IRVINE, Calif. - Freshman Sophia Locandro and senior Lauren Saiki both finished with a double-double to lead the UC Irvine women's basketball team to a 72-71 victory over Hawai'i Thursday evening at the Bren Events Center.
 
Locandro finished with a career-high 34 points and 11 rebounds, while Saiki had 11 points and a season-best 12 assists.
 
It was a wild finish as the Anteaters (11-17, 7-7 Big West) erased a six-point third-quarter deficit with an 11-0 run to start the fourth. They kept the momentum on their side, going up by as many as eight before the Rainbow Wahine (14-12, 8-5 Big West) answered with a 9-2 spurt to cut the UCI lead to 70-69 with 1:34 remaining.
 
Saiki then came up clutch with a layup that made it 72-69 with 17.8 seconds left. On the other end, UH's Julissa Tago drew a foul from 3-point territory, and was awarded three free throws with 4.5 ticks on the clock. She made the first two but missed the third allowing the home team to hold on for their third-straight win.
 
"This is a good win for us," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "Right now, our focus has been great. Lauren has been leading the charge, and Sophia, who is just a freshman, is starting to come into her own. We're trying to set them all up for success the best we can with mismatches. Defensively, we just have to keep getting better. I thought we did a good job in the first half, but like we always talk about, we have to keep it up for 40 minutes."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Locandro finished the night 11-of-22 from the floor and 10-for-11 from the free throw line. She is the first Anteater with a 30-point double-double since Camille Buckley in March 2014.
 
Saiki notched her third double-digit assist performance of the season and sixth of her career. Her 12 helpers tonight put her at 189 for the year, tying a single-season school record that was established by Lisa Faulkner in 2002-03.
 
Junior Alexus Seaton added 11 points, while classmate Tahlia Garza pulled down six boards. Junior Joy Akaegbu-Cleveland also finished with seven points.
 
Tago paced Hawai'i with 34 points (8-14 3FG).
 
The 'Eaters shot 42% from the field and 78% from the charity stripe. They outrebounded the 'Bows, 40-35.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: UC Irvine went up 4-0 before Hawai'i got on the board at the 6:18 mark. The two teams went back-and-forth over the next minute, but it was the Rainbow Wahine who would pull ahead, 12-6, with 1:41 remaining. The Anteaters then scored four-straight points, capped by a three from Seaton in the final seconds of the first quarter, to cut the deficit to 12-10.
 
The 'Bows went on top, 14-10, to start the second period before a traditional three-point play by Akaegbu-Cleveland sparked a 13-3 run that gave the 'Eaters a 23-17 lead with 3:43 left in the half. UH was able to close the gap to three, but UCI stayed out front and held a 31-26 cushion at the break.
 
Hawai'i then got hot in the third frame where it shot 64% from the field and 63% from beyond the arc. The Rainbow Wahine ended up outscoring the Anteaters, 28-17, for a 54-48 advantage.
 
UC Irvine bounced right back, scoring the first 11 points of the fourth, and continuing on a 23-6 run that ended with a Saiki layup, for a 68-60 lead at the 4:02 mark. The 'Bows then responded with a 9-2 spurt over the next couple minutes to make it a one-point game. After both teams came up with a defensive stop, Saiki converted on a clutch layup to put the 'Eaters ahead, 72-69, with 17.8 seconds remaining. That's when Tago was fouled and awarded three free throws, making the first two, but missing the third with Seaton corralling the rebound.
 
UH had one more chance as they got a steal with 0.3 ticks on the clock, but after calling a timeout, was unable to get a shot off.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine wraps up the regular season next week, starting with a home game against UC Riverside on Thursday, March 5. It will be the Anteaters' Senior Night as they will recognize Lauren Saiki and Yazzy Sa'Dullah prior to the 7 p.m. tip-off. The 'Eaters then make their way to Cal State Fullerton for the regular-season finale on Saturday, March 7 (5 p.m.)
 
NOTES
• Tonight marked the 500th win in program history.
• UC Irvine is tied for fourth with UC Santa Barbara in the Big West standings.
• The Anteaters are a half-game back of third-place Cal State Fullerton (7-6) and 1.5 behind second-place Hawai'i.
• Long Beach State and CSUN are also a half-game behind UCI and UCSB with identical 6-7 conference records.
• The 'Eaters are on a season-long three-game win streak.
• They have won five of their last six, and end the month of February with a 6-2 record.
• Sophia Locandro reached double figures in scoring and had 2+ blocks for the seventh time in the last eight outings.
• Locandro registered the Anteaters' first 30-point game of the season.
• Lauren Saiki needs one more assist to break a 17-year old single-season record (189).
• Both Locandro and Saiki had their second double-doubles of the year.