Riverside, CA—A slow start forced the UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (0-1) to play from behind all night against Loyola Marymount (1-0) on Friday, as the Highlanders went on to fall 67-59 in their regular season-opener. Redshirt sophomore guard Jannon Otto led UCR with 13 points and four steals in her Highlander debut.
KEY RUNS
UC Riverside was held scoreless for the first 4:40 of the game, as the Lions took a 13-0 advantage right out of the gates. Playing catch-up the rest of the way, the Highlanders eventually cut the deficit to as little as five, 49-44, on a jumper by freshman guard Tianna Eaton with 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Lions answered with a 9-0 run to open the fourth, only to see UC Riverside go on a 9-0 run of its own, making it 58-53 with 2:58 remaining. However, five points would be the closest UCR would get in the second half.
GAME NOTES
Jannon Otto filled up the box score in her first game following a redshirt season last year. The Victorville, California native provided stability off the bench shooting 4-of-10 from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line, while tallying 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
UC Riverside kept itself in the game by knocking down threes, going 6-for-14 on the night. Malou Thiebaut De Kergret (8 points) and Lauren Holt (9 points) were a combined 4-of-7 from deep. However, the Highlanders struggled from inside the arc, making just 15-of-46 on two-point attempts.
Foul trouble caused senior guard Michelle Curry to play only ten minutes on the night. She entered the season having scored ten or more points in her last ten games, but was held to just one point before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
With Curry in foul trouble, Tianna Eaton entered the game in the third quarter, scoring seven points in her first ever quarter of play. The freshman guard went on to put up nine points and four boards on 4-of-5 shooting.
UCR was outrebounded 49-38 on the night, but the Highlanders did enjoy a 5-1 advantage in blocked shots.
