Muristek
The UCSB women’s basketball team’s offense was held to season-lows in Thursday’s Big West road meeting at UC Irvine, falling to the Anteaters 58-31.
The Gauchos (10-7, 4-4) did most of their damage early in the night. Senior point guard Danae Miller gave her team its largest lead of the night, 12-9, on a free throw at the 1:16 mark.
From there, it was all Irvine (12-8, 7-2). The Anteaters had their best quarter of the night in the second, shooting 57.1 percent and scoring 22 points while holding the Gauchos to four. The home side went into the break leading 31-16.
UCSB couldn’t cut into the lead in a third period which went 14-11 in favor of the Anteaters.
In the fourth quarter, for the second time, the Gauchos were held to four points while Irvine connected on 50 percent of its attempts.
Junior guard Alexis Tucker led UCSB in scoring with 10 points, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line. It was her 10th double-digit scoring performance this season, tied with Miller for the most on the team.
Following two straight double-double outings, junior center Ila Lane tallied six points and five rebounds on 3-of-6 field goal attempts.
UCSB made a season-low nine field goals, its fewest ever under head coach Bonnie Henrickson.
During Big West play, the Gauchos have looked like a different team on the road then they have at home. They have now been held under 50 points for three straight road games, while conversely scoring above 60 in each of their last three home games and averaging 68 per game.
Michael Jorgenson writes about sports for UCSB.
email: sports@newspress.com
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