ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team finished the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament with a 76-53 loss to Wichita State Sunday afternoon at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
 
Junior Andee Ritter led the Anteaters for the second-straight game with a team-high 10 points to go along with four rebounds. Sophomore Brooke Bayman and redshirt freshman Autumn Baumgartner added nine points each, while freshman Tahlia Garza pulled down six rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Saiki also dished out four assists.
 
UCI finished with 11 steals, forced 19 turnovers and snagged a season-high 21 offensive rebounds, but struggled to find its stroke, shooting 30 percent overall and 19 percent from long distance. The 'Eaters were also 10-of-20 at the free throw line.
 
UC Irvine (2-5) got off to a slow start, going 0-for-8 from the field over the first four minutes, and Wichita State took advantage as it raced out to an 8-0 lead. Bayman eventually got the Anteaters on the board with a free throw, before following with a steal and bucket at the 5:26 mark. Baumgartner's layup then cut the deficit to 8-5, but the Shockers responded with a 10-3 spurt to pull ahead, 18-8, with 58 seconds on the clock. Ritter was able to knock down a 3-pointer before the end of the quarter to make it 18-11.
 
WSU (1-6) stayed out front early in the second period and increased its cushion to 29-20 with 4:01 remaining. A Baumgartner triple then sparked an 8-0 rally that brought the 'Eaters within one. Wichita State answered with a traditional three-point play on its next possession and closed out the half with a 36-31 lead.
 
It went back-and-forth to start the third frame and UCI remained in striking distance until the Shockers went on a 13-1 run over the final four minutes to widen their margin to 62-41.
 
UC Irvine was unable to dig itself out of that hole as Wichita State ran away with the 76-53 victory.
 
Rangie Bessard anchored the WSU effort with a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds. The Shockers shot 57.6 percent as a team and held a slight 38-35 edge in rebounding.
 
UC Irvine will now return to the friendly confines of the Bren Events Center to host Pepperdine at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30.
 
NOTES: Andee Ritter is the only player to lead UC Irvine in scoring in more than one game this year … The 'Eaters had a different scoring leader in each of their first six contests … Ritter had her 26th career game with multiple 3-pointers … She ranks seventh in school history with 112 career triples, just one shy of Angie Ned (6th) and five back of Megan Stafford (5th) … Brooke Bayman had her best outing of the young season with nine points (4-6 FG) and three steals … UCI's bench scored more than 30 points for the fourth time this year.