Women's Basketball Comes From Behind To Win 66-62 At UC Irvine

Saturday, March 5

Irvine, CA

4:00 PM

UC Riverside

18-11 (11-5)

UC Irvine

15-14 (7-9)

Team	1	2	F
UC Riverside	19	47	66
UC Irvine	27	35	62

Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta

Women's Basketball Comes From Behind To Win 66-62 At UC Irvine

3/5/2011 3:32:49 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score - UC Riverside 66, UC Irvine 62

Irvine, CA - The UC Riverside women's basketball team came back from a 12-point deficit in the second half to complete the 66-62 victory over UC Irvine on Saturday afternoon at the Bren Events Center.

The Highlanders conclude regular season play with an 18-11 mark and 11-5 record in Big West play. UC Irvine falls to 15-14 overall, 7-9.

UC Riverside controlled only half its destiny in regards to Big West Conference Tournament seeding. With a UCR win and a UC Santa Barbara loss, the Highlanders would have gotten a second seed in the tournament. However, the Gauchos defeated Cal Poly 78-64 to claim the second seed.

The Highlanders will now face Long Beach State on Tuesday, March 8 at 7:00 pm PST at the Student Recreation Center in the first round of the Big West Basketball Tournament.

After shooting a dismal 27.6 percent from the field in the first half, UC Riverside nearly doubled that by hitting 50 percent of its shots in the second period and outscoring the Eaters 47-35.

Down 51-41 with 8:28 left, a Rheya Neabors three-pointer started a 10-0 run as Tre'Shonti Nottingham made four straight free throws and Alyssa Morris' three-pointer tied the game at 51 with 4:44 to go.

Nottingham's three-point play with 4:01 remaining gave UCR a 54-53 lead—their first lead since early in the first half. UC Riverside scored eight more points taking a 62-53 lead with 35 seconds to go. UCI outscored the Highlanders 9-4 to conclude the game, but it was too little too late as the Highlanders held on for the 66-62 win.

Nottingham led the Highlanders with 21 points, scoring 15 of them in the second half. Alyssa Morris added 18 points while Brittany Waddell had 12. Tayler Champion led the Eaters with 21 points.

After opening with a 7-4 lead, the Highlanders went cold going 0 for 11 from the field as UC Irvine built a 16-7 advantage. A Nottingham three-pointer at the 6:58 mark finally ended the 10 minute and 22 second drought, and a Rhaya Neabors layup at the 5:20 juncture brought the Highlanders within four, 16-12.

After trading buckets over the next couple minutes, UCI's Champion hit a three-pointer with four seconds on the clock to send the Anteaters into the locker rooms leading 27-19.

The Highlanders hit just 27.6 percent of their shots while allowing UC Irvine to hit 41 percent from the field. The 19 points scored is the fourth-lowest by UC Riverside in a half this season.

The Anteaters pushed their lead out to 12, 31-19, with 18:22 remaining in the game, but the Highlanders kept chipping away at the lead and got it down to five on four different occasions. Each time UCR cut the margin to two possessions, however, UCI would push it back out to three until the Highlanders started their late run to come from behind.

UC Riverside scored 20 points off 18 Anteater turnovers, while committing just 12 themselves. For the game, UCI outshot the Highlanders 45.8 percent to 38.2 percent.

The Highlanders host the first round of the ampm Big West Basketball Tournament on Tuesday, March 8 at 7:00 pm against Long Beach State at the Student Recreation Center. The winner of that game will move on to the semifinals at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA on Friday, March 11, with the finals slated for 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 12.