LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Second Team All-Big West selection Keilanei Cooper closed put up another double-digit scoring performance, but the UC Riverside women's basketball team fell 55-51 in the opening round of the 2021 Big West Championships Tuesday afternoon at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
The loss snaps UCR's three-game win streak in opening rounds of the conference tournament, but any – if not most – thoughts about the culmination of a once-in-a-lifetime season of growth had little or nothing to do with basketball.
"It has been a whirlwind of a season, of a year," said first-year head coach Nicole Powell, who didn't get to meet the team in person until October due to the pandemic. "We all know there are bigger life things going on and trying to navigate it has just been challenging. I'm grateful to our student-athletes and my players for embracing us as their coaches."
UCR got things started early with a 9-0 run at 50 percent shooting, thanks to seven quick points from Cooper.
Fullerton caught momentum late in the opening quarter, but not without the Highlander defense forcing seven turnovers in a four-minute span that allowed UC Riverside to take a 16-11 advantage.
The turnover trend continued, as UCR notched Fullerton's turnover rate to 14 at the start of an 8-0 run and 19 for the first half, thanks to back-to-back threes from Big West All-Freshman selection Jordan Webster that forced Fullerton to call time. UCR's defensive tenacity left it all on the floor on Tuesday, forcing a season-high 28 turnovers – breaking a previous season high of 23 against Fullerton – while scoring 19 points of the Titans' miscues.
"It comes down to toughness at the end of the day," Cooper said. "If you want to compete, it'll really make the difference and I think that over time, our team needs to learn that and adapt to that."
The scoring spree continued for the Highlanders, who strung together a 12-2 run over six minutes to stretch the lead to 30-18, their largest of the half. Cooper ended the half with nine points on 4-of-10 shooting, but Webster led the squad with 11 on a 50 percent shooting clip.
Both teams shot 50 percent from the floor and 33 percent from deep in the third quarter, but Cooper sparked UCR with the team's first eight points of the frame on 3-of-4 shooting and 2-of-3 from deep as the Highlanders jumped out to a 38-32 lead to keep Fullerton at bay.
Webster sparked life back into UCR's bench with an up-and-under finish to cut Fullerton's lead to 53-50. In typical UCR fashion against these same Titans, the Highlanders forced Fullerton's 28
th turnover of the afternoon that led to Jada Holland make one of two free throws, but that wouldn't be enough.
Through the ups and downs of Tuesday afternoon though, the grateful for having a season was still always there.
"I just want our kids to be thankful and really grateful that they got to play," Powell said. "As disappointing as this is, we're going to learn from it, enjoy it and come back next year and be stronger."
