UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara
Highlanders Comeback to UCSB Falls Short
1/4/2009 3:21:55 PM | Women's Basketball
(Santa Barbara, CA) - The UC Riverside women's basketball team's (5-9, 1-1) second-half comeback to UC Santa Barbara came up just short as the Highlanders fell 47-40 to the Gauchos (6-6, 2-0) in Big West Conference play on Sunday afternoon at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, CA.
The Highlanders trailed for the entire game but closed the lead to five points, 45-40, after two Kemie Nkele (San Diego, CA) free throws with 57 seconds remaining. UCSB then knocked down two free throws of their own to seal the game.
Nkele was just shy of a double-double as she led UCR with 11 points and nine rebounds. Ronéy Friend (Los Angeles, CA) added eight points and Seyram Gbewonyo (Sylmar, CA) had seven.
UC Riverside outscored the Gauchos by four points in the second half as they shot 45.0 percent from the field, up from 22.2 percent in the first half. However, after trailing 29-18 to start the second half, UCR could never get any closer than five.
In the first, the Gauchos got out to a quick 11-2 lead at the 15:22 mark, but the Highlanders closed the gap to six, 18-12, after a Nkele free throw with just over eight minutes remaining. UCSB shot 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, led by Lauren Pederson's 18 first-half points.
The Highlanders continue Big West play with two home contests next weekend as they take on Pacific on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 7:00 pm and UC Davis on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 5:00 pm. Both games will be played at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside, and live game coverage is available online at www.gohighlanders.com.
Game Notes
UCR has now lost three straight Big West Conference games to the Gauchos after winning the previous five.
UCR opens conference play at 1-1; the last two seasons they started 2-0.
The Highlanders and UCSB were selected first and second respectively in the 2008-09 Big West Conference Preseason Polls.
