Feb. 24, 2006

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara led 6-3 after two quarters and went on to defeat Brown 11-6 in a non-conference women's water polo match Friday afternoon at Campus Pool.

The eleventh-ranked Gauchos (5-5 overall, 0-3 MPSF) jumped out to an early less than three minutes into the match on a goal by freshman Gillian Morgan. UCSB took a 2-0 lead 26 seconds later on senior Jen D'Anna's first of four goals.

The Bears got on the board on a goal by Paige Lansing with 3:24 remaining in the first quarter, cutting the Gaucho lead in half, 2-1.

Santa Barbara then rattled off three straight--two goals by D"Anna and one from freshman Amanda Tipton--to take a 5-1 advantage. After Karlyanna Kopra scored Brown's second goal of the afternoon, D"Anna struck again with 1:51 remaining in the first half. Kopra then added a goal in the waning seconds to bring the Bears within three at the half, 6-3.

The Gauchos opened the third quarter with three goals, before Brown responded with two of their own, bringing the score to 9-5

Tipton scored again at the 6:30 mark in the fourth, followed by a strike from senior Alaina Whitaker, as UCSB increased its lead to 11-5. Elizabeth Balassone's goal with 3:32 remaining was the last score of the contest and Santa Barbara held on for the 11-6 win.

The Gauchos are back in the pool later today, when they host UC Davis at 4:00 p.m. UCSB will also host the Gaucho Invitation this weekend with matches being played at both Campus Pool and the Recreation Center Pool all day on Saturday and Sunday.

Team                1  2  3  4  Total
Brown	            1  2  2  1   6
UC Santa Barbara    2  4  3  2   11
Brown Goals: Karlyanna Kopra-3, Elizabeth Balassone-2,
Paige Lansing,
UCSB Goals: Jen D'Anna-4, Gillian Morgan-2,
Amanda Tipton-2, Sarah Kovak, Allie Carkin, Alaina Whitaker
Brown Saves: Anne Deggleman-6
UCSB Saves: Rosey Redaelli-7