Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team claimed its fourth straight Blue-Green Rivalry victory, staving off a late Cal Poly surge to defeat the Mustangs 65-59.
The Gauchos improve to 9-4 overall and 2-1 in Big West play, while Cal Poly falls to 4-8 overall, 1-3 conference.
ON THE STAT SHEET
- Junior guard Anya Choice led the Gauchos in scoring for the second straight game, recording a second consecutive season-high with 17 points on 5-of-11 from the field.
- The only other Gaucho to score in double-figures was senior center Ila Lane, who tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds for her conference-leading fifth double-double of the year and first since November.
- Santa Barbara's defense shined, hoding Cal Poly to 36.8 percent shooting overall and just 20 percent from three-point range.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UCSB's offense got out to a slow start in the opening minutes, but good passing led to back-to-back threes by Taylor Mole and Callie Cooper, kickstarting a 10-2 run to give the home side its first lead of the night.
- The Mustangs led 17-14 following a three-point play to begin the second quarter, but the rest of the half would belong to the Gauchos. UCSB ended the half on a 19-7 run, highlighted by strong drives by Alyssa Marin and Kennedy Johnson that resulted in three-point plays and a pair of catch-and-shoot triples by freshman Jessica Grant. Johnson led the way with seven points in the period to give the Gauchos a 38-26 halftime advantage.
- The Mustangs chipped away at the lead throughout the second half, pulling to within one point with just under five minutes remaining in the game. Marin hit a timely jumper to put the Gauchos up 55-52. Alexis Tucker made a great effort to pull in an offensive board on the next possession, which ended with a clutch three by Choice from the left corner as the Mustang defense focused its attention on Lane in the middle to make it 58-52.
- The Gauchos made 7-of-8 from the foul line in the final period, as they wre able to keep it a two-possession game the rest of the way.
UP NEXT
UCSB's two-game home stand concludes on Wednesday with a 7:00 p.m. matchup against CSU Bakersfield at the Thunderdome.
