Box Score Irvine, Calif. – UC Riverside escaped a last minute UC Irvine rally to defeat the Anteaters, 68-67 Saturday in front of a crowd of 1,251 at the Bren Events Center.
UC Riverside led by six (64-58) with 1:23 remaining before Camille Buckley made a basket and was fouled with 56 seconds on the clock. After she made her free throw, two UC Riverside players were fouled and missed the front end of the one-and-one, the last allowing Jennifer Tsurumoto to knock down a three-pointer to narrow the Highlander lead to 64-63 with 23 seconds. Tre'Shonti Nottingham was fouled and hit a pair of free throws before Tsurumoto drove the length of the court and right to the hoop to lay it in with 14 seconds, closing the gap to 66-65. Nottingham was fouled again and made two more free-throws with 10 seconds left and after an Anteater three-pointer went long, UCI's Anete Klintsone elected not to pass the ball back outside and go in for a layup as time expired for the 68-67 final score.
UC Riverside started the game with a quick 13-2 start and continued to lead 17-5 until UCI went on a 7-0 run to close within 17-12 at 9:39. The Highlanders would answer with an 8-2 spurt to push the advantage back to 25-14 at the 5:10 mark. UC Riverside would end the half scoring six of the final eight points and hold a 31-18 lead at the break. UCI would start the second half out-scoring UCR, 19-11 and would narrow the deficit to 42-37 with 11:08 remaining. UCI would get as close as three on two occasions before making its last minute surge.
Junior forward Camille Buckley led UCI with 17 points and 13 rebounds, her sixth double-double of the year and second in as many games. The forward was 5-11 from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line. Junior guard Kelly Meggs added 14 points, while junior guard Jennifer Tsurumoto totaled 13 points and four assists. Freshman forward Mokun Fajemisin came off the bench to record a career-best seven points to go with four rebounds.
UC Riverside scored 20 points off 16 UCI turnovers and shot 47.4 percent (27-57) from the field, including 14-28 (.500) in the second half. UCI shot 40.7 percent (22-54) from the floor overall which was the third best performance of the year, while the Anteaters' 67 points was also the third most this season. UCI out-rebounded UCR, 38-33.
Riverside's Tre'Shonti Nottingham led all players with 25 points, hitting 8-15 from the field and 8-12 from the charity stripe. The guard also recorded a team-best seven rebounds. Natasha Hadley had 14 points and six rebounds in the win. Nottingham and Hadley combine for 29 of the Highlanders' 37 second half points, including 24 of UCR's 28 points in the final 12 minutes of the game.
The Anteaters fall to 4-14 overall and 0-6 in the Big West, while UC Riverside improves to 9-7 on the year and 2-3 in the Big West.
UCI will travel to Long Beach State next Saturday (Jan. 26) 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 and will be followed by the UCI men taking on the Forty-Niners at 4:00 p.m.
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