SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 64-52 win over Cal Poly Saturday afternoon at Mott Athletics Center.
 
The Anteaters (11-8, 6-2 Big West) raced out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. They led by double digits for a majority of the game and went up by as many as 21 in the fourth quarter before the Mustangs rallied in the final three minutes.
 
"We got to showcase our entire team today and see how deep we are," said head coach Tamara Inoue. "I thought the young ones did a good job of stepping up, which allowed us to rest some players like Chloe and Sophia. I'm just really proud of the team. Today was a very good team win; everyone did their job."
 
BEHIND THE NUMBERS: Kayla Williams led a balanced scoring effort with a team-high 14 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Hunter Hernandez added nine points and two steals, while Sophia Locandro, Jayde Cadee and Tara Dusharm chipped in six points each. Locandro also finished with a team-leading five rebounds.
 
The 'Eaters shot 35.2% from the field, 35.3% from beyond the arc and 76.9% (20-26) at the free throw line. Cal Poly, meanwhile, finished at a 35.9% overall clip, but was 2-of-16 from deep and 4-of-9 at the charity stripe. Hannah Scanlan paced the Mustangs with 22 points on a 10-for-11 shooting performance.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: UC Irvine struck first with a 3-pointer from Williams, and proceeded to go up, 10-0, before Cal Poly got on the board at the 5:25 mark. The Anteaters continued to roll from there, outscoring the Mustangs, 14-2, with a Cadee triple making it 24-4 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The 'Eaters cooled off in the second period, scoring only seven points, but they were able to build on their lead slightly by holding the Mustangs to six. CP used a mini 6-0 spurt before Williams knocked down her second three of the afternoon. Sophia Locandro added a free throw and Williams closed out the half with a steal and layup for a 31-10 advantage.
 
Cal Poly (1-13, 0-5 Big West) came out of the break with a burst of energy, scoring the first nine points of the third frame. Dusharm then ended UCI's four-minute scoring drought with a jumper, and the visitors proceeded to go on a 10-4 run, capped by a Hernandez three to go on top, 42-23, with 2:09 to play. It went back-and-forth the rest of the way with UC Irvine maintaining a 44-26 cushion.
 
The Anteaters kept the momentum in the fourth, taking their largest lead of the afternoon at 60-39 on a Nikki Tom layup with just under three minutes remaining. Cal Poly then used one last push to make the final score appear closer than it actually was as the 'Eaters took the 64-52 victory.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine returns to the Bren Events Center next week, hosting UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 3) and CSUN (Feb. 5).
 
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine is now tied for first in the Big West standings.
• The Anteaters improved to 4-0 in conference road games.
• UCI has won four in a row, and nine of its last 10, against Cal Poly.
• The 'Eaters are 7-1 when holding their opponent to under 60 points.
• UC Irvine held the Mustangs to 10 points in the first 20 minutes, marking the fewest points allowed in a half this season.
• Six of the Anteaters' 11 wins have come by 10+ points.
• Kayla Williams extended her streaks of double-figure scoring games (16) and games played with a 3FG made (32).
• Chloe Webb finished the two-game road trip with an 85.7 (12-14) field goal percentage.