IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team is headed to the Honda Center for the first time in five years.

The fifth-seeded Anteaters built a late 11-point lead and held on for the 59-57 victory over No. 4 seed CSUN in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament Wednesday evening at the Bren Events Center.
 
UCI advances to the semifinals where it will take on top-seeded UC Davis.
 
The Anteaters improved to 20-10 on the season, marking their first 20-win campaign since 1984-85.
 
"When you want something so bad, you start to tighten up a little bit and I think that's what happened to our team down the stretch," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "Getting to the Honda Center has never happened since I started coaching here, and it hasn't happened for any player on my team, so that was a big goal of ours, and to be able to do that with (seniors) Andee and Sabrina is huge for us. Tonight was really tough, CSUN is a fantastic team, but I'm just proud of my kids for really grinding this one out."
 
UCI went up 55-44 halfway through the fourth quarter before the Matadors came storming back with an 11-0 run to tie it up at 55-55 with 1:03 remaining. Junior Lauren Saiki broke the deadlock with a floater in the lane, but a Channon Fluker layup brought CSUN back even at 57-all with 17 seconds left.
 
After calling a timeout, the 'Eaters ran the pick-and-roll to perfection with Saiki drawing the 6-foot-4 Fluker out, then finding sophomore Tahlia Garza for the wide-open layup with two ticks on the clock. CSUN was able to get a last-second 3-point attempt off, but it hit the rim as the buzzer sounded.
 
Saiki finished with 16 points (4-9 3FG), three assists and two rebounds. Sophomore Jordan Sanders also had a team-high 18 points and eight boards. Garza added eight points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Haleigh Talbert was active all over the floor with six points, five rebounds and five assists. Senior Sabrina Engelstad chipped in six points.
 
The Anteaters forced the Matadors into 17 turnovers, while committing only eight of their own. Senior Andee Ritter led the charge with four steals.
 
The two teams combined to go 0-for-9 from the field before CSUN opened the scoring at the 8:06 mark. Sanders answered with a jumper on the other end, starting a 13-4 run that put UC Irvine on top by seven with 1:16 remaining. The Matadors then knocked down a triple with 32 seconds on the clock to close the gap to 13-9.
 
CSUN (16-15) kept the momentum early in the second quarter, scoring the first four points to knot it up at 13-13. A Saiki jumper got the Anteaters back on the board and a seesaw battle ensued over the next couple minutes. The Matadors eventually used an 11-0 spurt to pull ahead, 28-19, with 2:03 to go. Sophomore Dani Guglielmo then ended a nearly three-minute scoring drought for the 'Eaters and they were able to close the gap to three, but a putback at the buzzer gave CSUN a 30-25 cushion at the break.
 
UC Irvine fell behind by seven early in the third frame before threes from Saiki and Talbert sparked a 12-0 rally that put them on top, 39-34. The Anteaters continued to roll, taking a 49-38 advantage at the end of the period.
 
In the fourth stanza, the two teams went back-and-forth with a Sanders jumper keeping UCI out front by 11 before CSUN's late push.
 
The Matadors shot 43 percent overall but were only 4-of-20 from long distance. Fluker led the way with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
 
UC Irvine will now make its way to Honda Center in Anaheim for the Big West semifinals on Friday, March 15. The Anteaters are set to face UC Davis at 12 p.m.
 
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine's 20 victories are tied for the second most in program history.
• The Anteaters join the 1983-84 (20) and 1984-85 (21) squads as the only UCI teams to reach the 20-win mark.
• The 'Eaters are now 4-0 against CSUN at the Bren Events Center in the Tamara Inoue era (since 2016-17).
• It was their first postseason victory over the Matadors.
• Despite missing four games this year, Jordan Sanders ranks third in single-season school history with 525 points.
• Lauren Saiki matched her career high with four 3-pointers made.  
• Andee Ritter increased her school-record steals total to 195.