New Mexico State

WOMEN'S SOCCER UC Irvine 1, Cal Poly SLO 0 IRVINE — Freshman Cami Privett scored in the 72nd minute of the Big West Conference game Sunday at UC Irvine. Zuri Walker and Devon Delarosa were credited with assists to help the Anteaters improve to 9-3-2, 2-1-1 in conference. Freshman Jennifer Randazzo had one save to record the shutout, her fourth of the season. UCI, which has won two straight and is tied for second place in the Big West with Cal State Northridge (seven points each, two points behind first-place Long Beach State)

Barry Faulkner The UC Irvine men's basketball team left one losing streak behind this week, but another, like host New Mexico State Saturday afternoon, keeps nipping notoriously at the Anteaters' heels. The Aggies (12-12) came from behind to earn a 69-64 victory in front of 4,582 at the Pan American Center as part of 23 Bracket Buster Saturday games designed to spotlight mid-major Division I programs. The loss extended UCI's road losing streak to seven games and dropped the Anteaters (10-14)

A life-size photograph of Karen Ann Yelich Szabo hangs on a wall inside the athletic complex at New Mexico State University, but the former scholar/athlete is busy these days keeping life afloat for others in the big picture. The 1980 Costa Mesa High Female Athlete of the Year, who chose the high desert country of Las Cruces, N.M., to play collegiate volleyball instead of remaining in California where the sport gained its reputation, is still New Mexico State's record holder for solo blocks in a season (165)

Steve Virgen HUNTINGTON BEACH -- After finishing second in the Big West Conference the past two years, the UC Irvine women's cross country team is motivated to move up a notch. The quest for that feat began with a UCI/J.L. Design Invitational title Saturday morning at Central Park in Huntington Beach. "We feel we're the top team (in the Big West)," said UCI junior Julie Manson, who finished fourth (18:45.8) on the 5,000-meter course. "Winning the Big West, that's our goal this year.

Paula Smith has been named UC Irvine's interim director of intercollegiate athletics effective Aug. 1, Chancellor Michael Drake announced. Smith will assume duties from Bob Chichester, who announced on May 31 that he was stepping down as athletic director in August after five years. Chichester will serve as special assistant to the chancellor. Smith, a member of the NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, has served as associate athletic director/senior woman administrator at UCI since July 2006.

Nov. 19 -- Cal State Dominguez Hills (home), 7:05 Nov. 22 -- at USC, 7:30 Nov. 27 -- at UCLA, 5 Dec. 4 -- Sacramento State (home), 7:05 Dec. 14 -- at Santa Clara, 7 Dec. 17 -- at San Jose State, 7 Dec. 21 -- New Mexico State (home), 7:35 Dec. 28 -- at Cal Poly SLO , 7:05 Dec. 30 -- UC Santa Barbara , 7:05 Jan 6. -- Cal State Northridge (home), 7:05 Jan. 8 -- Pacific (home), 7:05 Jan. 13 -- at UC Riverside , 7:05 Jan 15 -- at Cal State Fullerton , 7:05 Jan. 20 -- Long Beach State (home)

Barry Faulkner With each passing victory, it is becoming increasingly difficult for UC Irvine men's basketball coach Pat Douglass to harness his growing enthusiasm about this season's team. After a 75-62 nonconference home triumph Tuesday that he called his team's best performance to date, Douglass continued to praise the progress of his squad. The Anteaters (5-2) have now won four straight as they prepare to begin Big West Conference play Dec. 28 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

TODAY Baseball College -- UC Irvine at Arizona, noon; The Master's at Vanguard (doubleheader), 11 a.m. Basketball College men -- UC Irvine at New Mexico State, 1 p.m.; Vanguard at Hope International, 7:30 p.m. College women -- UC Irvine at Long Beach State, 7:30 p.m.; Vanguard at Hope International, 5:30 p.m. High school girls -- CIF playoffs: Newport Harbor at University, 7 p.m.; Estancia at...

TODAY Basketball College men -- Vanguard at UC Riverside, 7 p.m. Community college men -- Orange Coast at Moorpark, 5 p.m. Volleyball Community college women -- Saddleback at Orange Coast, 7 p.m. THURSDAY Basketball College women -- Vanguard vs. Lambuth at Rotary Classic at Union University, Jackson, Tenn., 9 p.m. Tennis High school girls -- Corona del Mar vs. Calabasas, at a site to be determined by coin flip, CIF Southern Section Division I semifinals; Sage Hill vs. South Torrance, at a site to be determined by coin flip, CIF Southern Section Division II semifinals.