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IRVINE, Calif. - It was one of those afternoons where it seemed like the Gauchos were shooting in a sink.
They drained practically everything.
UCSB set a pair of program records, making 15 three pointers on 30 attempts, in an 85-60 win over the UC Irvine Anteaters Saturday afternoon at the Bren Events Center in Irvine.
"We shot it well, got good shots in rhythm, and played unselfishly, which is obviously who we've been all year," said head coach Bonnie Henrickson.
Aliceah Hernandez set a personal career scoring high for the second game in a row, making seven of 10 from beyond the arc for 21 points to lead all scorers. UCSB had assists on 23 of their 31 made field goals, and shot 55.4% from the field, while 50% from downtown for the game.
The Gauchos (10-10, 5-2) also tightened the screws on the defensive end, holding UCI (3-18, 1-6) to 30.4% shooting from the field in the first half. UCSB forced 18 turnovers and converted them in to 17 points, outscoring the hosts by 12, 10, and 7 points over the first three quarters.
"Our effort and energy to start the game was good. It was important for us to get some confidence, we got some stops, forced some tough shots, and defended half court sets," Henrickson said.
Sarah Porter returned from injury to knock down five of eight triple tries for 15 points, and Drea Toler and Onome Jemerigbe each scored 12 while dishing six and five assists respectively. Makala Roper also contributed nine points with five helpers, and Drew Edelman had eight points and a team-best five rebounds.
The win also saw the season debut of Melissa Maragnes, and the second appearance of the year for Julianna Ramey to raucous cheers from the Gaucho bench. Maragnes scored her first points of the season on a pair of made free throws and grabbed a duo of rebounds.
"You can tell by the reaction on the bench, they're both special to work that hard every day to improve themselves and compete and make [their] teammates better," said Henrickson. "The selflessness to consistently come every day no matter what, you can tell how much [the team] respects and loves what those two do because of their energy."
UCSB opened by scoring 20 of the first 25 points in the game, with Jemerigbe making the first of her two treys for the game, and Hernandez and Porter each raininga pair of three balls on back-to-back possessions. Through the opening 10 minutes, seven of the first ten shots from the land of plenty fell for the blue-and-gold, whose lone bucket from inside came on the first basket of the game when Chaya Durr looped the ball over the top for an Edelman lay in.
Leading 23-11 after one, the Gauchos built on the lead with the first two baskets of the second on a pair of scores from Jemerigbe and Roper in the paint. An 11-3 run sparked by a Toler slash and score helped UCSB build to a 22 point lead at the 4:16 mark, and through the opening 20 minutes the lead was 46-24. Hernandez made five of her six threes to pace all scorers at the break, while the Gauchos also owned the paint with a 14-4 advantage.
The lead grew as large as 30 points three times in the second half, as Hernandez's seventh tri-ball of the game with 56 seconds remaining in the third quarter moved aside the 14 threes for the January 27th, 2007 game against University of the Pacific in the record books. UCSB later smashed their previous 74-point high water scoring mark for the season on Jemerigbe's layup at the 8:10 mark of the fourth quarter.
The 85 points is the Gauchos' third highest offensive output in the two seasons under coach Henrickson; UCSB scored 93 points against Morehead State, and 89 points against La Verne last season. Hernandez finished one triple short of the single game individual three pointer record of eight, set by Erin Alexander at USC on December 19th, 1996.
UCSB has won five of their last six games, and returns home for a three game home stand beginning Wednesday, February 1st against Cal State Fullerton at 7PM. UC Davis comes calling on Saturday, February 4th, before closing the season series with CSUN out on Thursday, February 9th.
"If we can get some momentum and more people in the stands, the energy to have a home court advantage, that'd be awfully helpful for us," Henrickson said.
