led all players
#42 • Kat Suderman • Fr. • F/C	#54 high school senior last year by Blue Star Index

Boilermaker Banter
Purdue comes to town ranked 13th in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll, but also as the victims of a 63-60 upset at the hands of Houston on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Sophomore forward Erin Lawless scored 13 points in the home loss, slightly below her team-leading average of 14.5. The Boilermakers and Gauchos have met in each of the past four seasons, with Purdue rallying in the second half for a 65-61 victory in the last meeting on Dec. 19, 2003 in West Lafayette, Ind. On their only other visit to the Thunderdome, the Boilermakers - ranked No. 6 at the time - were upset by UCSB 83-82 in overtime on Dec. 17, 2002. Purdue - the two-time defending Big Ten Tournament champion - leads the all-time series with Santa Barbara 3-1.

Beaver Briefs
Oregon State, coming off a Postseason WNIT Quarterfinal appearance in 2003-04, owned a 2-2 record entering its Thursday showdown at home with Creighton. Senior guard Shannon Howell is lighting up the scoreboard for the Beavers with her 23.5 points per game average. OSU and UCSB last met on Jan. 16, 2002 in Corvalis, Ore., where the Gauchos led by as many as 17 points during the first half before holding on for a 79-73 win. Five Santa Barbara players scored in double-figures during that game, including then-freshman Kristen Mann with 12. UCSB holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series with Oregon State.

Tempo Up, Turnovers Down
Despite running a more up-tempo offense in 2004-05 and experimenting with a host of different lineups - including four freshmen playing simultaneously - the Gauchos' turnovers are way down from this time a year ago. UCSB has committed only 27 total miscues, compared to its 35 through two games in 2003-04. Santa Barbara owns a positive assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.07 while no single player has coughed up the rock more than four times.

The Best Things in Life Aren't Free
For a program that has finished each of the past four seasons with a free-throw percentage above .700, the Gauchos can't be happy about their early-season efforts from the charity stripe. UCSB has made just 14-of-24 "freebies" for a .583 connection rate, as opposed to .682 by its opponents.

Poll Position
The Gauchos' loss to Michigan cost them dearly in both weekly national polls, as they have dropped completely out of the Associated Press rankings but remain among the "Others Receiving Votes" section of the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA poll with three total points. Despite their Sweet 16 appearance last season, UCSB opened 2004-05 ranked in just one of the many preseason prognostications, at No. 22 by the Women's Basketball News Service. Finally, the Gauchos were near-unanimous choices to capture yet another Big West regular season title in polls conducted of the league's head coaches and media members.

Super Six
The Gauchos' .816 winning percentage since the start of the 1997-98 campaign places them in some rather elite company. Only Connecticut, Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Duke and Purdue have won a higher percentage of their games over the past six-plus seasons than UCSB, which owns a 186-42 record during that span. All apologies to Purdue for omitting the Boilermakers from this distinguished group until this week.

Home is Where the Wins Are
Despite seeing its 12-game home winning streak snapped by Michigan, UCSB has made the Thunderdome an most inhospitable place for visitors in recent years. The Gauchos can claim victory in 39 of their past 41 in Santa Barbara, and have not lost more than two home contests in a single season over the past 11 campaigns. Since its run of nine straight Big West titles began in 1995-96, UCSB can boast a 109-11 (90.8%) mark while playing in the Thunderdome, with only one of those losses occurring during league play.

Season-Opening Success
The Gauchos' 74-57 triumph over Saint Mary's on Nov. 21 was their 11th consecutive season-opening win. UCSB is 20-13 all-time in season openers.

Mann, oh Mann
As a candidate for all three major national player of the year awards, one might expect Kristen Mann to lead the Gauchos offensively in 2004-05. Well, through two games that's exactly the case, as Mann tied for the team lead with 19 points in the season-opening win and then paced UCSB with a 14-point effort vs. Michigan. As a testament to her versatility, the Santa Ana, Calif., native also ranks among the top-two Gauchos in rebounds, assists and steals in the early season. Mann is in the running for the John R. Wooden Award, Wade Trophy and Naismith Trophy, while she was also named one of only 10 First Team Preseason All-Americans by the Women's Basketball News Service. In 2003-04, she became the third Gaucho in as many years to garner Kodak District 8 All-American acclaim, and was also an honorable mention Associated Press All-American. The two-time First Team All-Big West choice currently ranks 15th in Gaucho history with 1,168 career points.

Senior Support Staff
Mann is one of three Gaucho senior starters who have each earned multiple postseason awards in their careers. Guard Mia Fisher is a three-time All-Big West honorable mention recipient who enters Friday's showdown with Purdue just 10 points shy of 1,000 in her career. The native of Pleasanton, Calif. - who enjoyed a nine-point, seven-rebound effort in a Bay Area homecoming game at Saint Mary's - remains the most accurate-shooting guard in conference history at 52.8%. Meanwhile forward Brandy Richardson - a two-time honorable mention all-league choice - obviously did not lose any of her tenacious rebounding abilities during the off-season as she owns a team-leading average of 8.5 boards per game. The 2003-04 Big West Defensive Player of the Year barely missed out on her eighth career double-double with a nine-point, nine-rebound performance vs. the Wolverines.

Green Day Any concerns about the Gauchos' ability to fill the void of Lindsay Taylor - UCSB's all-time leading scorer - at center were laid to rest by sophomore Jenna Green during the season opener. All the San Jose, Calif., native did was bury nine-of-13 shots en route to a career-high-tying 19 points, while also hauling down eight rebounds and matching her personal best of three steals during the convincing win. Despite being limited to 25 minutes vs. U-M by the flu, Green contributed 10 points and went five-of-six from the floor, giving her a sparkling 73.7% shooting percentage on the year. Green was a member of the Big West All-Freshman Team in 2003-04, when she ranked second among all Gauchos in both field goal percentage (53.5%) and blocked shots (26).

Ana of Three Gables
During the preseason much was said about Ana Onaindia's three-point shooting prowess, although little was seen since the freshman guard missed both exhibition contests and considerable practice time due to a lower abdominal injury. However once healthy it didn't take long for the Bakersfield, Calif., native to show why she set a CIF Central Section scoring record last season, as less than a minute into her Gaucho debut at SMC she buried a three-pointer from the right wing. Onaindia then nailed two more first-half long bombs before finally misfiring and connected on four-of-six for the game. Those 12 points that were the most by a player making her Gaucho debut in three years. She added another pair of three-pointers while also seeing significant court time at point guard down the stretch of last Friday's loss to Michigan. The 5'5" Onaindia has played 36 total minutes on the season, 10 more than the four other UCSB rookies combined.

Jager to Miss 2004-05 Campaign
In her first game back following two years away from competitive basketball, UCSB junior forward Hillary Jager scored six points and amassed seven points in just 14 minutes during the exhibition opener vs. Strakonice BBC on Nov. 7. However late in the second half she collapsed to the floor with a knee injury, which was later diagnosed as a torn left anterior cruciate ligament. Jager - who averaged 2.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as a true freshman in 2001-02 - will undergo surgery in the coming weeks and miss the entire 2004-05 campaign. UCSB will petition the NCAA for a rare sixth season of eligibility on Jager's behalf.

Doozy of a Schedule
The Gauchos annually put together one of the nation's toughest schedules, and 2004-05 is certainly no exception with five games against teams which reached the postseason a year ago. Highlighting that group are NCAA Final Four participant LSU and two-time defending Big Ten Tournament champion Purdue, who both visit the Thunderdome in December. UCSB's non-conference strength of schedule has been ranked sixth-toughest nationally by the WBCA entering the season.