Riverside, CA—On a night where senior Lauren Holt posted a career-high 33 points – putting her over the 1,000 career point mark – the UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (6-15, 3-4) was defeated by UC Irvine (12-8, 4-2) by a final score of 81-71.
KEY RUNS
Although the Highlanders held the lead for most of the first half, Irvine was able to keep things close, never trailing by more than 8 points.
With the game tied 48-48 late in the third, the Anteaters used a 9-2 run to take a 57-50 lead. Back-to-back clutch fourth quarter three-pointers from Holt brought the Highlanders within 3 points at 61-58 with 6:47 to go.
Trailing 65-60, sophomore Marina Ewodo knocked down a triple off glass, cutting the deficit to two with under five minutes to go. However, Irvine would answer with a 14-6 run down the stretch to take its largest lead of the fourth, 79-69.
GAME NOTES
The Highlanders were without seniors Michelle Curry and Clémence Lefebvre for the night, setting the stage for Holt's big night on offense. The San Jose, California native has now scored over 20 points in three of the last four games, extending her double-digit scoring streak to a career-best 14 games. Holt also set a new career-high with a perfect 8-of-8 mark at the free throw line.
Sophomore Jannon Otto also had a career night at the charity stripe (7-10 FT), just missing out on a double-double with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Otto rounded out her stat line with 4 assists and a steal before fouling out late in the fourth.
UC Riverside outrebounded its opponent (45 to 41) for the fifth time in seven Big West games, led by Skyler Lewis (11 rebounds). It was the seventh double-digit rebound performance of the season for the sophomore forward, helping the Highlanders enjoy a 16-10 advantage in second chance points.
Sophomore Marina Ewodo (5-8 FG, 1-2 3FG) rounded out UCR's double-digit scorers, finishing with 11 points, 4 boards and 2 blocks. She was the only Highlander other than Holt to connect from three-point range, as the home side went 4-of-17 (.235) from deep, compared to 4-of-19 (.211) for UCI.
UCR finished with 7 blocks for the second time in three games, tying a conference season-high.
Unfortunately for UC Riverside, there was no stopping the Anteaters from getting to the foul line, resulting in three Highlanders fouling out in the fourth quarter. UCR finished a respectable 17-for-23 (.739) on free throws, but allowed Irvine to go 33-of-43 (.767). Both the 33 makes and 43 attempts are the second-most for a UCR opponent in program history.
The loss ends the Highlanders' three-game home winning streak, its longest run of the season.
With 344 points during her time at Portland State, and 670 over the past two years with UCR, Holt sits at 1,014 points for her career. She is the second Highlander to cross the 1,000-point milestone (
Michelle Curry) this season.
UC Riverside will now hit the road for six of its next eight games, beginning with Hawai'i this Saturday at 7:30 pm (PT).
