Irvine Doesn’t Size Up Well Against Stanford

PALO ALTO — The UC Irvine women’s basketball team faces a tall task against Stanford tonight in the first NCAA tournament appearance in the Anteaters’ history.

“Allah-mi (Basheer) told me their center is 6-5 and 200 pounds,” forward Jinelle Williams said. “She said, ‘That’s big for a girl.’ I said, ‘Girl, that’s big for a man.’ ”

Basheer, a 6-foot-2 center, was named most valuable player of the Big West tournament after scoring 43 points and grabbing 31 rebounds to lead Irvine to its first conference title. Tonight in Maples Pavilion, she will have to rely on quickness when she goes up against 6-5 Anita Kaplan, who is averaging 14 points and five rebounds a game.

“Allah-mi has blossomed into a top-flight player, and right now she’s a very confident young lady,” Irvine Coach Colleen Matsuhara said. “She’s made a lot of good things happen defensively.”

The Cardinal (26-2) is outscoring opponents by 15 points a game and is averaging 10 more rebounds and seven fewer turnovers than its opponents. Ten players average 11 or more minutes and no one averages more than 29.

Stanford has six players between 6-2 and 6-5. Basheer is the only regular taller than 5-11 for the Anteaters (19-10).