LONG BEACH, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team's late fourth-quarter rally fell short in a 50-45 loss to Southern Miss on the first day of the Beach Classic Friday afternoon at the Walter Pyramid.
 
UCI (6-3) went down by as many as 18 late in the third period before outscoring the Golden Eagles, 16-7, in the final frame. Diaba Konate knocked down a 3-pointer to bring the Anteaters within four with 31 seconds on the clock, but they were unable to get any closer before the buzzer.
 
"It's good to see our team play until the very end; that's something we pride ourselves on," said head coach Tamara Inoue. "In the beginning, I think we just got kind of tight. I thought our shot selection was good and we were right there, we just missed a lot of open shots."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Nevaeh Parkinson led UC Irvine with a season-high tying 10 points (4-8 FG) and a team-best five rebounds. Junior Diaba Konate added eight points, four boards, four assists and four steals, and sophomore Hunter Hernandez chipped in seven points. Graduate student Naomi Hunt also had six second-half points to go along with four rebounds.
 
The 'Eaters struggled from the field, shooting 30.9% and 23.3% from beyond the arc. Despite going 0-for-8 from long distance, Southern Miss finished the game with a 41.2% overall clip. UC Irvine forced 20 turnovers, but was outrebounded, 38-28.
 
Melyia Grayson paced the Golden Eagles with 17 points and seven rebounds. Domonique Davis, who entered the game averaging 21.8 points per outing, finished with 13.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Southern Miss (6-4) took an early 5-0 lead before sophomore Olivia Williams got UC Irvine on the board with a 3-pointer at the 5:06 mark. Neither team was able to get much going on the offensive end for the remainder of the quarter as the Golden Eagles held a 9-5 advantage after 10 minutes of action.
 
Junior Nevaeh Dean quickly tied it up at 9-9 with a couple buckets in the first minute of the second period. The two sides then traded points before Southern Miss outscored the Anteaters, 10-4, for a 21-15 cushion at the break.
 
After a Hunt triple early in the third frame, it was the Golden Eagles who took the momentum, scoring 10 unanswered. They extended their hot start into a 16-3 run for their largest lead of the game at 39-21 with just over three minutes to go. Caiyle Kaupu and Hernandez then knocked down back-to-back threes and Hernandez added a couple free throws about 40 seconds later to close the gap to 12, but Southern Miss got the final bucket for a 43-29 edge.
 
The Golden Eagles struck first in the fourth quarter, but it was all UCI after that. Williams drained a jumper to kick off an 11-2 rally that made it 47-40 with 3:30 left to play. Southern Miss went back on top by nine, but a Parkinson layup and a Konate triple made it a four-point game with 31 seconds on the clock. The 'Eaters were then unable to convert on their final two possessions.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine closes out the Beach Classic against Dartmouth Saturday (Dec. 17) at 1 p.m.
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine has now given up fewer than 60 points in seven of its nine games.
• The Anteaters have also held their opponent to at least one single-digit scoring quarter on eight occasions.
• The 'Eaters were limited to a season-low 15 points in the first half.
• Nevaeh Parkinson was UCI's seventh different leading scorer this season.
• Olivia Williams eclipsed 200 career points with her five in the game giving her 202 in her second year as an Anteater.
• This was the first meeting between UC Irvine and Southern Miss.