FULLERTON, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team was unable to get its second-straight Big West win as it fell to Cal State Fullerton, 64-53, Saturday evening at Titan Gym.
The 'Eaters put the pressure on the Titans as they had 16 steals and forced 23 turnovers. They also held a lopsided 30-to-18 advantage in points off miscues. Despite their defensive effort, the Anteaters never really found their rhythm on the offensive end, finishing the night shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from beyond the arc.
UCI (3-15, 1-3 Big West) held CSF to 36.7 percent shooting, but the home team won the game at the free throw line where they were 24-of-26. UC Irvine only got to the charity stripe 10 times where it converted on seven of those attempts. The 'Eaters were also outrebounded, 46-29.
Sophomore Andee Ritter paced the Anteaters with 13 points, 10 of which came in the third quarter alone. Junior Sabrina Engelstad added 12 points and six rebounds, while senior Shereen Sutherland chipped in nine points and a team-high eight boards. Freshman Brooke Bayman also registered six points, seven assists and four steals, and junior Teirra Hicks contributed eight points, four rebounds and three steals.
UC Irvine struck first with a Hicks' 3-pointer, and kept the momentum, taking an 11-6 lead at the 4:39 mark following back-to-back treys from senior Mckenzie Piper and Ritter. Cal State Fullerton then used a 7-0 spurt to go up, 13-11, but an Engelstad layup with just under a minute to go made it 13-13. That score held until the end of the quarter.
The 'Eaters opened the second period on an 8-0 run, capped by a jumper from Engelstad, to pull ahead, 21-13. They would go up by nine with 3:17 remaining in the half, before the Titans rallied for 11 unanswered to give them a 26-24 cushion at intermission.
Hicks netted the first three points of the third frame to put UC Irvine on top, 27-26. That was the Anteaters' final lead, however, as CSF proceeded to go up by nine at the 5:38 mark. UCI battled back as a Sutherland layup and a Ritter 3-pointer quickly cut the deficit to four (38-34) with 2:03 on the clock. After the Titans pushed their advantage to eight, UC Irvine stormed back once again with a 9-2 run, that ended with a fastbreak layup by senior Irene Chavez, to close the gap to 44-43, but CSF never relinquished the lead as it pulled ahead 46-43 before the buzzer.
Cal State Fullerton (4-13, 1-3 Big West) stayed out front by at least three for the final 10 minutes and came away with the 64-53 victory. The Titans were 18-of-20 from the free throw line in the second half.
Iman Lathan led CSF with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.
UC Irvine returns to the Bren Events Center on Thursday, Jan. 19, when it entertains UC Riverside in a 7 p.m. Big West showdown.
NOTES: UC Irvine posted its second-straight outing with 10 or more steals … The Anteaters' 16 takeaways were their third-best mark this season as they also had 18 vs. Concordia and 17 at Nevada … Cal State Fullerton now leads the all-time series, 38-36 … Andee Ritter has made a 3-pointer in 17 of 18 games this year … She moved up to No. 5 in single-season program history with 51 threes made and is just 14 away from breaking a 28-year old school record … Ritter is also perfect at the charity stripe this year (18-of-18) and is a career 96.6 percent free throw shooter … Sabrina Engelstad has a team-best 14 double-figure scoring games … Shereen Sutherland has pulled down at least seven rebounds in 12 of 18 games played ... Brooke Bayman is averaging 7.3 assists over the last three contests.
