CEDAR CITY, Utah (Nov. 26, 2022) – The UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team continued its best start to a season under head coach Bonnie Henrickson, with Alexis Tucker's 29 points leading the Gauchos to their first triple overtime win in program history 102-96 at Southern Utah.

Santa Barbara is now 4-1 for the first time since the 2002-03 season. The Thunderbirds (2-4) also became the first Division I opponent that the Gauchos have put up triple digits against in over 20 years.

ON THE STAT SHEET

• Tucker's 29 points (10-20 FG) set a new career-high. After scoring 20-plus in back-to-back games for the first time, she has now reached that mark seven times in her career.
• Center Ila Lane scored 10 of her season-high 22 points in the overtime periods. She made it five straight games shooting over 50 percent to open the season, going 10-of-19 (.526) from the field. She also just missed out on another double-double by tying Tucker for a team-high nine boards.
• Guard Alyssa Marin came up huge at the foul line (13-15 FT), finishing with 18 points on just five field goal attempts to go with a game-high seven assists.
• Anya Choice and Alexis Whitfield rounded out UCSB's double-digit scorers with 11 points apiece. Whitfield also snagged a Gaucho season-high four steals to lead all players.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Gauchos got out to a good defensive start, taking their largest lead of the day 11-3 with less than two minutes to go in the first. The Thunderbirds would end the opening period on a 7-0 run.
• Both sides shot it well in the second, matching each other with 18 points each as UCSB headed into halftime up 31-28. Tucker had her highest-scoring quarter in the second with eight points, hitting 3-of-5 shots.
• The Thunderbirds used a 10-0 run to go up 48-38 late in the third. Marin gave UCSB a boost to close the period by getting fouled on a three and hitting all three free throws to bring UCSB within four, 50-46, heading into the fourth.
• Forward Tatyana Modawar hit a timely three and Tucker capped a 7-0 Gaucho run with four straight to tie it at 53-53 midway through the fourth. The Thunderbirds went back up six points with several minutes remaining, but Lane scored twice on the inside and would later tie the game 66-66 with 28 seconds left, sending the game into its first overtime.
• A back-and-forth first overtime saw UCSB trail by four with under a minute left. Tucker put in a second-chance bucket and Lane came up clutch once again on two game-tying free throws with 10 seconds left. The Gauchos nearly won it after a steal by Lane, but Whitfield had her potential game-winning shot blocked as time expired.
• In the second OT, it was UCSB that would take a four-point lead, but Southern Utah's Samantha Johnston hit the tying three with 12 seconds left, resulting in another five-minute session.
• Whitfield and Marin would hit big threes in the third OT, and Lane put in a dagger inside to give the Gauchos a 96-91 edge with 38 ticks remaining. UCSB made its final six free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

NOTABLE

• The Gauchos are now 1-2 all-time in triple overtime games. They played 15 minutes past the end of regulation for the first time since Feb. 15, 2003 in a 94-90 road loss at LSU. This was also the third overtime game and second OT win during the Bonnie Henrickson era (since 2014-15).
• UCSB hadn't scored over 100 points against an opponent since all the way back in January of 2002, when they beat CSUN 105-60 at the Thunderdome.
• Five different Gauchos scored in double-figures for the first time this season.

UP NEXT
UCSB will look go for its fifth win in its first six games when it travels to face Loyola Marymount at 7:00 p.m. this coming Wednesday, Nov. 30.