IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team upended league-leading UC Davis in a 73-68 thriller Saturday at the Bren Events Center.
 
The Anteaters snapped UC Davis' (12-10, 7-2 Big West) seven-game winning streak, and were the first team to score more than 70 points against the Aggies since their last loss on Jan. 9. UCD had entered today's game allowing just 53.0 ppg against conference opponents.
 
The 'Eaters (7-16, 3-6 Big West), who went up by as many as 10, found themselves down by two with under a minute remaining in regulation. Dani Guglielmo then provided the late heroics, knocking down her fourth 3-pointer of the game to give the home team a 69-68 lead with 43.2 seconds on the clock.
 
UCI then stepped up on the defensive end, forcing a missed three on the Aggies' ensuing possession, and corralled the rebound. UC Davis had to start fouling from there and both Guglielmo and Lauren Saiki calmly made their free throws to secure the win.
 
"We battled for 40 minutes," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "UC Davis came back on us, but we punched right back, so it's a good sign of our growth. I'm really proud of this team for the way they finished the game out. We had opportunities where we could have crumbled, but we didn't. Our players fought right back and everyone contributed in a big way."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Senior Lauren Saiki went 7-for-14 from the field for a team-best 17 points. She also dished out a game-high seven assists. Junior Dani Guglielmo added 16 points on four triples, including the go-ahead trey in the final minute.
 
Freshman Sophia Locandro had her third-straight double-figure scoring game with 10 points to go along with six rebounds and two blocks. Junior Haleigh Talbert flirted with a double-double, tallying nine points and a career-best nine boards. Freshman Jayde Cadee contributed nine points as well, hitting some timely shots from beyond the arc where she was 3-of-4.
 
Sage Stobbart paced UC Davis with 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks.
 
Both teams shot the ball well, finishing at 44% overall. The 'Eaters were also a season-best 45% (9-20) from downtown, while the Aggies put up a 42% clip (13-31). UCI and UCD finished with 34 rebounds each.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a seesaw battle in the early going with three ties before UC Davis broke a 7-7 deadlock with the first of its 13 3-pointers. The Aggies proceeded to go up by as many as five, but Saiki cut the deficit to 18-15 with an acrobatic layup at the first-quarter buzzer.
 
After UCD knocked down another triple to start the second period, UC Irvine went on a 12-3 run, capped by a Talbert putback, for a 27-24 lead with 3:41 remaining in the half. The visitors reclaimed the advantage with five quick points, but Cadee connected from downtown to put the Anteaters on top, 30-29. UC Davis tied it up with a free throw before Talbert hit a corner three to give UCI a 33-30 cushion at the break.
 
In the third frame, the 'Eaters extended their lead to five before the Aggies came right back to knot the score at 35-35. UC Irvine then put together its best stretch of the afternoon with a 10-0 rally, bookended by triples from Guglielmo, to pull ahead, 45-35, at the 5:35 mark. It went back-and-forth from there with UCD eventually closing the gap to 55-49 at the end of the period.
 
UC Davis mounted a comeback to start the fourth with a 10-4 spurt tying it up at 59-59 with 6:38 to go. Guglielmo responded with a triple and the Anteaters stayed out front until back-to-back buckets by the Aggies gave them their first lead since the second quarter. That lead would change hands two more times before Guglielmo's clutch three put the 'Eaters on top for good (69-68) with 43.2 seconds on the clock.
 
Guglielmo and Saiki both converted their free throws down the stretch to secure the 73-68 win.

UP NEXT: UC Irvine is back in the Bren Events Center next Thursday, Feb. 13, when it hosts Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m.
 

NOTES
• UC Irvine earned its first win over UC Davis since March 7, 2015, snapping a 10-game losing streak in the all-time series.
• This was the Anteaters' first Big West home win of the season.
• The 'Eaters put on a show for their biggest home crowd of the year (528).
• Senior Lauren Saiki led UCI in scoring for the second game in a row and has reached double digits in five straight.
• She also dished out more than 5+ assists for the 21st time in 23 games.
• Saiki now has 382 career assists, putting her 18 away from becoming just the second player in school history to reach the 400 mark.
• Haleigh Talbert led the team in rebounding for the second time in the last four outings.