LONG BEACH CALIF. – The seventh-ranked UC Irvine women's water polo team clinched a share of the Big West regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed at the upcoming Big West Tournament after defeating No. 13 Long Beach State, 10-7, Thursday evening.
 
UCI improves to 18-8 overall and finishes 4-1 in Big West play. LBSU moves to 15-13 on the year and 1-3 in the conference.
 
This marks the eighth time in program history the Anteaters have won at least a share of the Big West Regular-Season title. UCI has the most titles of any Big West team.
 
UCI earns the No. 1 seed at the Big West Tournament after winning the tiebreaker against Hawaii. The 'Eaters will have a first-round bye on Friday and will play the winner of No. 4 UCSB/ No. 5 LBSU on Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Tara Prentice finished with a game-high four goals
> Mary Brooks and Jessica Lynch each scored twice while Piper Smith and Isabel Rack added one goal apiece
> Morgan Jones grabbed five saves and three steals
> Orsi Hertzka led lBSU with three goals
> UCI held a slight advantage in shots, 24-20, and went 3-11 on powerplays. The 'Eaters scored on one made five-meter penalty shot
> Brooks won all four sprints
 
QUARTER ONE
> UCI got off to a hot start, going up 4-1 after the first frame
> Prentice scored first at 5:13 before LBSU's Annabel Harman tied it up with a goal at 4:16
> Brooks made it 2-1 after firing in a shot at 3:54 followed by Prentice scoring on a five-meter penalty
> Lynch added UCI's fourth goal of the day with under a minute to play
 
QUARTER TWO
> The 49ers held the 'Eaters scoreless in the frame while Tori Morrissey added a goal for UCI
> The Anteaters led 4-2 at the half
 
QUARTER THREE
> The 'Eaters opened up the second half with goals from Smith and Prentice to go up, 6-2 (5:23)
> LBSU stormed back scoring three-straight to make it, 6-5
 
QUARTER FOUR
> Rack scored at 6:21 to give UCI a two-goal lead, 7-5, before LBSU made a five-meter penalty shot
> Brooks scored on an extra-man opportunity followed by an LBSU goal to make it 8-7 with 4:39 to play
> The 'Eaters sealed the win with goals from Prentice (1:54) and Lynch (:44)
 
UP NEXT
> UCI heads to the Big West Tournament hosted by Long Beach State April 26-28