Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A 13-0 run by the
UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team turned around Saturday
afternoon's game and gave the Gauchos their second win in a
row.
Trailing by nine to Cal State Bakersfield midway through the
second half, Emilie
Johnson hit consecutive three-pointers and Kirsten
Tilleman added a three-point play before Sweets
Underwood and Melissa
Zornig added baskets to propel the Gauchos to a 57-49 victory.
UCSB has now won two games in a row for just the second time this
season – and the first since Nov. 17-19 – to improve to
10-13 overall. CSU Bakersfield falls to 4-21.
The Gauchos had three players score in double digits for the
first time since a Jan. 21 double overtime win over Cal State
Northridge. Sweets Underwood and Kirsten Tilleman each turned in
double-doubles as the duo combined for 25 points and 22
rebounds.
Bakersfield, which was playing with just seven players due to a
rash of injuries, led for most of the game. After Underwood's
jumper opened the scoring, CSUB led until the Gauchos' 13-0 run, a
total of 30 minutes, 20 seconds.
But it was Johnson's two treys, the first of which banked in
from the left arc and the second which came from the corner in
front of UCSB's bench, that turned the tide. Santa Barbara led by
as many as eight, 52-44, with 3:18 remaining on Johnson's 10-foot
jumper and then held off the Roadrunners the rest of the way.
Tilleman finished with her second consecutive double-double as
she posted 15 points and 10 rebounds while Underwood had 10 points
and 12 boards. Emilie Johnson had a game-high 16 points to go with
two assists and three rebounds.
The Gauchos got balanced scoring throughout the lineup as Madeline
Campbell had a season-best five points. Melissa Zornig added
four points while Nicole
Nesbit had three points and three assists. UCSB dished out 19
helpers, led by Kelsey
Adrian, who tied her career-high with five assists.
Meanwhile, Angelei
Aguirre played 18 extremely solid minutes as she finished with
two points, four rebounds and three assists.
As a team the Gauchos shot 41.4% from the floor and limited the
Roadrunners to just 27.9% from the field, while UCSB outrebounded
CSUB 45-39.
UCSB celebrated its annual Pink Zone game in the "Play for Kay"
event to raise breast cancer awareness. The UCSB players decorated
pink shooting shirts which were made available to the public and
the benefits went to breast cancer research.
The Gauchos play at UC Riverside on Thursday at 7 p.m. and
return home on Feb. 23 to face Cal State Northridge. Tickets are
available by calling 893-UCSB or by clicking here. All UCSB basketball games are
broadcast live on AM 990 and online by clicking this
link. The pregame show starts a half-hour prior to tip-off.