IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team fell to Pac-12 member USC, 83-45, Wednesday afternoon at the Bren Events Center.
The Women of Troy, who were receiving votes in the latest AP Women's Basketball Poll, improved to 9-2 on the year. They also moved to 4-0 against Big West teams as they previously beat Hawai'i (76-44), UC Riverside (67-49) and Long Beach State (82-74).
Junior Sabrina Engelstad paced the 'Eaters with a game-high 18 points. That also tied her season best which she had established against Sacramento State on Dec. 10.
Senior Shereen Sutherland added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while sophomore Andee Ritter contributed eight points and four boards. Ritter was 4-of-9 from the floor but did not make a 3-pointer for the first time this season.
UC Irvine (1-12) struck first as Sutherland drained a jumper at the 9:25 mark. The two teams traded points over the next minute before USC scored 12 unanswered to take a 14-4 lead. The 'Eaters responded with a 6-2 spurt, capped by an Engelstad jumper, to close the gap to 16-10 with 4:39 to go, but the Trojans built their advantage back to double digits at 20-10 by the end of the period.
The Women of Troy opened the second quarter with a 16-4 run to pull ahead, 36-14, at the 2:22 mark. Sutherland then snapped a six-minute scoring drought for the Anteaters and Engelstad followed with a pair of free throws to make it an 18-point game (36-18) at intermission.
Sutherland and Engelstad combined for all 18 of UCI's points in the first half. Sutherland had 10 on 5-of-9 shooting, while Engelstad added eight.
USC went on top by 22 nearly halfway through the third frame before Engelstad started a 9-0 rally with a jumper. Junior Teirra Hicks followed with UC Irvine's only 3-pointer of the day and a Ritter layup eventually brought the home team within 13 (42-29) at the 2:55 mark. The Trojans missed four field goals and had three turnovers during that stretch, but would end their four-minute drought with a triple and increased their cushion to 49-31 after three quarters of play.
The Women of Troy ran away with the game in the fourth as they heated up from behind the arc where they were 5-of-6. Their 3-point barrage led to a 34-point quarter, just two fewer than they had the entire first half. Ritter had started the period with a jumper before USC went on an 18-2 run for a 67-35 lead with 6:53 left to play. The Trojans cruised the rest of the way to the 83-45 victory.
UCI shot 37.7 percent from the field but only got to the free throw line six times (4-of-6), compared to USC's 16 makes on 19 attempts. The Anteaters' season-high 27 turnovers were also a problem as the Women of Troy held a 41-13 advantage in points off miscues.
Aliyah Mazyck led four Trojans in double figures with 16 points, while Kristen Simon finished with a double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds).
UC Irvine will take a short break for the holidays as it returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 29, for its non-conference finale against Concordia. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES: Sabrina Engelstad has reached double digits in the points column in 10 of the last 11 outings, increasing her average to 11.4 ppg … Shereen Sutherland is still tops on the team with 12.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest … She has pulled down at least eight boards in nine of UCI's 13 games … Andee Ritter, who was averaging 8.6 attempts from behind the arc, had only three today … Although her streak of 12-straight games with a 3-pointer came to an end, she is still on pace to break the single-season school record of 64 … Brooke Bayman had her sixth consecutive outing with three or more assists … She is averaging 4.3 helpers during that stretch.
