RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball Team put on their own kind of Black Friday blowout at California Baptist's Fowler Events Center, riding a three-point barrage to a 74-49 victory over the Lancers in the first round of this weekend's CBU Classic in Riverside. It is the Gauchos' first win over California Baptist in six tries (all since the Lancers moved up to the Division-I level in 2018) and puts an end to the Lancers' perfect start to the season. Both Santa Barbara and CBU are now 5-1 on the year.
 
The Gauchos shot 48.48% from deep on Friday, making 16 of their 33 long-range attempts, both season highs. Both Zoe Shaw and Jessica Grant had 15-point outings with all of their points coming from behind the arc, while Zoe Borter led the offense with 19 points (helped by an efficient 3-for-4 three-point outing herself). Not to be overlooked among the flurry of threes, the Gauchos also held CBU to just 12% from beyond the arc and a season-low 49 points, with Santa Barbara gobbling up a season-high 41 rebounds off all those misses.
 
FROM HEAD COACH RENEE JIMENEZ
"That's a great win for our team," Jimenez said. "We were incredibly intentional and focused on our defense and rebounding, the two things we knew we needed to do to beat such a talented team like California Baptist. I thought from the very start we were locked in and came ready to play and I think that showed on both ends of the floor today."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lancers made the first basket of the game, and that was the last time they led. It took a couple of possessions for the Gauchos to get their first shot to go, but after Skyler Burke's three gave Santa Barbara the lead with 7:30 to play in the quarter, they never looked back. Grant and Borter added makes of their own to put together an 8-0 run in less than a minute for the Gauchos, and while the Lancers were able to get back within two, Santa Barbara put together another 8-0 run to stretch their lead to 10 points. At the end of the first, the Gauchos were doubling up their hosts, 18-9.
 
Santa Barbara continued building their lead in the second as the teams traded buckets but neither could go on a massive run. For much of the quarter, it was the Zoe Borter show for the Gauchos, the senior tallying the first 10 of her team's 18 points in the frame. After the Lancers had cut the lead to five, she was the one to prevent a run with a bucket of her own, then a three the next time down to put Santa Barbara clear by double digits again. The trading continued, with CBU getting within six before Borter again scored on back-to-back possessions. The Gauchos' other Zoe, Zoe Shaw, chipped in a three of her own to make it the largest lead of the half, 31-17, with 4:28 left before the break. At the interval, Santa Barbara's lead was 13, thanks to Maddie Naro hitting a three for the final bucket of the half.
 
After shooting 57.1% from three in the first half, the Gauchos refused to cool off in the second, with Shaw hitting the first shot of the third quarter from nowhere other than beyond the arc. Olivia Bradley hit a three the next time down and Shaw drained another as it was all Aussies early, but it was Borter to finally get Santa Barbara's lead up to 20 points for the first time, hitting her third three of the game with 6:34 left in the quarter. The Gauchos had the Lancers reeling as Naro swiped the ball and set up Grant for a three right after the timeout CBU had taken following Borter's three, forcing a second straight timeout from the hosts. For the remainder of the quarter, Santa Barbara stayed 18 or more points ahead of CBU, and heading into the fourth, the Gauchos held a 56-38 lead.
 
That advantage never dropped below 17 points in the final frame, and Santa Barbara was at least 20 points ahead for the final 5:55 of the game. Ava Rawlins and Bojana Radnjic both got minutes in the final frame and added their names to the scoresheet, with Radnjic giving the Gauchos their largest lead of the game at 27 points in the final minute.  
 
UP NEXT
With the win, Santa Barbara advances to the championship game of the four-team CBU Classic, to be played at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29 from the Fowler Events Center in Riverside. The Gauchos will face either Sacramento State or Chattanooga in Saturday's championship, which will be broadcast live on ESPN+.