TUCSON, Ariz. – The Highlanders headed to Tucson to take on the Arizona Wildcats tonight. UCR fought valiantly and had a chance, but fell 62-59.
UCR's
Taylor Swanson hit a three (her first career points) to open the scoring for the Highlanders. Then
Aaliyah Stanton scored on a layup giving UCR a 5-3 lead.
Maya Chocano's three made it 8-3 UCR at the 5:07 mark in the first. The Highlanders' defense held the Wildcats to three points through the first five and half minutes of the game.
A pair of free throws by Arizona's Sumayah Sugapong made it 8-5 and the game tightened up. The Wildcats' offense found a spark towards the end of the first quarter and took a 14-12 lead.
The second quarter started with both offenses struggling to score.
Shelley Duchemin's lay up tied the game at 14 and it remained deadlocked for the next four minutes. Stanton broke the tie on a free throw and UCR held a slim 15-14 lead.
Arizona scored the next four points and took an 18-15 lead. The Highlanders were stuck on 15 points for nearly two minutes until Chocano busted another three to tie the game at 18. Both teams traded baskets in the final two minutes and at the end of the half the Highlanders held a 25-23 lead.
Arizona's offense caught fire in the third, outscoring UCR 23-14 to take a 46-39 lead. The Wildcats' Mickayla Perdue had eight points in the quarter to boost Arizona's offense but UCR finished the quarter strong. A layup by
Kaylani Polk and a free throw by Stanton kept UCR within striking distance as they trailed 46-39.
In the fourth quarter Arizona extended its lead to nine and that is when UCR started to chip away. Duchemin and Seneca Hackely started with back-to-back layups for the Highlanders and suddenly the lead was cut to five, 48-43. Arizona scored the next four and pushed the lead back to nine at 52-43.
Then the Highlanders went on a 9-2 run and cut Arizona's lead to 54-52. After a Wildcats' layup,
Bria Shine hit a big three late to and UCR trailed by one. Then Hackley a minute later hit a three to tie the game at 58.
With Arizona holding a one point lead with ten seconds left in the game. Stanton was able to get to the basket and had a look at it, but the shot didn't fall. Sugapong hit a couple of free throws with a second left to extend Arizona's lead to three. Chocano missed a three as time expired and the Highlanders suffered a second straight tough loss.
Next up for UCR is its home opener on November 14 at 6PM in the SRC Arena as they host Saint Mary's (CA). Purchase tickets to the home opener
here.
