RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A late rally from the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team nearly brought the Gauchos back from an 18-point deficit, but UC Riverside held on to win 66-61 on Saturday night at the SRC Arena.

UCSB (7-10, 2-2 Big West) had four players finish with double digits in Coco Miller, Ila Lane, Danae Miller, and Tal Sahar, combining for 55 of UCSB's 61 points.

UC Riverside held the lead from the beginning of the game, opening on an 8-0 run that led to a 22-13 scoreline at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter gave way to a more modest advantage for the Highlanders, but the hosts still managed to extend their lead to 12 points at the half, leading 36-24.

Following the break, the gap grew to 18 points as a Jannon Otto jumper midway through the third quarter put Riverside up 47-29.

Then, the Gauchos started on a run that would bring them back within seven at the end of the third quarter and that would last until it became a one-possession game three minutes into the fourth.

Ultimately, it was a 21-6 run led by Ila Lane's six points, Coco Miller's five from a triple and two free throws, and Danae Miller's four including the layup that started the run.

Riverside's Marina Ewodo hit a jumper that made it a five-point game with 6:17 left, but Ila Lane converted on a pair of free throws to keep the Gauchos one shot away from tying it up.

Keilanei Cooper, the game's top scorer, answered with a jumper and this time Riverside would maintain its distance until there was less than two minutes left in regulation, when Coco Miller hit a trey and a jumper on back-to-back possessions to cut the Riverside lead to 60-57.

Cooper drilled another jumper with 34 seconds left, but Ila Lane headed to the free throw line after drawing Otto's fifth foul of the game and sank them both to keep UCSB's hopes of tying up the game alive.

After a Riverside timeout, Lauren Lee immediately fouled Keilanei Cooper, but Cooper put away both of her free throws to put the Highlanders ahead by two possessions once again.

A few short seconds later, Cooper fouled Danae Miller and it was Miller's turn to get both free throws down before the Gauchos went back to the fouling game to bring Cooper back to the charity stripe, where she made it 65-61 with 15 seconds left.

After Cooper missed the second free throw, Lane got the rebound back for the Gauchos and advanced it, but Danae Miller's three-point attempt fell short with five seconds left.

Next up for the Gauchos is a home matchup against UC Davis on Thursday night at the Thunderdome. The game will be streamed on BigWest.TV with Gerry Fall and Louis Reynauld on the call. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Follow UCSB women's basketball all season long on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.