IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team (7-1) suffered its first setback of the season as it was unable to slow down San Diego State's 3-point shooters in a 78-70 loss Friday evening at the Bren Events Center.
 
The Aztecs (5-4) shot a season-best 52.1 percent from the floor and were even better from long distance where they were 12-of-20 for a blistering 60 percent.
 
The Anteaters were held to under 40 percent shooting for just the third time this season, but were able to stay in the game with 21 points off 26 forced turnovers.
 
"San Diego State shot out of their minds tonight, they did a great job," UCI head coach Tamara Inoue said. "We thought they were going to cool off and they didn't. I felt like we never really got into a rhythm, but it comes down to defense. I think today we thought we could just get by on the offensive end and we can't do that, it caught up to us."
 
Senior Andee Ritter led the 'Eaters with a season-best 21 points on a 6-for-9 performance from beyond the arc. She also had four steals.
 
"Andee came out ready to play today," Inoue added. "She played all 40 minutes because there's never a time we can take her out, and it's not just because of her offense, but because she's so valuable on the defensive end."
 
Sophomore Jordan Sanders finished with 16 points and six rebounds, while senior Sabrina Engelstad added 10 points.
 
Junior Lauren Saiki narrowly missed out on her second double-double of the year with nine points and eight assists. It was her fourth-straight game with at least seven dimes. Sophomore Haleigh Talbert and junior Brooke Bayman chipped in six points each, while Talbert also had four steals.
 
UC Irvine went up 5-0 before San Diego State got on the board at the 7:02 mark. The two teams then went back-and-forth before the Aztecs took their first lead of the night at 12-11. The Anteaters responded with a 7-2 run, capped by a Ritter 3-pointer, to reclaim a four-point advantage with 1:22 remaining. The 'Eaters were able to stay out front as Ritter's third triple of the first quarter put them on top, 23-20.
 
UCI started the scoring in the second period, but SDSU came back with a 12-2 rally that gave the visitors a 32-27 edge with 4:41 to play in the half. Sophomore Alexus Seaton then ended a two-minute scoring drought and UC Irvine proceeded to reel off six unanswered points to take a 33-32 lead. San Diego State would account for the final seven points, however, as it held a 39-33 cushion at the break.
 
The Aztecs knocked down three triples early in the third frame to pull ahead, 48-37, at the 6:45 mark. The Anteaters were able to cut the deficit to five following a 7-1 spurt, but SDSU doubled its lead by the end of the quarter, going up 56-46.
 
Every time the 'Eaters started to put together a run in the fourth, San Diego State had an answer as the visitors led by at least six over the final 10 minutes.
 
Naje Murray paced the Aztecs with 20 points and nine rebounds. Sophia Ramos added 17 points and six assists, but she also had nine turnovers.  
 
UC Irvine will take a short break for finals before embarking on a week-long road trip to Oregon. The Anteaters are set to face Portland (Dec. 16), Portland State (Dec. 18) and No. 3 Oregon (Dec. 21).
 
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine trailed at the half for only the second time this year.
• The Anteaters have forced more than 20 turnovers in seven of their eight games.
• The 'Eaters are still off to their best eight-game start in program history.
• UC Irvine has not allowed an opponent to score 80 points this year as SDSU's 78 tied a season high.
• Andee Ritter knocked down a season-best six 3-pointers, putting her back on pace to break UCI's all-time record.
• Ritter has now made 165 career threes and needs 34 more to establish a new school record.
• Over the last four contests, Lauren Saiki is averaging 9.0 assists and owns a 6.00 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Jordan Sanders has reached double figures in scoring in every outing, but saw her four-game streak of 20+ points come to an end.