SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team erased a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat San Diego State, 67-65, Friday afternoon in front of 4,148 fans at Viejas Arena.
 
The Anteaters, who outscored SDSU, 14-5, over the final four-plus minutes, earned their third-straight win and improved to 5-5 overall.
 
Junior Deijah Blanks once again came through down the stretch as she hit the game-tying shot with 10 seconds on the clock. Blanks was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but sophomore Yazzy Sa'Dullah was there for the rebound. Sa'Dullah ended up at the charity stripe where she made the first to give the 'Eaters the lead.

Sa'Dullah couldn't convert on the second, but this time freshman Jordan Sanders corralled the crucial offensive board. The Aztecs then fouled Blanks with 0.2 seconds left and she went 1-for-2 at the line to seal the win. 
 
It was a complete team effort for the Anteaters, who had 10 players score at least three points. Senior Sabrina Engelstad and sophomore Brooke Bayman led the way as they both registered a season-high 10 points. Engelstad, who also had three blocks and two steals, was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Bayman added four assists.
 
Sophomore Lauren Saiki finished with nine points and four assists, while Sanders notched eight points and five rebounds. Freshman Haleigh Talbert and Blanks had seven points each, and freshman Tahlia Garza contributed six points, five boards and three blocks.
 
"Grinding out this win on the road is really good for our morale," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "We fought through to the very end, and once again we had our lucky charm with Deijah Blanks finishing games for us.
 
"I was very happy with Sabrina's and Tahlia's play inside. It doesn't really show in the stat sheet, but when we needed a couple points to get back into it, those two really came through for us, and Jordan had the big offensive rebound at the end. I'm really impressed, as always, with this team's grit and willingness to buy in and give us everything they have."
 
UCI forced SDSU into 21 turnovers, while committing only 13. The 'Eaters also finished with a season-best 14 steals and eight blocks. They owned the advantage in points in the paint (36-20), points off turnovers (29-16), second-chance points (15-9) and bench points (37-18).
 
UC Irvine took an early 4-2 lead on a Sanders jumper, but San Diego State answered with a 14-3 run to pull ahead, 16-7, with less than a minute remaining. The 'Eaters then dug deep as they closed out the first quarter with a pair of steals and five unanswered points to cut the deficit to 16-12.
 
SDSU (5-3) went back on top by nine at the 7:18 mark of the second period before the Anteaters responded with a 7-0 spurt, capped by a triple from Talbert, to make it 23-21. Engelstad sparked the rally with four of her six first-half points during the three-minute stretch. That was the closest UCI would get in the half, however, as the Aztecs, whose final four baskets came from behind the arc, outscored UC Irvine, 12-6, the rest of the way to hold a 35-27 cushion at the break.
 
It was a seesaw battle early in the third frame with the 'Eaters continuing to trail by at least four. Back-to-back buckets from Engelstad and Saiki closed the gap to 47-44, but SDSU countered with a 5-0 sprint to go on top, 52-44. Freshman Dani Guglielmo was able to reel it back within five as she hit a 3-pointer with 34 seconds on the clock.
 
San Diego State increased its lead to nine (58-49) by the 7:12 mark of the fourth period. The Anteaters chipped away and made a big push over a six-second span when Bayman sank a couple of free throws and junior Andee Ritter followed with a trey to quickly make it 60-58.

SDSU would go back up by four before Saiki drilled a corner three to bring UCI within one. The visitors kept the momentum as Blanks came up with a steal and layup to give UC Irvine a 63-62 edge with 1:56 to go. After a couple empty possessions on both sides, McKynzie Fort put the Aztecs ahead with a jumper and they were able to add to that on a Fort free throw with 18 seconds left. Blanks was then able to get open and sink the game-tying shot to set up the thrilling final seconds.
 
Fort led San Diego State with a game-high 16 points, while Geena Gomez finished with 12 points and seven assists. The duo also combined for 11 of SDSU's 21 turnovers.
 
UC Irvine will take a break for finals before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 16, when it welcomes Portland State to the Bren Events Center for a 2 p.m. game.
 
NOTES: UC Irvine handed San Diego State its first home loss of the season as it entered today's game at 4-0 ... UCI has its first three-game win streak since March, 2014 … The 'Eaters have already matched their win total from last year and bettered their win total from 2015-16 … At 5-5, they have their best 10-game start in three years … UC Irvine picked up its seventh win in its all-time series with San Diego State, and fifth on the road … UCI has had eight different scoring leaders in its first 10 games … Ten Anteaters also have at least one double-figure scoring performance.