SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - After falling in just their third Big West contest on Thursday, the UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team earned a bounce-back win over Cal State Bakersfield. The win improves the Gauchos' home record to 10-1 on the 2023-24 season.

FROM HEAD COACH BONNIE HENRICKSON
"There will be days where shots don't fall and that was us today," explained Henrickson. "I am just proud of their toughness and finding a way to chip away. We took good shots but were just out of rhythm a little bit."

HOW IT HAPPENED
From the jump, baskets were hard to come by for both sides. After the Roadrunners went up 5-0 the Gauchos fought back and neither side would extend the lead to more than three in the quarter keeping it close. UC Santa Barbara would eventually tie the game up at 10 a piece but Bakersfield ended up getting the last bucket of the half to take a 12-10 lead to the second quarter.

The teams continued to trade leads and baskets throughout the second quarter. Neither side was able to string together stops and scores to extend their lead past four. The Roadrunners clung to a two-point lead with 18 seconds left in the half but Mary McMorris came up big hitting a shot to tie the game at the buzzer. The teams went to the locker room tied 24-24.

Quarter three was much of the same from both sides. The Gauchos and Roadrunners traded leads and baskets throughout the quarter. It didn't look that way early as Cal State Bakersfield got out to an eight-point lead. The Roadrunners maintained that lead throughout the quarter but with just under two minutes left the Gauchos found their groove and were able to tie the game by the time the quarter came to a close.

In the fourth UC Santa Barbara came alive and were able to build a 12-point lead at the four-minute mark, forcing Bakersfield to take a timeout. The timeout was much needed as Bakersfield went on a 10-point run to bring the game within two, with under 30 seconds to play. After missing four straight free throws to keep it a two-point game Bakersfield had a shot at the end to tie the game. The Gaucho defense held strong and forced a tough shot that missed and Santa Barbara came out victorious.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Skylar Burke's 19-point outburst led all scorers and it was her seventh time scoring in double figures.
• Alexis Whitfield nearly matched a career-high in rebounds with 18, falling one shy. Over the last five games, Whitfield is averaging 12.8 rebounds per game.
• The Gauchos did not make their first three-pointer until 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will hit the road for a two-game road trip next week as they travel to the Los Angeles Area. On Thursday, Feb. 8 the Gauchos will take on UC Irvine in Irvine, Calif. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.