Box Score Missoula, MT – UC Irvine used a big first half to propel the Anteaters to a 85-77 victory over Appalachian State in the opening game of the Lady Griz Classic in Dahlberg Arena.
The Anteaters, who improve to 5-3 overall, will face host Montana tomorrow at 7:15 p.m. PT. The Lady Griz defeated Idaho, 59-56 in the second game tonight. The Vandals will take on Appalachian State (1-6) at 5:00 p.m. PT
In a fast paced first half, UCI led 57-39 at the intermission, a season-high for points in a half. In the first 20 minutes, UCI shot 62.5 % (20-32), while Appalachian State was 60.7 (17-28) from the floor. The Anteaters went on a 9-1 run to build a 20-10 lead at 12:48. The Mountaineers closed to 44-38 at 3:25 before the Anteaters would go on a 13-1 run close out the half.
In the second half, UCI held a 20-point lead (71-51) with 9:15 remaining, but would remain scoreless for the next four minutes and watch Appalachian State chip away, scoring 13 in a row to narrow the lead to 71-64 at 5:30. A pair of Methlyn Onogomuho free throws finally stopped the streak at 5:08. Two Appalachian State free throws by Katie Mallow closed the margin to 75-70 with 2:08 to play before Vanessa Aguilar hit a big three-pointer which was followed by a jumper by Onogomuho to push the UCI lead back to 80-70 with 1:37 to go. Two more Mountaineer free throws were followed by another basket by Onogomuho at 1:05. Five points by Maryah Sydnor for the Mountaineers and three free throws by Madison McKenney for the Anteaters ended the scoring as UC Irvine held on for the 85-77 victory.
Five Anteaters scored in double-figures led by senior guard Vanessa Aguilar with a career-high 20 points, going 7-8 from the floor and 5-6 from three-point range. Senior forward Jasmine White had a season-high 14 points and five rebounds followed by junior forward Methlyn Onogomohu with 12 points and five rebounds. Junior guard Madison McKenney totaled 11 points, shooting 7-9 from the free throw line and dished a career-high five assists. Senior forward Camille Buckley recorded 10 points, a team-high eight rebounds to go with four steals and four assists. Senior forward Jasmine Bernard added six points, while senior forward Lauren Spinazze had five points and six rebounds. Senior guards Jennifer Tsurumoto and Kelly Meggs recorded four and three points respectively in the first half and were both sidelined in the second half with injuries. The Anteater bench accounted for 49 points.
Appalachian State's Maryah Sydnor led all players with 28 points and 10 rebounds. KeKe Cooper recorded 17 points and seven rebounds with Katie Mallow scoring 12 points and Bria Huffman adding 10 points.
UCI ended the game shooting 48.4 percent (30-62) from the floor, 75 percent from the free throw line (18-24) and 7-14 from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers out-rebounded the Anteaters 38-32 and scored 21 points off second chances. Appalachian State shot 50 percent (32-64) from the floor for the game.
