Four Players In Double Figures Guides Highlanders To Victory At UCI

Thursday, February 18

Irvine, CA

7:00 PM

UC Riverside

UC Irvine

Four Players In Double Figures Guides Highlanders To Victory At UCI

2/18/2010 6:29:33 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score - UC Riverside 80, UC Irvine 66

Irvine, CA - Four players scored in double figures for the UC Riverside women's basketball team on Thursday evening as they defeated UC Irvine 80-66 in Big West action at the Bren Events Center. The Highlanders improve to 9-4 in conference play and 12-14 overall while the Anteaters drop to 8-18, 5-8.

UCR used hot shooting in the second period to increase their six-point halftime advantage into double digits towards the end of the game. The Highlanders shot 58.3 percent from the field in the second period and out scored UCI 18-5 over the last 6:04 for the win.

Alyssa Morris (pictured) scored 22 points to lead UCR, one point shy of her career-high. Marissa Rivera added 19 points while Rhaya Neabors had 16 and TreShonti Nottingham had 12. Jade Smith-Williams of UC Irvine led all players with 31 points.

The Highlanders led by six at the end of the first half, but Irvine opened the second half on an 11-4 run to take a 38-37 lead at the 16:00 minute mark -- their first lead since four minutes gone by in the first period.

UC Riverside responded with a rally of their own as they scored 11 straight to retake the lead 48-38 with 12:55 remaining. Morris had seven of those Highlander points during the rally as UCR held the Anteaters to 0-of-6 from the floor.

UCR's lead fluctuated between three and nine points over the next seven minutes until the Anteaters closed the gap to one, 62-61, with 6:04 to go. UCR then built a double-digit lead by outscoring UCI 12-3 and 18-5 down the stretch for the win.

The Highlanders shot 50.9 percent from the field for the game while holding the Anteaters to 31.1 percent shooting. UCR also benefited from 31 bench points and 31 points off turnovers compared to two bench points and 13 points off turnovers for UCI.

In the first half, UC Irvine scored five straight to open the game, but the Highlanders responded by scoring six unanswered to take a 6-5 advantage, capped off by a Neabors layup at the 16:08 mark.

After trading buckets with the Anteaters, UCR took a 9-7 lead a minute later and kept their margin between one and six points the rest of the half as they closed out the period on an 8-3 run to take a 33-27 lead into the locker room.

The Highlanders return to action for three home matches at the Student Recreation Center to conclude the regular season, starting with a Feb. 25 game against Pacific at 7:00 pm.