SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - An intriguing mix of national powers and regional rivals highlights the 2005-06 UC Santa Barbara women's basketball schedule, announced Friday by head coach Mark French.

The Gauchos will play five games against teams which joined them in last year's NCAA Tournament, including three straight to begin the regular season. Following a pair of early-November exhibition contests in the Thunderdome against NCAA Division II opponents, UCSB's streak of 11 consecutive season-opening victories will be put to the test on Friday, Nov. 18 at 2004-05 national runner-up Michigan State. After facing the Spartans - who fell to Baylor in the NCAA title game - the Gauchos travel south to take on another Big Dance entrant, Louisville, two days later. The Gauchos have never before ventured to either locale.

UCSB's home opener on Wednesday, Nov. 23 provides an interesting sub-plot, as 2005 NCAA tourney qualifier Richmond comes to town featuring Santa Barbara native Araceli Gil at point guard. It's quickly back out on the road for the Gauchos as they play a pair of post-Thanksgiving contests in Utah. Up first is a Nov. 26 showdown with 2005 Postseason WNIT participant BYU followed by Weber State on Nov. 28, Santa Barbara's first game against the Wildcats since 1983.

After returning to Southern California, the Gauchos square off with a number of non-conference regional opponents, some familiar and others they hope to begin rivalries with. On Dec. 4 UCSB hosts Saint Mary's and then travels to Los Angeles one week later to meet Loyola Marymount. Santa Barbara faced both of these West Coast Conference schools last year.

For the first time since 1993, the Gauchos will clash with UCLA as the Bruins invade the Thunderdome on Dec. 17 to begin a season-long five-game homestand. Two days later NCAA Tournament qualifier Arizona visits Santa Barbara for the seventh meeting between the two programs in the last eight years. Following an 11-day break, UCSB's final pre-conference tune-up comes on Dec. 30 in the Thunderdome with its first contest against Pepperdine since 1993.

Santa Barbara's quest for an unprecedented 11th consecutive Big West Conference regular season crown begins on Monday, Jan. 2 as it hosts UC Riverside. With the departure of Idaho and Utah State from the Big West, the Gauchos will face each of their seven league opponents twice and also play a home-and-home series with UC Davis, which will join the conference in 2007-08. UCSB has posted a 63-1 record against current Big West members over the last four seasons.

The Gauchos' final pair of non-league games comes during a mid-February road trip to Northern California, highlighted by a Feb. 9 showdown with Stanford, the five-time defending Pacific-10 Conference champion and NCAA Elite Eight participant in both 2004 and 2005.

Following a March 4 home game against Cal State Northridge which concludes the regular season, UCSB heads to Anaheim, Calif., for the Big West Tournament March 8-11. Santa Barbara has captured the past nine league tourney titles, translating into an equal number of consecutive Big Dance appearances.

"There are three reasons to play such a demanding preseason schedule - one is a recruiting purpose, another is to prepare our team for the postseason and expose some weaknesses that can be corrected, and finally to have some success in those non-conference games and catch the attention of the NCAA seeding committee," French said. "As for the Big West, I like the direction our league is going in by becoming an all-California conference. We definitely have some up-and-coming programs such as Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside. Those should all be very competitive games."

In 2005-06 UCSB will feature seven returning letterwinners, three freshmen and regain the services of three players who missed all or most of last season due to injury including redshirt sophomore center Jenna Green, a 2003-04 Big West All-Freshman Team selection. Meanwhile sophomore guard Jessica Wilson earned all-rookie accolades in 2004-05 as the Gauchos posted a 21-9 overall record and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Santa Barbara has reached the 20-win plateau in each of the past 10 seasons, while its decade-long dominance of the Big West ranks as the longest current run of outright conference titles by any team in the nation.