Box Score NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – After falling behind by 17 points in the third quarter on Tuesday night, the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team stormed back with a 29-point turnaround over the final 19:12 to top CSUN by a final score of 63-51.
1ST HALF
- The Gauchos (15-10, 9-7) took a 9-5 lead several minutes in on a three-pointer from senior point guard Danae Miller, but CSUN (9-17, 5-11) would close the opening period strong on a 9-2 run.
- Northridge couldn't miss inside the line in the second quarter, going 8-of-10 on two-point attempts as they took a 33-19 lead into halftime.
2ND HALF
- A Tess Amundsen three-pointer opened the second half to give the Matadors their largest lead of the day at 36-19. From that point, their night would be turned upside down. The Gauchos began pounding the ball inside to Lane, who scored eight points on a perfect 4-of-4 mark in the third.
- Miller closed the quarter with her third triple of the day, a cold-blooded step back buzzer beater to bring UCSB within 5 points, 39-34. The Gauchos picked up right where they left off in the fourth, scoring on each of their first three possessions.
- UCSB took its first lead since the opening quarter, 40-39 on a silky smooth stop-on-a-dime, turnaround fadeaway by guard Alexis Tucker at the 7:56 mark. That capped a 21-4 run.
- There would be several more lead changes before freshman guard Kennedy Johnson's big putback with 3:14 to go put the Gauchos up 47-45. Miller would navigate the lane for a clutch floater to put them up five and Anya Choice found Lane over the top for a dagger layup, making it 52-45 with just over a minute remaining to seal UCSB's second straight win.
ON THE STAT SHEET
- The Gauchos were dreadful at the line over the first three quarters (2/8 FT), but that changed in the fourth thanks in large part to Alexis Tucker. The junior went 9-of-10 and the team went 13-for-16 (81.3%) on free throws over the final 10 minutes.
- Tucker tied a career-high with 23 points to lead all players, 15 coming in the fourth. She finished 11-of-16 at the charity stripe, making double-digit free throws for the first time since hitting 10-of-11 for 23 points in her first career game as a freshman at Texas Tech in 2019.
- Ila Lane put up 14 points and 11 rebounds for her third straight double-double. She went 7-for-8 (87.5%) from the field, extending her remarkable streak of eight consecutive double-digit scoring games while shooting 60 percent or better. Her previous best was two straight such outings.
- Fresh off her 35-point outburst in Saturday's win over UC Davis, senior point guard Danae Miller still had the hot touch from the outside, knocking down 3-of-6 from deep and finishing with 15 points. Miller has been a sniper over her past five games, connecting on 17-of-36 (47.2%) three-pointers.
NEXT UP
The Gauchos will have the rest of the week to prepare for their final regular season game at Hawaii this Saturday at 9:00 p.m. PT.
