IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 75-58 victory over Southern Utah Tuesday evening at the Bren Events Center.
 
The Anteaters improved to 3-0 for their best start since 1995-96. Dating back to last year, they have also won four-straight home games.
 
"Our press and our aggressiveness led to us turning Southern Utah over 26 times, and we were able to capitalize on half of those," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "That was a big piece to our win today."
 
In addition to forcing more than 20 turnovers in its third-straight outing, UCI was extremely efficient on the offensive end, shooting 50 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the free throw line.
 
The 'Eaters saw a balanced attack with nine players scoring, and three reaching double figures. Junior Lauren Saiki led the way with a season-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Sophomore Jordan Sanders and senior Andee Ritter (5-10 FG) finished with 13 points each. Ritter added a team-best eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Saiki contributed four steals as well.
 
Junior Brooke Bayman also had nine points, and sophomore Haleigh Talbert chipped in eight. Sophomore Tahlia Garza recorded six points and three blocks.
 
The Anteaters raced out to a 9-0 lead before Southern Utah got on the board at the 5:46 mark. UCI then proceeded to go on a 9-2 run, capped by a pair of free throws from sophomore Yazzy Sa'Dullah, to pull ahead, 18-4, before the visitors ended the opening quarter with the game's first 3-pointer.
 
SUU (1-2) cut its deficit to single digits with the first bucket of the second period, but the 'Eaters answered right back with a Sanders layup. The two teams traded points over the next five minutes. The Thunderbirds were then able to get within eight before sophomore Dani Guglielmo knocked down back-to-back triples to increase UC Irvine's advantage to 34-20. The Anteaters continued to roll, closing out the half with a 40-24 cushion.
 
The 'Eaters kept the momentum in the third frame, going on top, 40-24, following a layup from Saiki at the 8:11 mark. UCI was not threatened the rest of the way as it went up by as many as 23 in the final quarter to run away with the 75-58 win.
 
Breanu Reid paced the Thunderbirds with 14 points, while Ashley Larsen finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
 
UC Irvine will hit the road for the first time this season when it heads to Phoenix, Ariz., for the GCU Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 23-24. The Anteaters are slated to play two neutral-site games against LIU Brooklyn and Indiana State.
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine (3-0) is off to its best start since 1995-96 when it opened the campaign with a 4-0 record.
• The Anteaters are the only undefeated team in the Big West, and not including all games tonight, they are one of 70 teams in NCAA DI without a loss.
• The 'Eaters improved to 4-1 all-time against Southern Utah.
• UCI won the battle in points off turnovers (24-10), points in the paint (34-32) and bench points (33-16).
• UC Irvine ranks among the top-10 in the nation in steals per game (15.7) and turnovers forced (28.3/gm).
• The Anteaters have shot 50 percent or better in two of their three games this year.
• Andee Ritter has now made a 3-pointer in 14 consecutive games played.
• Ritter increased her career total to 152, putting her 47 away from breaking UCI's all-time 3-point record.