In her eight years as head coach of women’s basketball at UC Irvine, Tamara Inoue has steadily built one of the strongest programs in the Big West Conference. Last season was her team’s breakthrough year: The Anteaters won the conference tournament title and secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.

This year, Inoue fields an experienced squad with four returning starters and expects to return to the NCAAs. She speaks to UC Irvine News about the coming season, her veteran team and the excitement of the women’s game.

UC Irvine News:

Your team finished either first or second in the conference over the last five years. Can you talk about developing this program and what it has taken to maintain that success?

Tamara Inoue:

The first thing was really understanding UC Irvine’s mission and what it takes to succeed here as a student first. We look at these types of things before we start the basketball side of it. It took us a couple of years in the beginning just to kind of figure that out, just taking chances to find the right fit for here. Once we had that figured out, the second thing was finding the right players who could win games for us. It’s been a big challenge, but I have great assistant coaches, and they do such a good job with their research and finding the right fit.

UC Irvine News:

You’re returning seven letter winners, including four starters, from last year’s NCAA team. Can you discuss their leadership and setting the tone for a successful season?

Tamara Inoue:

My veteran players … understand me and basically can finish my sentences. So when you have players like that, it just allows us to be a lot quicker in the way we’re trying to build our standards and culture. For me, the best thing is to finally have some veterans here who can do that for me.

UC Irvine News:

Can you talk about a few of these key players to watch this season?

Tamara Inoue:

The first one is our first [Big West Conference] player of the year with UC Irvine women’s basketball, Deja Lee. She is a tremendous basketball player and student. She’s majoring in biological sciences and just finished [participating in the Irvine Summer Institute in Neuroscience at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory]. She’s our point guard, and she does a great job just running the team. The other one is Nikki Tom. She’s a four-year starter. She has started since she was a freshman, and she’ll lead the team again. She has played the most minutes, so we’re hoping to limit her minutes this year. She’s a business administration major and doing a great job in the classroom. Her leadership on the floor and getting her teammates to understand what we’re doing will be great.

And we have Amelia Scharpf, who’s a four-year player for me and a two-year starter. She really does finish my sentences for me. She understands what I want and what I need. She’s not only a basketball player; she’s the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president. It’s rare for a basketball player to be in that position, and she’s taking full advantage of all that. She’s the biggest voice for UC Irvine Athletics this year, so we’re excited about having Amelia there.

UC Irvine News:

Can you discuss the NCAA Tournament experience last year and what it has given your returning players?

Tamara Inoue:

It gives them the experience of knowing what it takes to get there. The biggest goal last year was to make the tournament. We haven’t made it since 1995, so for us to get there and see what it’s like…. It was a great experience getting on that plane to the first game and getting out there and playing in front of a sold-out crowd. It just gives them fuel and an understanding that this is what we work hard for.

UC Irvine News:

Can you talk about the national excitement for women’s basketball?

Tamara Inoue:

I think it’s the best time to be a fan, and if you’re not, I would jump on the bandwagon. The women’s NCAA Tournament last year was watched by more TV viewers than the men’s. I think right now – in the Caitlin Clark era and with this past WNBA season, where the finals went all five games and ended in overtime – there’s nothing but excitement.

Just in watching us play – we do play below the rim for the majority of the time and with the way we shoot the three ball – there’s a freedom of movement on the court that’s exciting to see. We want to see high scores, and the women’s game is getting to that point. I think our team has really embraced that piece and is trying to make sure it’s an exciting game to watch.

UC Irvine News:

The collegiate landscape over the past few years has changed quite a bit. Can you talk about navigating this new world with NIL and the transfer portal?

Tamara Inoue:

That’s a whole other story there. It’s so fast-moving, and we’ve been moving very quickly as a staff and as players to understand it, capitalize on it and ensure that we’re still staying very competitive with it – all while staying on brand for UC Irvine. That’s really important for us too. But it’s changing fast, and the pay-for-play is here to stay. It’s just a matter of finding the right fit for us.