Mount Mary University basketball (5-16) is getting ready for a first. Sunday Feb. 15th will mark the first time in school history that the Blue Angels play the University of California Santa Cruz (14-7). Tip-off between the Blue Angels and Banana Slugs is set for 1:00 pm at the Bloechl Center.

It is the end of the year, and Mount Mary is looking to end on a high note. With two very tough teams ahead, the Blue Angels will have to first focus on the hot Banana Slugs. Winning five of their last seven games, UC Santa Cruz uses a high octane offense from the tip-off to the final buzzer.

In the last two months, the Slugs are averaging over 20 3-pointers a game. To keep up the pace of nearly 70 possessions per game, UC Santa Cruz plays nearly every single player on their deep roster.

Along with their deep bench and penchant for the 3-pointer, another contrast from the Blue Angels to the Banana Slugs would be the experience. While MMU plays with a roster that consists of 88 percent underclassmen, UCSC starts with all five seniors, and has only three underclassmen on their packed 13 player roster.

The Blue Angels are coming off a two game skid, but the underclassmen have been making strides in the second half of the 2014-15 campaign. Chrisandra Freeman (Fr./Cedar Rapids, Iowa) has turned it up recently with four of her five double-doubles coming since January. Freeman is averaging 14.2 points per game, 8 rebounds per game, and is shooting a team high 81.4 percent from the free-throw line this season.

Another underclassmen playing hard is Jasmine Meyer (Fr./Lansing, Kan.). The freshman has picked up her play in the post and is now averaging 9 ppg and 5.5 rpg. Meyer has been one of the most efficient players shooting with a team leading 42.7 percent from the floor and has the teams fewest turnovers per game.

After the Banana Slugs, the Blue Angels will prepare for their season finale against Finlandia University. The Lions are coming into town Feb. 21st with tip-off at 3:00 pm at the Bloechl Center.

Game notes: Four of the five Blue Angels victories came against out-of-state teams. This is the first time the Blue Angels played two AD3I teams in the same season since joining the NCAA. Freeman is in the top ten in the AD3I in points per game (14.2), rebounds per game (8.0), assists per game (2.1), and is 11th in steals per game (1.5).