Box Score Santa Barbara- The UC Riverside Women's Basketball teams moves to 7-5 in the Big West after holding off UC Santa Barbara on the road, 71-65 Thursday evening.

Sitting in the sixth spot, the Highlanders are right in the mix as they battle for a top spot in the conference. Prior to tonight's game only one-and-a-half games separated second place from sixth place.

The Gauchos came out swinging, taking an early lead two-and-a-half minutes into the game and maintaining that lead for the majority of the first half. The Highlanders would take the lead,31-28 with 3:37 to go on a made jump shot by Annelise Ito. UCR went into halftime grasping onto a 33-31.

UC Riverside was led by the fourth leading scorer in the nation, Brittany Crain, who netted a game-high 24 points and playing through all 40 minutes. She extends her double-digit scoring streak to 35 straight games, dating back to last season.

A quick break was all UCSB needed to recharge for another second half fight. The Gauchos led by as many as six points in the second half before the Highlanders took over on offense. UCR took over the score with 12 minutes to go on a jumper by Dynese Adams and held control for the remainder of the game.

The Highlanders scoring efforts were also aided by Ito, registering 19 points on the night, shooting 70 percent from the charity stripe and hitting 6-of-13 from the field over 40 minutes.

Simone DeCound dished a game-high nine assists, giving her a new season-high and matching a career-high for the third time.

UCSB had four players in double-digit scoring with Jasmine Ware and Clair Watkins both contributing 16 points each. Onome Jemerigbe contributed 15, and rounding out the top scorers was Kristine Brance with 10 points.

The Highlanders continue their weekend travel, taking on Cal Poly Saturday Feb. 21 at 4 pm PT.