LAHAINA, Hawaii—Don't let the outcome fool you. The UC Riverside Women's Basketball team may have taken a 70-63 loss to Texas A&M on Friday night in the Maui Classic, but the game showed many important qualities about the squad.
"I thought it was a good game in how we competed," head coach John Margaritis said. "I felt like our young ladies played hard for all 40 minutes tonight. We need to continue playing that way. We rose to the occasion tonight."
After Texas A&M took an early 9-0 lead, UC Riverside (2-7) clawed its way back thanks in part to Marina Ewodo. She went 4-for-5 in the first quarter with nine points and the Highlanders finished the first quarter down 15-11.
Ewodo finished the night with a season-high 21 points (9-for-13), along with seven rebounds and two blocked shots. That gives her a total of 20 blocks on the season, which leads the Big West.
"Marina is very valuable," Margaritis said. "We need her to step up and step up with consistency. She is doing that."
After Margaritis called a timeout down 26-14 with six minutes to play in the second quarter, things began to click. Tianna Eaton went 3-for-3 from the field the rest of the half, including a jumper with six seconds left to cut the Aggies lead to 30-25 at halftime. The Highlanders ended the half making four of their last five field goals.
The team kept its hot streak going into the third quarter, shooting 75 percent (12-for-16) from the field. It marked the most amount of field goals the team has hit in a quarter this season. That stretch also helped UCR tie the game at 33-33 three minutes into the quarter.
Even though the Highlanders had their best offensive quarter of the season, the Aggies also had a strong quarter, shooting 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from the field to keep UCR trailing the Aggies 57-51 heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams cooled off in the final frame. After combining to score 53 points in the third, UCR and Texas A&M totaled 25 points in the fourth. The Highlanders got A&M's lead down to four with a little under seven minutes left, but couldn't get over the hump.
Overall, the Highlanders had four score in double-digits. Ewodo had 21 points, while Eaton had 13 points, Jannon Otto tallied 12 points and Daphne Gnago had 10 points.
"We saw a glimpse tonight that we can be better than what our record may show," said Margaritis.
The team will finish out the Maui Jim Maui Classic on Saturday with a 7:30 PT tip-off against Eastern Washington.
