IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team fell behind early, and despite a fourth-quarter rally, was never able to dig itself out of that hole as it dropped a 79-58 decision to UC Riverside Thursday evening at the Bren Events Center.
UCI (3-16, 1-4 Big West) was without the services of starting forward Sabrina Engelstad, who missed tonight's game with an injury. Senior Shereen Sutherland stepped up in her absence with a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. It was her second double-double of the season.
Freshman Brooke Bayman added nine points and a career-best 10 assists. She is the first Anteater to reach double-digits in assists since Raelyn Cheung-Sutton accomplished the feat last year vs. UC Davis (March 5, 2016).
Junior Teirra Hicks also had 11 points, while sophomore Andee Ritter chipped in eight points, six rebounds and two steals. Junior Sydney Hua and senior Irene Chavez finished with a couple of 3-pointers for six points each.
UC Irvine shot 40.9 percent from the field and went 9-of-18 from beyond the arc. The home team struggled to take care of the ball against the Highlanders' pressure, however, as they committed 21 turnovers that led to 25 points.
"The early turnovers were out of character for our team to start the game," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "We just seemed to fumble the ball and missed some easy shots too. When you don't start well, it's really hard to pick it up."
UC Riverside (9-8, 3-1 Big West) took an early 5-0 lead before Sutherland got the 'Eaters on the board at the 7:03 mark. The Highlanders would push their advantage to seven before UCI used a 9-5 spurt, capped by back-to-back layups from Sutherland, to cut the deficit to 14-11 with 2:25 remaining. UCR then closed out the quarter with eight unanswered to go on top, 22-11.
Hicks opened the second period with a bucket, but UC Riverside proceeded to go on a 14-4 run for a 36-17 lead. The Anteaters started to chip away and a 3-pointer from Hicks with 8.2 seconds on the clock made it a 39-23 game at the half.
Sutherland nearly had her double-double in the first 20 minutes as she paced UC Irvine with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Highlanders widened the gap in the third frame as they used a 13-4 rally to go up, 52-27, at the 5:01 mark. The visitors would increase their cushion to 29 by the end of the quarter.
UC Irvine then put up a fight in the fourth where it outscored UCR, 24-16. The 'Eaters shot 66.7 percent from the floor and 83.3 percent (5-6) from 3-point range, but it wasn't enough as UC Riverside emerged with the 79-58 win.
The Highlanders finished the night shooting 45.7 percent. They had 22 assists and only nine turnovers. Rejane Verin led the effort with 17 points, four rebounds and six assists. Skyler Lewis added 12 points and eight boards.
UC Irvine will be back in action next week as it heads to the Aloha State for a 7 p.m. (HT)/9 p.m. (PT) showdown at Hawai'i on Thursday, Jan. 26.
NOTES: UC Irvine concluded its regular season series with UC Riverside tonight ... The 'Eaters combined to shoot 45 percent from 3-point range in their two games against the Highlanders … They made a season-high nine threes in both outings … Shereen Sutherland registered her second double-double of the season and third of her career … Brooke Bayman has six or more assists in each of the last four contests and is averaging 6.4 helpers in Big West games … Andee Ritter made a school-record tying seven 3-pointers at UC Riverside on Jan. 7, but the Highlanders made the adjustments tonight as they held her to a pair of treys tonight … She still leads the Big West with 53 triples on the year and needs 11 more to tie a 28-year old single-season school record (64) … Ritter is also a perfect 20-for-20 from the free throw line this year … Teirra Hicks notched her fifth double-figure scoring game of the season … Sabrina Engelstad, who ranks third on the team with 11.2 ppg, missed tonight's game with an injury.
