BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team had eight different scorers help them to victory against Cal State Bakersfield Thursday night. A full team effort led to the Gauchos wire-to-wire victory. Three Gauchos scored in double-figures while five players recorded five or more rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was all Gauchos from the start of the game. UC Santa Barbara opened the game on a 13-0 run forcing Cal State Bakersfield to take an early timeout. Five different players scored during the opening run. After the timeout, the Roadrunners would hit their first shot of the game at the midway point of the opening quarter. They started to battle their way back into the game, bringing it within five with 38 seconds to go. Jessica Grant would swing the momentum back to the Gauchos as she hoisted a three and beat the buzzer to put Santa Barbara up 18-10 after the first.

The second quarter was a lot of the same from UC Santa Barbara. Alexis Whitfield scored the first two baskets in the quarter to grow the lead to 12 points. The Gauchos would only add on from there. Solid defense and aggressive rebounding by Skylar Burke, Alyssa Marin and Anya Choice would propel the Gauchos to a 16-point lead by halftime.

Coming out of the break the Roadrunners started to find their rhythm and cut into the Gaucho lead. Cal State Bakersfield first went on a 13-5 scoring run to cut the lead in half. A Marin three-pointer stopped the run for a second but The 'Runners went on another scoring run and brought the game within two possessions with under two minutes in the third quarter. After trading baskets down the stretch in the frame UC Santa Barbara took a 49-42 lead to the final quarter.

UC Santa Barbara took over in the final quarter and took Bakersfield out of it from the start. They grew their lead to as much as 23. A 15-5 run spurred by Alexis Whitfield gave the Gauchos all the momentum and carried them to victory. Down the stretch, the Gauchos didn't miss from deep hitting seven threes in total and three coming under two minutes. The Gauchos' dominant performance earned them their fourth Big West victory.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Alyssa Marin, Alexis Whitfield, Laurel Rockwood, Skylar Burke and Flora Goed all recorded more than five rebounds in the contest. Marin's eight rebounds are a new career-high.
• Whitfield has scored in double-figures in 10 of the Gauchos' 15 games. She has also scored 15 or more points in three of the past four games.
• UC Santa Barbara outrebounded the Roadrunners by 13 in the game.
• Marin currently posts a 2.15 assist-to-turnover ratio which leads The Big West and ranks top 70 nationally.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will stay on the road as they travel to Long Beach State on Saturday, Jan. 13. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. inside the Walter Pyramid. For those unable to make the trip the game will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats also available.