STORYLINES
l Friday's opponent, Sacramento State, is the first of three straight road games for UCLA.
l The Bruins are currently ranked No. 16 in the College Sports Madness Poll, No. 19 in the AP Poll, and just outside the Top 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll at No. 27.
l The Pac-12 Conference is ranked No. 1 in the RPI with nine members in the Top 100. Stanford is at No. 2, followed by USC at No. 3 and UCLA at No. 14. Arizona (27), Oregon State (34) and Washington (49) round out the six programs in the Top 50. Arizona State (51), California (52) and Washington State (62) complete the teams in the Top 100.
l Stanford currently has the toughest strength of schedule in the country while the Bruins are at No. 4 with Colorado at No. 10. Arizona State (21) and USC (24) are also in the Top 25 in strength of schedule rankings.
STREAKS OF INTEREST
l The Bruins have won four games in a row on the road, dating back to last season.
l The Bruins have won 13 games in a row against unranked teams anywhere.
l Jordin Canada has had at least one assist in 36 straight games.
l Kari Korver has made at least one three-pointer in 19 straight games.
l Jordin Canada has scored in double figures in 13 straight games.
l Monique Billings has hauled in five or more rebounds in nine straight games.
NATIONAL STATISTICS
As a team, UCLA ranks in the top 100 in 12 different categories. No. 28 Scoring Offense (78.9); No. 34 Field Goal Pct. (.452); No. 37 Fewest Turnovers (129, leads the Pac-12); No. 35 Rebounds Per Game (45.8); No. 65 Three-Point Field Goal Pct. (.339); No. 45 Rebound Margin (+9.5); No. 75 Fewest Fouls (154); No. 67 Steals Per Game (10.4); No. 79 Assists Per Game (15.3); No. 83 Won-Lost Pct. (.750); No. 80 Scoring Margin (+12.8) and No. 97 Assist Turnover Ratio (0.94).
COACH RECORD
Head Coach Cori Close is in her fifth year with the Bruins after guiding UCLA to the WNIT title last season with a 62-60 win at West Virginia (Charleston, W.Va.). She sports an overall record of 78-62 (.557).
MORE NATIONAL STATISTICS
l Four different Bruins rank in the Top 100 in 10 different national statistical categories.
l Jordin Canada ranks in the Top 100 in five different categories: No. 25 Assists Per Game (5.8 apg); No. 24 Assist Turnover Ratio (2.69); No. 63 in Points Per Game (18.0 ppg); No. 66 in Assists (46) and No. 80 in Field Goal Pct. (.514).
l Monique Billings ranks in the Top 100 in two different categories: No. 90 Field Goal Pct. (.507) and No. 81 Rebounds Per Game (8.6 rpg).
l Kari Korver ranks in the Top 100 in two different categories: No. 77 Three-Point Field Goal Pct. (.422) and No. 93 Three-Point Field Goals Made Per Game (2.38).
l Nirra Fields ranks in the Top 100 in one category: No. 50 Steals Per Game (2.88 spg).
FIELDS CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior guard Nirra Fields ranks No. 15 on UCLA's career scoring list with 1,475 points. She needs 62 to pass Necie Thompson (1,536 - 1981-83) for 14th. She is 10th in 20-point scoring games (29) and needs two more to pass Nikki Blue (30 - 2003-06). She is 7th in three-point field goals made (113) and 3rd in attempts (383). She also moved into 8th in field goal attempts (1,454).
KORVER CLIMBING CAREER CHARTS
Junior guard Kari Korver is currently at No. 1 on UCLA's career free throw percentage list at 84.0 percent (110-for-131). She also ranks in the top 10 in all three categories for three-point shooting, ranking No. 3 in three-point percentage (.392), at No. 3 in makes (131) and at No. 5 in attempts (334).
CANADA NAMED TO NAISMITH WATCH LIST
UCLA sophomore point guard Jordin Canada is one of eight sophomores and one of eight Pac-12 players to be named to the Naismith Trophy's Early Season Watch List by the Atlanta Tipoff Club (announced Dec. 10). The watch list includes 50 of the top women's collegiate basketball players who will be in the conversation for the prestigious honor. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball, the Naismith Trophy recognizes the top Men's and Women's College Basketball Players of the Year. Canada is currently leading UCLA in scoring at 18.0 points per game, which ranks eighth in the Pac-12 and 61st in the country. She also paces the Bruins in assists at 5.8 apg, which ranks third in the league and 25th nationally.
BOMBS AWAY
The Bruins have two three-point shooting contest winners on the roster this year as freshman guard Kennedy Burke won the 2015 high school three-point shooting contest, a competition won by junior guard Kari Korver in 2012. Right now, the pair have combined to make 25 of the team's 38 three-pointers (Korver has made 19, Burke has made six).
BIG MACS ON CAMPUS
UCLA's roster features a school-record-tying four McDonald's All-Americans in 2015-16 as freshman forward Ashley Hearn joins sophomores Jordin Canada and Lajahna Drummer as well as senior guard Nirra Fields.
PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
UCLA was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 Conference women's basketball standings by the coaches (tied with California) and fifth by the media. The Bruins trail nationally-ranked Oregon State, Arizona State and Stanford in both polls. Both polls were nearly identical with only a one-place difference for Arizona State, Stanford and UCLA when comparing both polls. For the first time in the history of the poll, the league's coaches selected Oregon State to win the 2015-16 regular season. The Beavers received the maximum first place votes with 11 and 121 total points. Stanford, which had been voted to win the Pac-12 Conference 15-consecutive years prior to this year, collected 104 points for second in the polling, followed by Arizona State, which placed third with 102 points and one first-place vote.
BRUINS IN THE POLLS
UCLA is currently ranked 19th in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll with 163 points. The Bruins also received 50 points for 27th in the USA TODAY Sports Top 25 women's basketball coaches poll. UCLA has received votes in both polls every week in 2015-16. Several 2015-16 opponents are also ranked or receiving votes in the AP Top 25 Poll as South Carolina is at No. 2 and Notre Dame is at No. 3. Oregon State is ranked No. 7 while Stanford, Arizona State and California are right behind at 15th, 21st, and 21st, respectively. UCLA's season-opening opponent, St. John's, is at No. 25 in this week's poll (64 points). USC (26 points) also received votes in this week's AP poll while Oregon (14 points), USC (five points) and Washington (four points) received votes in the USA TODAY Poll.
