IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team closed out the 2016 calendar year and its non-conference slate with a bang as it routed Concordia, 92-61, Thursday evening at the Bren Events Center.

The Anteaters (2-12) pulled away in the third quarter, where they outscored the Eagles, 40-8. Their 40 points were the most in a period in school history and in the Big West this year. UCI finished with a season-high 60 points in the second half.

"When all five players start to play hard and smart, good things will happen," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "I thought we made good reads and attacked well. Defensively, we stopped reaching and did a good job keeping our hands off, and we also rebounded. I'm not happy with our free throws but they battled and that's what I expect from them."

The 'Eaters and the Eagles combined for 64 fouls and 77 free throw attempts. UC Irvine was 26-of-46 (56.5 percent), while CUI was 23-of-31 (74.2 percent) from the line.

Sophomore Andee Ritter led the charge with a game-high 21 points on five 3-pointers. It was her second 20-point performance of the season. Ritter added six steals and four rebounds.

"We let Andee shoot, that's what we always tell her to do," Inoue added. "She can not only shoot the three like everyone has seen but she also has a nice little jumper. She's a gym rat who always wants to get shots up and it shows."

Senior Shereen Sutherland totaled 17 points in 15 minutes as she was an efficient 7-for-11 from the field. Junior Teirra Hicks contributed 12 points and a career-best nine rebounds, while freshman Brooke Bayman had a solid all-around game with 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Senior Brittany Glassow chipped in eight points, and junior Sabrina Engelstad had a career-high four blocks.

The 'Eaters controlled the paint where they held a lopsided 40-14 advantage. They also scored 35 points off 29 Concordia turnovers. In addition, UCI finished with a season-best 55 rebounds and 18 steals.

Both teams got off to a slow start as they went a combined 0-for-9 from the floor before Concordia ended the drought at the 7:24 mark. The Eagles would take a 5-0 lead before a Hicks' layup put UC Irvine on the board with 5:13 to play. The Anteaters eventually used a 10-3 run, capped by a 3-pointer from senior Irene Chavez, to pull ahead, 12-10. The visitors would reclaim a three-point edge before UCI ended the first period on a 6-2 spurt to go up, 18-17.

In the second quarter, the 'Eaters built a 21-17 cushion following a Sutherland layup at the 8:46 mark. They stayed out front until Concordia tied it up at 25-25. It went back-and-forth from there with the Eagles taking a narrow 33-32 lead at the break.

Concordia was just 6-of-27 from the floor in the first half, but made up for it at the free throw line where it was 18-for-25. UC Irvine, meanwhile, shot 30.6 percent and made only eight free throws on 21 attempts.

UCI then came out of the locker room on a mission, scoring the first nine points of the third frame. The Anteaters extended the hot start to a 29-4 run, capped by a trey from Ritter and a three-point play from Bayman, to go on top, 61-37, at the 3:11 mark. The home team continued to roll as they increased their lead to 31 by the end of the period (72-41).

UC Irvine went up by as many as 37 in the fourth, cruising to the 92-61 victory.

Concordia (5-7) was held to just 23.4 percent shooting. Sopavy Seng was the only Eagle to reach double figures with a team-best 16 points. Ugochi Anudokem added a game-high 10 rebounds.

UCI opens Big West play next week when it welcomes UC Davis (9-3) to the Bren Events Center on Thursday, Jan. 5. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

NOTES: UC Irvine registered its 15th 90-point game in school history, reaching the benchmark for the first time since a 90-78 victory over UC Riverside on Jan. 11, 2014 … The Anteaters' 40 points in a quarter were a program record and the most by a Big West team this season … UCI's previous best was 29 which came in the fourth period at Portland State (Dec. 3, 2016) … UC Irvine's two wins came in its first and last games of the month of December … This was Andee Ritter's third game with at least five treys … She is tops on the team with 36 and is on pace to break the 28-year old single-season school record of 64 … Ritter also stayed perfect at the free throw line this season as she is now 11-for-11 …  Shereen Sutherland notched her fourth-straight double-figure scoring game … Teirra Hicks had her first double-figure scoring game since she had a season-best 14 at Idaho State (Nov. 19).

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