Irvine, Calif. – A trio of Anteaters scored in double-figures as UC Irvine held on to a 60-54 victory against UC Davis at the Bren Center Saturday.
UC Irvine wins its second consecutive game and goes to 6-10 overall and 2-2 in the Big West. UC Davis is 8-6 on the year and 2-1 in the Big West. UCI's victory over was only the second victory all-time against the Aggies (2-19). UCI's only other win against the UC Davis came on Jan. 4, 2006 when the Anteaters took a 79-72 decision in Davis.
UC Irvine built a five point lead (23-18) on a free throw by Jacquelyn Marshall with 3:22 remaining in the first half. UC Davis's Sydnee would out-score UCI 7-2 to knot the score at 25-25 at 1:15, the sixth tie of the first half. UCI's Cheyenne Cathey would give the Anteaters the 27-25 lead at halftime on a pair of free throws.
UC Davis would start the second half with a basket then UCI would go on a 15-4 run capped by a Kassandra McCalister layup at 12:51 to take a 44-33 lead. A three-pointer by Kiara Belen gave UCI its largest lead of the game, 49-37 with 8:14 on the clock. UC Davis would rally out-scoring the Anteaters 11-4 to narrow the margin to 53-48 with 1:06 left. After the teams traded baskets, UCI's Kelly Meggs hit the first of two free throws then UCD's Blair Shinoda cut the deficit to four (56-52) with a pair of free throws. UCI's Methlyn Onogomuho hit two free throws before Shinoda hit a jumper to keep the Aggies alive 58-54 with 28 ticks left. UCI threw a full court pass on the inbound to a streaking Anete Klintsone, who before falling out of bounds, flipped the ball back to Jacquelyn Marshall who was able to score the bucket and was fouled with 27 seconds left putting UCI up 60-54. Marshall would miss her free throw and UC Davis would not convert on two attempts from the field and one from free throw line as time expired.
UCI junior guard Anete Klintsone led all players with 16 points, hitting 6-13 from the floor. She also added a career-high eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Jacquelyn Marshall recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Senior guard Kassandra McCalister totaled 12 points and a game-best seven assists. Freshman Methlyn Onogomuho added six points, while senior Kiara Belen had five points.
Kasey Riecks paced UC Davis with 14 points and seven rebounds. Blair Shinoda and Sydnee Fipps each had 10 points. Samantha Meggison added eight points and six rebounds.
The Aggies, one of the league's best three-point shooting teams, were 4-24 (.167) for the game, while UCI was 4-16. The free throw line was key as UCI was 10-17 and UC Davis was 4-8.
UC Irvine will head to UC Santa Barbara Thursday (Jan. 12) then on to Cal Poly on Saturday (Jan. 14).
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