‘Eaters honored

UC Irvine sophomore Mikah Maly-Karros earned first-team honors and teammate Jazmyne White was named Freshman of the Year to highlight Anteaters recognized with All-Big West Conference honors in women’s basketball.

Maly-Karros, a transfer from Loyola Marymount in her first season at UCI, led the conference and ranks No. 27 nationally with 13 double-doubles. The 6-foot-1 forward averaged 19.6 points and 11.2 rebounds in the regular season, in which the Anteaters finished 9-20.

UCI’s 6-10 conference record enabled them to earn the No. 7 seed in the eight-team Big West Conference Tournament that begins Wednesday. UCI will face Cal State Fullerton in the first round at 2:15 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Maly-Karros is only the sixth player in UCI annals to be recognized on the first team, the first since Angie Ned earned that distinction in 2005-06.

White, a 5-9 forward who has started 19 games, ranks fourth in the conference with 6.8 rebounds per game. She is averaging 4.8 points and her 1.5 steals per contest lead UCI and rank ninth in the Big West.

White is the first UCI player to be named Freshman of the Year.

Jade Smith-Williams, a junior point guard in her first season at UCI after transferring from Division II Chico State, received honorable mention. She is averaging 12.9 points, a team-best 4.2 assists (which ranks No. 4 in the conference) and her 41 three-pointers lead the Anteaters.

Kristina Santiago, a junior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is the Player of the Year.

Sandy Simpson of UC Davis is the Coach of the Year.

— From staff reports