Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A 20-point first quarter got the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team (9-13, 4-5 Big West) ahead against Hawai'i (13-10, 7-3 Big West), but a combined 31 points the rest of the way saw the Rainbow Wahine come back and claim victory, 63-51, on Saturday afternoon at the Thunderdome.
UCSB was led by the efforts of freshman center Ila Lane, who recorded her second-straight 20-plus point performance and 13th double-double of the season with a 20 point, 15 rebound performance, and redshirt senior guard Coco Miller who had 19 points.
Lane scored the first seven points of the game for the Gauchos, highlighted by an and-one under the basket, as she helped UCSB race out to a 7-2 lead.
Hawai'i pulled itself back on level terms after Jadynn Alexander's second free throw capped off a 5-0 run, but the Gauchos prevented the Rainbow Wahine from taking the lead by responding with five unanswered points of their own.
A Danae Miller fastbreak layup and a corner three from Coco Miller gave UCSB a 12-7 lead, which would extend to as much as a six-point advantage after Coco Miller hit another pair of triples, but ultimately settled at a 20-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Gaucho offense sputtered in the second quarter, with Lane scoring the only points of the period for the hosts off a free throw and a jumper in the paint.
On the other hand, Hawai'i didn't have much going either, but a ten-point showing helped the tide turn in its favor to the tune of a 26-23 halftime lead.
The Rainbow Wahine opened the second half on a 12-4 run, stifling the Gaucho attack as Courtney Middap led the pack with six points.
Santa Barbara cut the visitors' lead to three with under a minute to go until the fourth quarter off a Coco Miller layup, but Hawai'i's Julissa Tago and Courtney Middap made a pair of layups to get the lead back up to 42-35 at the end of the quarter.
The Gauchos cut the deficit to five points twice early on in the final period, but Hawai'i put the game out of reach as the game continued, coming up with the 63-51 win.
"Offensively, we were stagnant. We were talking about [during shootaround in the morning] moving our guy, move the ball, middle kick. Right now too many of our drives are just shots for ourselves. We're not moving the defense, we're not creating opportunities to rip and drive, we're not forcing closeouts- we're just stuck. You have to be able to score and manufacture offense in transition," said UCSB head coach Bonnie Henrickson after the game.
UCSB heads back on the road next week, traveling to Long Beach State on Thursday night and CSUN on Saturday evening. Both games are set to tip at 7 p.m. and are set to be both livestreamed on BigWest.TV and broadcasted on UCSBGauchos.com. Livestats will also be available on UCSBGauchos.com.
Follow UCSB women's basketball all season long on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
