Nottingham's 25 Points Guides Women's Basketball To 68-67 Victory At UC Irvine

Saturday, January 19

Irvine, CA

4:00 pm

University of California, Riverside

9-7 (2-3)

UC Irvine

4-14 (0-6)

Team	1	2	F
UC Riverside	31	37	68
UC Irvine	18	49	67

Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta

Nottingham's 25 Points Guides Women's Basketball To 68-67 Victory At UC Irvine

1/19/2013 4:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score - UC Riverside 68, UC Irvine 67

Listen to audio highlights of the game

Irvine, CA - The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team picked up its second win in a row Saturday afternoon, defeating UC Irvine, 68-67, in Big West Conference action. The Highlanders (9-7, 2-3) saw a double-digit lead dwindle to just one late in the frame, but they were able to hang on for the victory by hitting four free throws down the stretch.

Tre'Shonti Nottingham led all players with 25 points while Natasha Hadley added 14. The Highlanders forced 16 Anteater (4-14, 0-6) turnovers and scored 20 points off those miscues, while shooting 47.4 percent from the field.

UC Irvine got the first bucket of the game, but a Brittany Crain three-pointer started a 13-0 run for the Highlanders as they built an early 13-2 advantage. The lead grew to 17-5 following a Nottingham layup at the 11:31 mark, but the Anteaters closed to five, 19-14, using a 9-2 run.

UC Riverside rallied for six straight points and 12 of the final 16 in the half as they entered the break leading 31-18.

The Anteaters came out strong in the second half by scoring five straight points, but the Highlanders put the lead back at 12, 39-27, at the 14:40 mark. UC Irvine continued to push, however, and closed to five on multiple occasions, the last at 51-46 with 7:03 remaining.

UC Riverside's lead went back to eight, and the teams traded buckets until the Anteaters cut the margin to a single possession, 56-53, following a Kelly Meggs three-pointer with 4:28 to go.

The Highlanders scored on their next trip down the court, and the teams continued to trade baskets with the lead fluctuating between three and six points.

With less than a minute to play and UCR up by four, 64-60, two different Highlanders players were fouled and sent to the free throw line, but each player missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity. The second time, UC Irvine went down the court and drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to one, 64-63, with 23 seconds left.

On the inbounds, Nottingham was fouled and hit both foul shots to put UCR up 66-63. Not wanting to give up a three-pointer, UCR gave up a bucket in the paint to UCI, as it was again a one-point game, 66-65, with 12 seconds to go.

Nottingham was again fouled as she brought the ball up the court, and hit both free throws to push the lead back to 68-65. UCI had 10 seconds left, and after missing a three-pointer, scored a layup as time expired to make it 68-67, giving UC Riverside the one-point victory.

The Highlanders now return home to host a pair of Big West Conference games starting on Thursday, January 24 against Pacific at 7 pm PT at the SRC Arena.