After taking over a team that won a total of 12 games at Irvine in the two seasons prior to her arrival, Inoue brought a renewed energy and mindset that paid off immediately.

In 2017–18, just her second year as head coach and first with her own recruits, Inoue led the Anteaters to an 18–14 overall record and their first national postseason appearance since 1995.

The ‘Eaters also saw a 12.5 game improvement from 2016–17, tying for the second-best turnaround in all of NCAA Division I. UCI, which was picked eighth in the Big West Preseason Poll, placed third in the regular-season standings at 10–6, marking its best conference finish since 2011–12.

They also established UC Irvine’s highest single-game scoring total in the NCAA Division I Championship era, and tied an overall school record, with 107 points vs. Cal Poly.

Inoue’s group set the tone for the record-breaking campaign with a dramatic season-opening victory over Utah State.

They erased a 13-point deficit over the final four minutes and capped the rally by sinking a half-court shot at the buzzer for an 87–84 win.

Lauren Saiki established a single-season school record with 215 assists and earned first-team All-Big West honors.