Box Score Santa Barbara, Calif. -- UC Santa Barbara out-scored UC Irvine, 12-4 the final five minutes to defeat the Anteaters 49-41at the Thunderdome Saturday afternoon.
The Anteaters shot 18.5 percent (5-27) from the floor in the second half and 23.1 percent (12-52) for the game. The .231 field goal percentage is the second worst shooting performance of the year behind Thursday's .224 mark. The Gauchos shot 44 percent (11-25) in the final 20 minutes and 40.4 percent (19-47) from the field overall.
UCI's forward Camille Buckley recorded her league-leading 13th double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Anteaters. Freshman forward Mokun Fajemisin recorded 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks, while guard Jennifer Tsurumoto added six points, three rebounds and three assists. Forward Pernilla Hanson and guard Kelly Meggs each pitched in three points. Hanson also grabbed five rebounds and recorded a block and steal.
The Gauchos were a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line, including 6-6 from Nicole Nesbit who led UCSB with 17 points. Sweets Underwood totaled 12 points and seven rebounds. Kirsten Tilleman recorded eight points and seven rebounds, while Destini Mason had a team-high 11 rebounds.
UCSB jumped out to an 8-3 lead before UCI went on a 9-2 run, which included five points from Mokun Fajemsin, to take a 12-10 lead at 8:43. The Gauchos responded with an 8-1 run of their own to jump back ahead 18-13 at 3:47. Camille Buckley would hit a free throw for the Anteaters and Destini Martin would hit a jumper for the Gauchos before UCI used a three-pointer by Pernilla Hanson and a jumper by Cheyenne Cathey to end the half with UCSB leading 20-19.
Nicole Nesbit hit seven straight points for UCSB to help the Gauchos to a 31-27 advantage with 15:14 to go. UCI stayed close and following an Angelei Aguirre jumper which gave the Gauchos a 35-31 advantage, the Anteaters used a pair of free throws by Buckley and a basket by Fajemisin to knot the score at 35-35 with 6:00 remaining. Another Aguirre jumper and two Fajemisin free throws kept the score deadlocked at 37 all with 5:21. Following the tie, the Gauchos had baskets by Nesbit and Kirsten Tilleman to take the 41-37 lead at 2:35. Buckley scored to make it 41-39 at 2:08 but the Anteaters would record just two free throws by Anete Klintsone with 11 seconds on the clock as UCSB had a basket by Sweets Underwood and six straight free throws by Nesbit for the final 49-41 victory.
The Anteaters end the season 9-21 overall and 5-13 in the Big West. UCSB is 15-15 on the year and 11-7 in the Big West.
