FULLERTON, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team extended their win streak to six with a 57-39 victory over Cal State Fullerton Wednesday evening at Titan Gym.
 
The Anteaters improved to 12-3 overall and a perfect 4-0 in Big West play. It is the third time in program history UCI has started its conference slate with four consecutive wins.
 
The Titans (6-8, 1-4 Big West) came out strong, scoring the first four points of the night, but it was all 'Eaters after that. The visitors went up 5-4 at the 6:38 mark of the opening quarter and never relinquished the lead.
 
UC Irvine continued to play lockdown defense, holding its opponent to under 60 points for the ninth consecutive game. It is also the fourth time this season the Anteaters allowed fewer than 40 points. They are fourth in the nation in scoring defense (50.5 ppg).
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Sophomore Hunter Hernandez led the 'Eaters with 14 points (6-8 FG), eight rebounds and four assists. She scored 11 of her game-high tying 14 in the fourth quarter.
 
Junior Nevaeh Dean finished with a career-best 12 points on a 6-of-7 shooting performance. Junior Nevaeh Parkinson added nine points and five boards, while sophomore Amelia Scharpf had eight points and a career-high seven rebounds.
 
Sophomores Nikki Tom and Déja Lee chipped in six points each, and junior Diaba Konate notched four assists and three steals.
 
The Anteaters outrebounded the Titans, 41-23, with a 19-8 advantage on the offensive glass. They also shot 43% from the field, while holding Fullerton to 29%.
 
Ashlee Lewis and Una Jovanovic paced CSUF with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Cal State Fullerton went up 4-0 just 56 seconds into the game. Dean then got UC Irvine on the board and the Anteaters proceeded to outscore the Titans, 10-2, over the final nine minutes for a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The second period started out as a back-and-forth affair. UCI stayed out front, but the Titans kept it close, pulling within three. The 'Eaters eventually got a late spark from Parkinson, who fueled a 7-0 run down the stretch that extended their cushion to 27-17 at the break. Parkinson and Dean combined to go 8-of-13 from the field for 17 of the team's 27 first-half points.
 
Olivia Williams started the scoring in the third frame. From there, the two teams exchanged points until Fullerton used a 4-0 spurt to cut the deficit to seven. UC Irvine made the final push, however, as a layup from Scharpf and a putback by Dean in the final seconds made it 37-26.
 
It was all Anteaters in the fourth quarter where they outscored the Titans, 20-13. Hernandez and Scharpf accounted for 15-straight points before Tom capped an 18-5 'Eater rally with a corner three at the 1:49 mark for their largest lead of the night (21). Cal State Fullerton connected on a triple in the final minute as UCI came away with the 57-39 victory.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine returns to the Bren Events Center on Saturday, Jan. 14, when it plays host to CSUN at 2 p.m.
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine is 4-0 in conference play for the third time in program history (1984-85, 1994-95).
• The Anteaters' six-game win streak is also tied for the fifth-longest in program history.
• UCI improved to 48-39 in its all-time series with Cal State Fullerton, and 12-2 in the Tamara Inoue era (since 2016-17).
• UC Irvine has now won eight in a row against the Titans.
• The 'Eaters are 12-0 when they have multiple players score in double figures.
• Nevaeh Dean became the ninth different Anteater with a 10+ point scoring game this season.