SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Facing a talented No. 9 UCLA (8-1) team at the Thunderdome on Wednesday, UCSB (2-7) fought hard over the first three quarters, keeping the Bruins' lead to as little as six with just over a minute to go in the third. However, the Gauchos could find no answer for UCLA's Jordin Canada, who finished with a career-high 30 points on 11-21 shooting to lead her team to a 71-52 victory. The star junior point guard also added five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

"That kid's special. She's very, very talented," head coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "I think she looked around and said, 'Nobody else is scoring, what we're doing right now isn't working, let me just go.' Give her credit, but we'll learn from that."

Leading the way for the home side was Sarah Porter, who tied a career-high by knocking down 3-7 three-pointers to give her a team-high 11 points. Porter has now hit three triples in six different games this season and has scored in double-digits seven times in nine outings.

UCLA frustrated the Gauchos with a high-pressure full court defense from the opening tip, forcing eight turnovers in the first period alone and taking a 20-7 lead into the second quarter. Santa Barbara would end the night with a 23-8 disadvantage in the turnover department.

To open the second, UCSB would answer back with one of its best stretches of the year on both sides of the ball. Playing with renewed energy, the Gauchos held the Bruins without a basket until the 4:17 mark, fighting for every loose ball and earning a raucous response from the home crowd.

"We were very excited," freshman guard Aliceah Hernandez said. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to play the No. 9 team, so we were very excited and we just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity."

Led by the hot shooting of Porter, UCSB went on a 16-2 run to tie the game at 22-22 with 3:33 remaining in the half. Porter scored all 11 of her points over a five minute span, including going 3-5 from three-point range, before Jemerigbe tied the game with a breakaway layup.

"You have to answer a run, and I'm proud that we answered," Henrickson said. "We cut into it by moving the ball, we had 15 stops in a row, and we were able to manufacture some offense and get a couple opportunities in transition."

Behind the calming play of Canada, who scored ten of UCLA's final 11 points over the last three minutes of the first half, the Bruins would answer back to take control of the game. Canada finished the half with 13 points on 5-11 shooting to help her team take a 33-26 into halftime.

Santa Barbara continued to fight back in a sluggish third quarter, cutting a 13-point UCLA lead to 46-40 on a pair of Jemerigbe free throws with 1:17 to go. There was simply no stopping Canada though, who put up 13 points in the third quarter alone, bringing her total to 27 as the Bruins took a 50-40 lead into the final period.

UCLA would extend its run to 14-0 early in the final period by getting to the line early and often, taking its largest lead of the game 60-40 at the 6:39 mark. The Bruins would go on to win 71-52, earning their seventh straight victory dating back to Nov. 18.

Backing up Canada was junior forward Monique Billings, who went 6-14 from the field and 5-11 from the free-throw line on the way to 17 points, seven boards, three blocks and three steals.

On the UCSB side, Makala Roper had a second straight solid outing, tallying nine points and six rebounds on 4-10 shooting. Drea Toler had a good all-around game as well, finishing with seven points, five boards and a team-high five assists.

Freshman center Natalia Bruening, who has seen increased minutes of late, added two points and tied for game-high honors with a career-best seven rebounds.

Although the Gauchos have struggled on the glass at times this season, they matched the Bruins 38-38 in rebounds. They also won in the outside shooting department, finishing 8-20 from deep (40 percent) compared to 2-10 for UCLA. This makes it five straight games that UCSB has made at least seven three-pointers, putting them at 44-121 (36.3 percent) as a team over that stretch.

The Gauchos will be back on the road this Friday when they take on Fresno State at 7 p.m. at Save Mart Center in Fresno.