IRVINE, Calif. - The fifth-seeded UC Irvine women's basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 53-46 victory over No. 8 seed UC Santa Barbara in the first round of the Big West Tournament Tuesday evening at the Bren Events Center.
 
"In tournament play, it doesn't matter about preseason or conference play, it's who the best team is on that day," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "UC Santa Barbara, they fight and they always have, so we knew it was going to be tough. I thought our defense came out ready to play and I'm really proud of the team for finishing the way we did."
 
Sophomore Jordan Sanders made her return to the court after missing the last three games of the regular season with an injury. She didn't miss a beat with a game-high 17 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. It was her fifth double-double of the year.
 
Senior Andee Ritter also finished with nine points, four boards and three blocks, while sophomore Haleigh Talbert was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and 2-of-2 at the free throw line for nine points. Junior Lauren Saiki contributed six points and four assists.
 
UCI (19-10) shot 33 percent overall and held UCSB to a 25 percent clip.
 
UC Irvine took an early 6-0 lead on back-to-back threes from Ritter and Sanders. UC Santa Barbara then got on the board at the 6:27 mark and pulled with one before the Anteaters closed the first quarter on a 12-3 run, capped by two more triples by Ritter and junior Yazzy Sa'Dullah, to go up, 18-8.
 
The 'Eaters went cold to start the second period, allowing the Gauchos to close the gap to one (19-18) with 5:36 remaining. A Talbert trey then sparked a 12-0 rally that gave UCI its largest lead of the half at 31-18. UCSB made a couple free throws with 25 seconds on the clock to make it 31-20 at the break.
 
UC Irvine opened the third frame on a 9-2 spurt to pull ahead, 40-22, but UC Santa Barbara clawed its way back in, outscoring the Anteaters by six over the final few minutes to cut the deficit to 42-30.
 
UCSB (8-22) continued to chip away in the fourth stanza, getting as close as 46-41 with 2:01 to play. Ritter then hit a deep three to end a nearly five-minute scoring drought, but the Gauchos answered with a triple of their own on the other end. The 'Eaters were able to pull away, however, as they came up with some big stops down the stretch for the 53-46 win.
 
Natalia Bruening paced the Gauchos with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
 
UC Irvine advances to the quarterfinal round where it will face No. 4 seed CSUN on Wednesday, March 13. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m., or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game, at the Bren Events Center.
 
 
NOTES
• UC Santa Barbara's 46 points were the fewest UC Irvine has allowed in a Big West Tournament game since 1985.
• UCI's 19 wins are tied for the third most in program history.
• This was the Anteaters' first Big West Tournament victory since 2014.
• They have reached the quarterfinals for the second straight year after earning a bye into the second round in 2018.
• Jordan Sanders notched her team-leading fifth double-double of the season after missing three games with an injury.
• Andee Ritter had her third-straight game with at least three triples to increase her school record total to 202.