Northridge, Calif. – UC Irvine committed a season-high 33 turnovers and lost 55-49 to Cal State Northridge to open the Big West schedule at the Matadome Thursday.
UC Irvine drops its fourth consecutive game and falls to 4-9 on the season and 0-1 in league play. Cal State Northridge is 6-7 on the year and 1-0 in conference.
Cal State Northridge jumped out to a 9-2 lead with 15:50 on the clock as UCI recorded six quick turnovers and waited until 16:53 to score its first two points on a pair of Anete Klintsone free throws. UCI recorded its first seven points on free throws before scoring its first basket on a Klintsone layup at 11:37 which was followed by a Jasmine Bernard bucket at 11:08 to knot the score at 11-11. The Matadors would sprint to a 23-13 advantage before UCI would return the favor scoring the next eight points to narrow the deficit to 23-21 at 4:12. Cal State Northridge would lead 29-27 at the half. The Anteaters had 17 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and were 11-15 from the free throw line.
The teams would remain close until Jessica Duarte drained a three-pointer for the Matadors at 5:22 which was followed by three Janae Sharpe free throws to extend the lead to six (51-45) with 3:28 remaining. The Anteaters would get as close as 51-49 on a free throw by Bernard with 2:03 left, but UCI would commit three consecutive turnovers and Northridge capitalized scoring the final four points of the game.
UCI was led by Jasmine Bernard with 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Junior forward Jazmyne White had a season and game-high 13 rebounds to go with four points, three assists and two blocks. Junior guard Anete Klintsone added nine points and five rebounds, while senior guard Kiara Belen totaled seven points and five rebounds.
The Anteaters shot better than Northridge from the floor 34.8 to 32.8 and the free throw line 60.7 to 50.0 and dominated the glass, 53-31. UCI's 53 rebounds was a season-high.
Cal State Northridge's Janae Sharpe had a game-high 19 points and seven steals. Jasmine Erving totaled nine points and eight rebounds for the Matadors.
UC Irvine will travel to Long Beach State Saturday (Dec. 31) for a 1:00 p.m. game at the Walter Pyramid. The game is part of the Black & Blue Rivalry Series presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach.
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