ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team fell to host New Mexico, 83-61, on the second day of the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday afternoon in front of 4,425 fans at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
 
Junior Andee Ritter paced the 'Eaters with 14 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Saiki finished with 13 points and a season-best eight assists, while freshman Jordan Sanders added six points, three rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
 
Redshirt freshman Autumn Baumgartner and senior Sabrina Engelstad chipped in seven and six points, respectively. Sophomore Brooke Bayman also pulled down a season-high five rebounds.
 
The Anteaters (2-4) shot 32.8 percent from the floor and were 7-of-24 from beyond the arc. They also forced UNM into a season-high 22 turnovers but were outrebounded 51-31. In addition, UCI got into foul trouble in the second half with three starters fouling out over the final three minutes.
 
It was a tightly contested first quarter with neither team leading by more than four. UC Irvine struck first on a Sanders jumper, but New Mexico proceeded to pull ahead 6-4 at the 6:12 mark. The 'Eaters then responded with a 6-0 run, capped by a jumper from Saiki, to go on top, 10-6. The Lobos came right back and the lead would change hands four more times before the period came to an end with UNM and UCI knotted at 15-15.
 
New Mexico (6-0) scored the first five points and pushed its advantage to 23-17 just a couple minutes into the second quarter. The Anteaters closed the gap to two following a Ritter 3-pointer, but the home team stayed out front and used a late 7-2 spurt to end the half with a 41-33 cushion.
 
UC Irvine accounted for the first three points of the third frame, thanks to a Sanders layup and a free throw by Saiki, to make it 41-36 with 8:19 remaining. The home team answered with a 14-4 run over the next seven minutes to go up, 55-40. Freshman Haleigh Talbert would close out the quarter with a deep triple as the 'Eaters trailed 55-43 heading into the fourth.
 
UCI was unable to get any closer in the final 10 minutes with New Mexico increasing its margin to 66-45 with 5:37 to play. The Anteaters strung together an 8-2 rally, which was sparked by six points from Ritter, to cut the deficit to 15, but the Lobos finished strong for the 83-61 victory.
 
A big difference in the fourth quarter was at the charity stripe where UNM was 14-of-16 and UCI was 3-of-3.
 
Madi Washington led New Mexico with a game-high 21 points. Jaisa Nunn also had 17 points and 18 rebounds, while Tesha Buck added 17 points, six assists and four steals.
 
UC Irvine returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 26, when it closes out the three-day UNM Thanksgiving Tournament against Wichita State. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. (PST).
 
 
NOTES: Lauren Saiki reached double digits in scoring for the third time in six outings … Her 13 points matched a season high, while her eight assists were the most by an Anteater since Brooke Bayman dished out 10 vs. UC Riverside on Jan. 10, 2017 … Andee Ritter surpassed 500 career points in today's game (512) ... She also  jumped two spots to No. 7 in school history with 110 career 3-pointers ... This was her 25th career game with at least two triples … Despite giving up over 80 points, UC Irvine held New Mexico to its second-lowest scoring total of the regular season … The Lobos have registered at least 86 points in four of their six games and entered today's contest averaging 89.0 ppg … In addition, the 'Eaters held Cherise Beynon, UNM's leading scorer at 19.6 ppg, to just five points on 1-of-8 shooting … New Mexico now leads the brief all-time series, 2-0.