IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team (3-5) was handed its first home loss of the season, falling to Portland State, 70-61, Monday evening at the Bren Events Center.
 
It was a tightly-contested game as neither team led by more than 10. The two squads were all tied up at the half, but it was the Vikings who would pull away over the final 20 minutes to avenge an 83-75 defeat to the Anteaters earlier in the season (Nov. 16).
 
"We had our chances to win tonight, but we gave up some key offensive rebounds at the end and sent them to the foul line too much," UCI head coach Tamara Inoue said. "Portland State is a very good free throw shooting team and we knew that. Sending them to the line 25 times is not okay, so we need to clean that up. I thought overall we did a good job rebounding, and our shots were really good."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Freshman Jayde Cadee led the 'Eaters with a season-high 12 points on four 3-pointers made. Junior Alexus Seaton and freshman Sophia Locandro both added nine points, to go along with six and four rebounds, respectively. Junior Dani Guglielmo chipped in eight points and three steals.
 
Junior Joy Akaegbu-Cleveland pulled down a season-best nine rebounds, while senior Lauren Saiki and junior Haleigh Talbert tied for the team lead with six assists each. Talbert also corralled a career-high seven rebounds.
 
Portland State's Tatiana Streun scored a game-high 21 points.
 
UCI assisted on 17 of its 22 made field goals and grabbed a season-high 44 rebounds, but the Anteaters shot just 29.7% from the floor, compared to 43.6% for the Vikings. PSU was also 18-of-25 at the free throw line (72%).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Portland State (4-3) raced out to a 10-2 lead over the first four minutes but UC Irvine proceeded to score 11 unanswered to pull ahead, 13-10, on a Guglielmo 3-pointer at the 3:16 mark. After the Vikings tied it up on their next possession, the Anteaters reclaimed the advantage on a triple from Cadee. The home team stayed out front and held a 21-20 edge at the end of the first quarter.
 
It went back-and-forth early in the second period with two ties and two lead changes before UCI used a 6-0 spurt to go up, 31-27, with 6:06 remaining. PSU eventually knotted the score at 33-all, but UC Irvine came right back with an Akaegbu-Cleveland putback and a Guglielmo three to take its largest lead of the night (38-33) at the 3:49 mark. Portland State then outscored the Anteaters down the stretch to even it up, 38-38, at the half.
 
The Vikings kept the momentum after the break, going on top, 49-43, midway through the third frame. A Locandro layup made it a four-point game with 4:33 to go, but the 'Eaters were held without a field goal the rest of the way, allowing PSU to increase its cushion to 56-48.
 
Saiki opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, but that was the closest UC Irvine would get as Portland State emerged with the 70-61 victory.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine begins a five-game road stretch at Southern Utah on Friday, Dec. 6. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. (MT)/5:30 p.m. (PT).
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine saw its five-game home winning streak snapped with its first loss at the Bren since March 2.
• UCI has forced more turnovers than it has committed in every game.
• Jayde Cadee is the eighth Anteater to reach double figures in scoring this year.
• The 'Eaters have had six different leading scorers through eight games.
• Haleigh Talbert dished out all of her career-high tying six assists in the first half.
• Talbert surpassed the 100 career assist milestone in the process as she sits at 105.
• Lauren Saiki has made a 3-pointer in 10-straight games dating back to last year.
• Saiki jumped two spots among UCI's all-time career assist leaders as she now ranks seventh in school history (285).
• Tahlia Garza went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe to extend her streak to 10 consecutive free throws made.