IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team kept itself in contention for the program's first Big West championship with a 67-52 victory over CSU Bakersfield in Saturday's regular-season finale at the Bren Events Center.
 
The Anteaters (19-10, 14-4 Big West) are guaranteed a top-two conference finish for the third year in a row.

They will have to wait and see if they take first or second after tonight's Hawai'i-UC Santa Barbara game, which starts at 9 p.m. PT (7 p.m. HT). UCI can claim the title with a UCSB win, while a UH win would give the Rainbow Wahine their first championship since 2015.
 
The 'Eaters honored their two seniors, Tara Dusharm and Melodie Kapinga, following their final game at the Bren Events Center.
 
"Senior Night is always special; it's the last home game of the season," said head coach Tamara Inoue. "That automatically brings the energy up and gets people excited, so I thought our team did a really good job of being hyped up from the very beginning."
 
UC Irvine never trailed, breaking an early 4-4 tie with a 9-0 run. The Anteaters kept their foot on the gas, going up by as many as 20 in the 15-point victory.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Kayla Williams finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
 
Hunter Hernandez had her second-straight double-figure scoring game with a season-best 12 points (6-12 FG). She also pulled down six rebounds.
 
Nikki Tom added nine points and a season-high seven boards, while Jayde Cadee contributed eight points, four rebounds, two steals and a career-best four assists.
 
In their final game at the Bren, Dusharm had four points, four rebounds and a block, while Kapinga had two points, one rebound and one steal.
 
As a team, the 'Eaters shot 40% from the field, and held the Roadrunners to 31%. They also forced 12 turnovers which led to 17 points. In addition, UCI won the battle in rebounding (43-33), points in the paint (30-14) and second-chance points (13-7).
 
Jayden Eggleston led CSUB with 19 points and seven rebounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: UC Irvine broke an early 4-4 tie with nine-straight points. The Anteaters kept the momentum, continuing on a 15-3 run to go up by 12 with 36 seconds on the clock. CSU Bakersfield then cut the deficit to single digits (19-10) as it ended the first quarter with a three.
 
The 'Eaters quickly went back on top by 12 with a Tom triple to start the second period. UCI proceeded to take a 30-14 advantage following a pair of free throws by Kapinga with 4:51 remaining. The two teams then went back-and-forth before five consecutive points from Cadee gave UC Irvine a 39-22 cushion with 32 seconds to go. The Roadrunners once again accounted for the final bucket, draining the long ball to make it 39-25 at the break.
 
CSUB (4-19, 3-11 Big West) scored the first six points of the third frame before Sophia Locandro got the Anteaters back on the board with a jumper at the 8:45 mark. That sparked the offense to an 11-0 run which broke it open at 50-31 with 3:08 left. The 'Runners were able to make a small dent in UCI's lead over the final three minutes, closing to within 14 (52-38).
 
The 'Eaters left no doubt in the fourth as they went up 63-43 on a Cadee 3-pointer with 5:31 to play.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine makes its way to Henderson, Nevada, next week for the 2022 Hercules Tires Big West Championships presented by the Hawaiian Islands. The Anteaters will be either the No. 1 or 2 seed and are set to begin their postseason journey in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, March 9.
 
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine's 14 conference wins are the most in program history.
• Over the last two seasons, the Anteaters are 25-8 in Big West regular-season games.
• The 'Eaters improved to 12-4 at the Bren Events Center this year, and are now 48-20 at home since 2017-18.
• Kayla Williams had her sixth 20-point game of the season and 11th of her career.
• She extended her streak of consecutive games played with a 3-pointer made to 42.
• Williams moved into a tie for fourth in single-season school history with 60 3-pointers made.
• UCI did not commit a turnover in the first quarter, and had only two miscues at the half.
• The Anteaters allowed fewer than 60 points for the 11th time in their 18 Big West games.