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RIVERSIDE – The UCSB women’s basketball team was held to a season-low in points Saturday at UC Riverside, falling to the Highlanders 55-42.
Senior point guard Danae Miller played all 40 minutes, finishing as the Gauchos’ (8-6, 2-3) only double-digit scorer with a team-high 15 points. With three assists and one three-pointer, she moves into ties with Barbara Beainy (404 career assists) and Sarah Porter (133 career threes) for No. 6 and No. 8 all-time, respectively, in the UCSB record book
Despite holding Riverside (5-6, 2-2) to just 33.9 percent shooting, UCSB struggled to take care of the ball, turning it over a season-high 24 times.
The game was much closer early on than the final score might indicate, as the Gauchos actually shot a slightly better percentage (38.1%) than the Highlanders (37.5%) did in the opening half.
Miller and fellow guard Johnni Gonzalez had seven points apiece on a combined 5-of-10 from the field. The Gauchos went into the half down by just a point, 23-22.
UCR began to pull away with a strong third quarter. Santa Barbara went just 2-of-11 from the field, getting outscored 15-7 in the period.
It was still a one possession game in the final two minutes of the quarter, but the Highlanders knocked down a pair of threes to make it a 38-29 game heading into the fourth.
After going down by double-digits early in the fourth, UCSB got four straight from junior center Ila Lane and senior guard Megan Anderson to cut it to a seven point game, 40-33. Lane didn’t have a field goal in the first three quarters, but was a perfect 3-for-3 in the final period.
UCR then went on a 7-0 run, taking its largest lead to that point, 47-33 to seal the win.
With 15 points, Miller has now scored at least 14 in four straight games for the second time in her career. She did so in five straight games during the 2020 Big West season.
The Gauchos connected on just 3-of-18 from the outside as a team, tying a season-low for three-point makes.
Following two straight on the road, UCSB returns home for a Tuesday meeting with CSUN. The Gauchos will also face Hawaii at home next Thursday. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.
Michael Jorgenson writes about sports for UCSB.
email: sports@newspress.com
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