IRVINE, Calif. – With career-high scoring performances from Je Zhé Newton and Onome Jemerigbe, UCSB cruised to an 80-62 win over UC Irvine at the Bren Events Center on Thursday night.

Jemerigbe paced the Gauchos with her career-high 20 points in going 7-9 from the field and 6-7 at the foul line. Keeping to her season average, Jemerigbe also dealt out a team-leading four assists. Newton netted a career-best 16 points and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, helping the Gauchos top the Anteaters in the rebound column 35-27.

Coco Miller also reached double figures with 17 points, as she drained six of her nine shots and went 2-3 from downtown. Overall, UCSB shot 54.4 percent in the game, and shot over the 50 percent plateau in each half.

The Gauchos were disruptive on the defensive side of the floor with 11 steals, scoring 31 points off 22 UC Irvine turnovers. It is the ninth time UCSB has finished a game with at least 10 steals, including the third time in conference play.

In terms of the turnover battle, UCSB set the tone early in picking up two steals and three total UCI turnovers in an 8-0 run through the first two minutes and 23 seconds of the game. Outside of the first basket – which came after UCSB won the opening tip – six of those points were scored off Anteater giveaways.

Jemerigbe netted the first four points of that run, including a steal-and-score to make it 4-0. It was the first of Jemerigbe's game-high four steals in the game.

The point guard later gave UCSB its first double-digit lead of the game at the 8:10 mark in the second quarter. On the play, Jemerigbe scored on a three-point play, making the score 24-13.

While the Gauchos shot the ball at a 64.3 percent clip in the third quarter, the Anteaters were keeping pace with a 61.5 shooting percentage of their own, as the score teetered between a 12 and a 14-point Gaucho lead. 

But UCSB would later bring UC Irvine's offense to a grinding halt in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, as they tacked on 12 unanswered points to garner a commanding 74-48 lead, which would later prove to be their largest lead of the game.

During that stretch, it was again the Gauchos' defense that proved to be the difference maker, as they forced Irvine into three turnovers, including one steal. UCSB also did not allow a single offensive rebound, while picking up two offensive boards of its own. Altogether, eight of those points were scored in the paint, while the remaining four came from foul shots.

UCSB will continue its road trip at Long Beach State on Saturday when they will tip off with the 49ers at 4 p.m. If you cannot make it to the game, the game will feature a video stream, an audio broadcast, and live stats.