Reno, NV—Redshirt senior guard Lauren Holt scored a Highlander career-high 22 points against Sacramento State (1-5) on her way to being named to the All-Tournament Team, but it wasn't enough as the UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (1-5) fell 99-72 on the final day of the Nugget Classic.
KEY RUN
After UCR led 11-10 with 5:31 to go in the first quarter, the Hornets ended the opening half on a 41-16 run, taking a 51-27 lead into halftime. The Highlanders finished the opening 20 minutes with 13 turnovers, a season-high for a half.
GAME NOTES
Lauren Holt had her best offensive performance since also scoring 22 points in her Highlander debut against San Diego State on Nov. 11, 2016 (
box score/
recap). She finished 9-of-15 (.600) from the field, including 2-of-5 (.400) from deep, putting up a couple more season-highs with six rebounds, three offensive boards, and three steals.
Holt has now scored in double-figures in back-to-back games, ending the Nugget Classic averaging 18 points per game on 53.8 percent shooting. Today's game marked her seventh 20-point scoring performance since the start of last season.
Redshirt sophomore guard Jannon Otto finished second on the team with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-15 (.467) shooting. Otto also had four rebounds and four assists and has now scored nine or more points in five of six games this season—most on the team.
Redshirt sophomore forward Skyler Lewis recorded her second double-double in three games, scoring 11 points (4-9 FG) and snatching 14 rebounds—one shy of her career-high. While no other Highlander has had more than seven rebounds in a game, this was Lewis' third double-digit rebounding performance of the season. She has now grabbed eight or more boards in four straight games—the longest run of her career.
UC Riverside lost the free throw battle on the day (30-for-42 to 13-for-27), but did enjoy a season-high +18 rebounding margin (53-to-35). The Highlanders also had four more assists than the Hornets (21 to 17), also a season-best mark.
Freshman guard Tianna Eaton played a season-high 25 minutes off the bench for the second consecutive game, scoring seven points and putting up career-highs of five rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore Marina Ewodo also had her best offensive game of the season, scoring a season-high six points (2-3 FG). She also tied a personal-best with seven rebounds, reaching that mark for the third time in her career.
The Highlanders will be back on the road for the fifth straight game as they play UCLA this Tuesday, November 28 at 7:00 pm PT.
