UCI’s Buckley lauded

UC Irvine senior Camille Buckley has been named first-team All-Big West Conference in women’s basketball.

Buckley, a 6-foot-1 forward, averaged a double-double in conference play with a conference-best 20.7 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. Her .471 shooting percentage in Big West play ranked third.

Buckley, a second-team all-conference pick as a junior in her first season at UCI after transferring from Loyola Marymount, leads the conference with 17 double-doubles, a category in which she ranks No. 17 nationally.

In all games, Buckley is averaging 18 points and 11.8 rebounds per outing, the latter ranking 11th in the nation. She set the UCI single-game rebound record with 26 against Cal Poly on Feb. 1 and has established a single-season record for most free throws made (183) and attempted (240).

Buckley’s leadership helped UCI (16-14) produce the program’s most wins in a season since the 2002-03 team went 17-12.

Coach Doug Oliver’s Anteaters finished fourth in the Big West and are the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. They open on Wednesday at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid at 8:30 p.m. against an opponent to be determined by Tuesday night’s games.

Tsurumoto, a senior guard, received honorable mention. She averaged 13.3 points and 2.9 assists in the regular season.

Junior guard Ashley Guay, who led Cal State Northridge to the regular-season conference title, is the Player of the Year, while Matadors head man Jason Flowers, a former UCI men’s basketball player, is Coach of the Year.

— From staff reports