SEATTLE - The UC Irvine women's basketball team put up a fight against SEC member Vanderbilt before falling, 76-63, in their first game of the Husky Classic Friday evening at Alaska Airlines Arena.
 
"I thought we came out ready to play today," UCI head coach Tamara Inoue said. "We did a much better job of being in tune with the scout and doing what we needed to do. Offensively, we got the right shots and crashed the boards a little harder. I'm really proud of the effort, we just had a couple stretches where we kind of relaxed a little bit and they capitalized when we did that."
 
One of those stretches was in the fourth quarter when the Commodores took their largest lead of the game at 69-49. But, the Anteaters refused to quit, using a 14-5 run down the stretch to make it an 11-point game with just under a minute to play.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Alexus Seaton had a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds, to go along with a team-best three steals in 34 minutes played. Seaton made nine field goals and was 4-for-6 at the free throw line.
 
"Lex is a phenomenal player and if she continues to do this, then we'll be just fine," Inoue said. "She is a baller. She has put the time in the gym over the last two years and it's starting to pay off for her."
 
Freshman Chloe Webb notched her fourth double-figure scoring game with 10 points (4-7 FG). Senior Lauren Saiki added nine points and five assists, while junior Haleigh Talbert had seven points and four assists. Sophomore Tahlia Garza contributed five points and eight rebounds, and junior Joy Akaegbu-Cleveland also pulled down seven boards.
 
Koi Love led five Commodores in double figures with 18 points.
 
Vanderbilt held a slight advantage in field goal percentage (44%-38%) and rebounds (43-41).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Vanderbilt (8-3) scored the first five points of the game before Talbert knocked down a couple free throws to get UC Irvine on the board at the 7:31 mark. The Commodores eventually used a 10-2 spurt to go up, 23-12, but Talbert and Saiki closed out the first quarter with back-to-back threes to quickly cut the deficit to five.
 
Seaton opened the second period with her own 6-0 run to give the Anteaters their first lead of the night (24-23) with 8:05 remaining. After Vandy got back in the scoring column 20 seconds later, Saiki found Garza and Webb for layups on consecutive possessions to put the 'Eaters on top, 28-25. Vanderbilt answered with a 15-2 run over the final six minutes for a 40-30 advantage at the break.
 
UCI (3-8) wasted no time in closing the gap to five in the third frame, but the Commodores came right back with an 11-2 rally to pull ahead, 52-38, with 2:38 left to play. Vanderbilt stayed out front by double digits, carrying a 58-45 lead into the final 10 minutes.
 
The Commodores kept the momentum early in the fourth, going up 69-49 at the 6:03 mark. A Seaton layup then ended a two-minute scoring drought for UC Irvine. The Anteaters proceeded to go on a 14-5 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Jayde Cadee, to come within 11, but time wasn't on their side in the 76-63 loss.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine wraps up action at the Husky Classic Saturday (Dec. 21) against San Francisco. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena.
 
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine committed more than 20 turnovers for the first time this season.
• Alexus Seaton is the third Anteater to have a 20-point game this year.
• Lauren Saiki became the sixth player in program history to surpass 300 career assists (303).
• Saiki knocked down a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer.  
• She has now made a three in 13-straight games dating back to last year.
• Tahlia Garza saw her streak of 11 consecutive free throws made come to an end when she missed her second attempt in the fourth quarter.
• Joy Akaegbu-Cleveland had 7+ rebounds for the fourth game in a row.