Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team overcame a sluggish start Saturday evening to beat visiting UC Irvine, 71-58, and even its Big West record at 1-1.

The Highlanders were once again without the services of their second and third leading scorers, Simone DeCoud (12.9) and Annelise Ito (11.8), out due to illness and injury respectively. Brittany Crain, the nation's seventh leading scorer, poured in a game-high 31 points, including 22 in the second half, and three other Highlanders scored in double figures led by Akilah Martin's 14.

Both teams started slowly on the offensive end of the floor combining to miss seven of their first 10 shots and commit six turnovers in the first four minutes of play. It was a 10-5 Irvine lead, when the Highlanders began to find their stroke. A 5-0 run tied the score, and UC Riverside made five of six shots over a five-minute stretch to take a six-point lead, 20-14. Three of those shots came from beyond the arc as Martin hit a pair, and Jaelyn Wilson connected on one.

It was a six-point UCR advantage at the break, 33-27, and the Highlanders' lead vacillated between one and seven points over the first nine minutes of the second half. The Anteaters regained the lead on a pair of Mokun Fajemisin free throws with 11:07 to go, and moments later, UCR's fourth leading scorer, Michelle Curry, picked up her fourth foul of the game sending her to the bench.

A Crain jumper with 6:58 remaining put the Highlanders back on top for good, though, as UC Riverside scored 11 straight points to take control of the game. The junior scored 13 of UC Riverside's final 15 as UCR improved to 10-6 overall.

Dynese Adams (13 points), and Wilson (12) also scored in double figures for the Highlanders with Wilson's output serving as a career high, and Adams' as a season high. Irene Chavez paced the 'Eaters with 19 while Fajemisin added 14.

The Highlanders hit the road next week, traveling to UC Davis on Thursday, January 15 for a 7 pm PT tip against the Aggies, and to Hawai'i on Saturday, January 19 for a 7 pm start against the Rainbow Wahine.

GAME NOTES
Brittany Crain extended her streak of consecutive games with 10 or more points to 25.

Brittany Crain scored 30 or more points for the fifth time this season and the eighth time in her career.

Brittany Crain (1,307 points) moved past Julie Shaw (1,303) into seventh place on the Highlanders all time scoring list.