LOGAN, Utah - The UC Irvine women's basketball team came up short against Utah State, 66-52, Thursday in front of 2,487 fans at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Junior Sabrina Engelstad finished with a team and career-high 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Sophomore Andee Ritter also made a career-best four 3-pointers for 12 points, while junior Teirra Hicks added 10 points.
Senior Shereen Sutherland pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds, including 12 in the second half. Freshman Brooke Bayman chipped in eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Anteaters (0-3) ended up winning the battle on the boards, 45-39, but committed a season-high 23 turnovers. They also shot 33.9 percent from the field.
Behind four early points from Engelstad, UC Irvine took a 6-3 lead at the 8:14 mark. Utah State then went on a 16-2 run to pull ahead, 19-8. Sutherland answered with a layup, but the Aggies scored the final five points for a 24-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The 'Eaters started strong in the second period as a Bayman layup, followed by a 3-pointer from Ritter, closed the gap to nine (24-15). Utah State then used a 6-0 spurt to extend its lead to 30-15 with 6:15 to go. Hicks ended a four-minute UCI scoring drought with a three and it went back-and-forth from there. A driving layup by Bayman at the buzzer would cut the Anteater deficit to 35-22 at the break.
Utah State (3-0) made the first push in the third quarter, increasing its lead to 20, but UC Irvine came right back with a 10-2 run to close the gap to 48-36 at the 2:17 mark. Ritter sparked the rally with two of her four 3-pointers. The 'Eaters were then held scoreless for the remaining two minutes as the home team went up 54-36 after three.
UCI scored the first four points of the fourth with a Bayman layup making it 54-40. That was the closest the Anteaters would get, however, as the Aggies emerged with the 66-52 victory.
Rachel Brewster paced Utah State with a game-high 16 points.
UC Irvine is back in action at Idaho State on Saturday, Nov. 19. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (MT)/6 p.m. (PT).
Notes: Shereen Sutherland registered her third career double-figure rebounding game with 15 boards … She is the first 'Eater to pull down at least 15 rebounds since Mokun Fajemisin had 16 at Cal Poly on Feb. 6, 2016 … Andee Ritter has made a 3-pointer in every game this season … All eight of her made field goals have been from behind the arc … Teirra Hicks notched her first double-digit scoring game of the season and fourth of her career … Sabrina Engelstad had her best game of the young season with 13 points (5-of-11) and four rebounds … Today's game started at 11 a.m. (MT) due to it being a "field trip" game for local elementary and middle schools.
