IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team didn't disappoint in its season opener Friday night at the Bren Events Center.
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The Anteaters erased a 13-point deficit in the final minutes, and junior
Deijah Blanks capped the rally with a half-court shot that bounced up off the front of the rim and in at the buzzer for the 87-84 victory over Utah State.
"Utah State is a really good team and they have a great system in place," second-year head coach
Tamara Inoue said. "For us, we're still learning, so I thought our kids did a really great job of battling."
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Blanks was one of four 'Eaters to finish in double figures with 13 points. She was 4-for-5 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers.
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Freshman
Tahlia Garza scored a team-best 16 points (7-12 FG) to go along with eight rebounds. Classmate
Jordan Sanders overcame a slow start on the offensive end to notch 15 points, while she also had six boards and three blocks. Sophomore
Yazzy Sa'Dullah added 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
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UCI (1-0) shot 40.3 percent from the field and was 9-for-22 from beyond the arc. The Anteaters held a 45-35 advantage on the glass, including a 19-7 edge in offensive boards. They also forced the Aggies into 20 turnovers.
UC Irvine took the early lead with Sa'Dullah draining a 3-pointer on the first possession, but the 'Eaters then went without a bucket over the next two-plus minutes. Garza would end the drought with a layup and redshirt freshman
Autumn Baumgartner knocked down a triple to put the home team on top, 10-7, at the 5:41 mark. The two teams proceeded to go back and forth until the Aggies closed out the first quarter with seven unanswered points for an 18-14 advantage.
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UCI opened the second quarter on a 6-2 spurt to quickly tie it up at 20-20. USU pulled back ahead by four, but the Anteaters kept within striking distance and eventually regained the lead at 27-26 on a Garza layup. UC Irvine was unable to stay out front, however, with the visitors owning a 33-29 cushion at intermission.
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Utah State (0-1) took control after the break, building a 46-36 lead midway through the third period. The 'Eaters responded with five quick points, including a three-point play by Sanders, but the Aggies wouldn't give in and went up 59-52 at the end of the period.
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The Anteaters cut the deficit to 61-59 at the 7:10 mark of the fourth quarter before USU went on an 18-9 run to go on top, 81-68, with 2:38 remaining. Sanders and junior
Andee Ritter then made back-to-back trips to the charity stripe where they calmly sank both free throws.
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UCI continued to roll as Ritter drained a three from the corner to make it 81-79 with 1:10 to play. The Aggies snapped UC Irvine's 11-0 run with a free throw, but Sa'Dullah answered on the other end with an and-one to even the score at 82-82.
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Utah State made a pair of free throws before Sanders' layup knotted it up once again with 9.1 seconds on the clock. The 'Eaters locked down on defense for the final possession as Sa'Dullah picked up a steal with time winding down. She had the ball knocked out of her hands, but it went right to Blanks, whose half-court heave went in at the buzzer for the thrilling 87-84 win.
"I thought Andee came in and did a great job for us," Inoue said. "She hit that big three and then we just defended and got the stops we needed. Overall, we had four players in double figures and that's what we want to see every game. Also, of those four, two are freshmen and one is a sophomore, so it's a good sign for our future."
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Olivia West led Utah State with a game-high 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Shannon Dufficy added 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Aggies shot 50.9 percent from the floor and 53.3 (8-15) percent from long distance.
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UC Irvine is back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 14, when it makes its way to UNLV for a mid-day showdown at 12 p.m. (PST).
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NOTES: This was UC Irvine's first season-opening win since 2013-14 … It was also the most points by an Anteater squad in a season opener since they scored 107 against UC Santa Cruz in 1979-80 …
Tahlia Garza was the only 'Eater to log more than 30 minutes … Dating back to last season,
Andee Ritter has now made a 3-pointer in 11-straight games … She also went 2-for-2 at the free throw line to increase her career percentage to 95.8 ... Sophomore
Lauren Saiki dished out a game-high six assists ... UCI held the advantage in points off turnovers (26-17), second-chance points (14-8) and bench points (33-18).
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