RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A late rally wasn't enough for the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team, which trailed by double-digits for much of the second half in a 69-63 defeat at California Baptist.

The Gauchos are now 5-3 on the year, while the Lancers improve to 3-6.

ON THE STAT SHEET

• It was a balanced scoring effort for UCSB, with leading scorers Taylor Mole, Ila Lane and Alexis Tucker all puttig in 10 points. Lane (3-6 FG) was the most efficient from the field out of the three, extending her run of fifty percent shooting games to eight to open the season.
• Starting guards Alyssa Marin and Anya Choice dished out a team-high four assists each. Marin didn't have a great shooting day, but did knock down 2-of-7 three-pointers.
• The Gauchos were efficient once again from the free throw line (16-18 FT) and finished with a huge 47-33 edge in rebounds, but turned the ball over eight more times, 17-9.
• Off the bench, sophomore forward Alexis Whitfield and Jessica Grant had eight and seven points, respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Half

• Santa Barbara got out to a decent start. Back-to-back layups by Tucker and Lane gave them an 8-2 lead out of the gates. The Lancers would cut the lead to one by the end of the first and went on a 10-0 run in the second, spurred by three unanswered layups from Grace Schmidt.
• Marin came off a screen and buried a pull-up three – the only triple for either team in the period – to help stem the tide for a moment. However, CBU's lead would grow to 12 points in the final minute. A nice baseline drive and finish by Alexis Whitfield sent the Gauchos into halftime trailing 34-24.
• Neither team had great first half shooting numbers, but the difference came in the turnover game, where UCSB had 11 to CBU's two.

2nd Half

• The Lancers carried their momentum into the third, hitting their first three shots to go up 44-27 at the 6:30 mark. The Gauchos would get to the line for five unanswered points and Whitfield capped a 7-0 run with another layup to pull back within 10 points, 47-37.
• The Gauchos fell back down by 16 early in the fourth, but they got right back into it with an 8-0 run. It started when Choice assisted Mole on her first of three fourth quarter triples. Guard Callie Cooper came up with a steal on CBU's next play, and seconds later, Mole knocked down another from deep.
• Another pair of threes, this time from Mole and Choice, made it a five-point game with just over four minutes remaining. The Gauchos would have their chances to cut further into the lead over the final minutes, but couldn't get the buckets they needed to make it a one-possession game.

UP NEXT
UCSB will be home for its next three games. Stanislaus State will be welcomed to the Thunderdome for a Thursday, Dec. 15 meeting at 7:00 p.m., when the Gauchos will also be partnering with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department to host their Holiday Toy Drive.