RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Highlanders finished the regular season with an 89-56 loss to Hawai'i tonight at the SRC Arena. Regardless of the result UC Riverside will finish seventh in the conference and will be the seventh seed in 2026 Credit Union 1 Big West Basketball Championships that start next week. The first round opponent for the Highlanders has not been determined yet and they will know Saturday night.
Prior to tonight's game it was Senior Night and UCR honored Sophia Diaz (team manager),
Shelley Duchemin,
Zoe Tillery,
Dieynaba Sylla,
TT Hill-Brown,
Seneca Hackley and
Bria Shine.
The game was close at the end of the first quarter with the Highlanders only trailing by three points, 15-12. The last time these two teams met, on January 1,
Hannah Wickstrom set a new career high, 36 points. It started well for the guard, scoring ten of UCR's 12 points. However, the Hawai'i defense settled down and held to to just four points the rest of the game. Hackley was the only other Highlander in double figures with 12.
It was all Hawai'i after the first quarter. The Highlanders just could not get anything going on offense. Everytime the tried to make a run at it, Hawai'i found away to keep the momentum.
Next up for the Highlanders is the conference tournament in Henderson, Nev., and the opponent and game time is still TBD.
