STOCKTON, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team opened the Tiger Turkey Tip-Off with an impressive 74-63 neutral-site win over St. Thomas Friday afternoon at Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
The Tommies have a potent offense, entering the game averaging 78.5 points per outing, but the Anteater defense stepped up to the challenge, holding them to a season-low 63.
 
"It was a great team effort today," said head coach Tamara Inoue. "I thought we shot well but more importantly we were able to limit and match their runs. St. Thomas is a really good team and I'm impressed with their shooting ability, so I'm proud of us for sustaining and fighting through."
 
The 'Eaters (3-2) fell behind early, trailing by seven just two-and-a-half minutes in, but after calling a timeout, they found their stride and cut the deficit to two by the end of the opening quarter. They proceeded to outscore St. Thomas, 45-27, over the next 20 minutes to put the game out of reach.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Déja Lee led four Anteaters in double figures with a career-high tying 23 points. Lee was 8-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. She also had five rebounds and four assists.
 
Freshman Shirel Nahum finished with a season-high 12 points to go along with five boards, while graduate transfer Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba registered 10 points in her UC Irvine debut. Junior Nikki Tom added 10 points, five assists and three steals.
 
Senior Diaba Konate dished out seven assists and notched a season-best four steals. Senior Nevaeh Dean grabbed a game-high six rebounds, while junior Amelia Scharpf contributed seven points.
 
The 'Eaters shot 45.6% overall, a season-best 44.4% (8-18) from distance and 82.4% at the free throw line. They had 21 assists on 26 made field goals.
 
UCI outrebounded the Tommies, 25-21, and held the advantage in turnovers forced (23-20), steals (11-4) and points off turnovers (28-16).
 
St. Thomas shot 47.9% from the field but was just 4-of-19 from 3-point range. Amber Scalia led the way with 18 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: St. Thomas (3-2) took the early momentum, scoring the first seven points and going up 9-2 before UC Irvine called a timeout. After the two teams traded buckets, Lee bookended an 11-2 run with two of her four threes to give the Anteaters their first lead, 15-13, at the 3:06 mark. The Tommies were able to reclaim the advantage down the stretch as they held a 17-15 edge at the end of the first quarter.
 
Scharpf knocked down a 3-pointer to start the second period but St. Thomas went back out front, 21-18. Tom then drained a triple to start a 7-0 spurt that put the 'Eaters on top, 25-21, with 7:18 remaining. The Tommies ended the rally with a three of their own, but UCI outscored St. Thomas, 12-4, down the stretch to pull ahead, 37-28, at the break. Nahum made both of her 3-pointers in the second quarter.
 
UC Irvine continued to roll in the third frame with a second-chance layup from Dean and two more treys from Lee increasing the cushion to 16 (45-29). St. Thomas finally got back on the board with just over six minutes to go but the Anteaters were able to maintain their double-digit margin, taking a 60-44 lead into the final quarter.
 
The 'Eaters went up by as many as 21 on a layup by Lee at the 7:57 mark of the fourth period. The Tommies did their best to close the gap, but UCI was never threatened in the 74-63 win.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine will close out the Tiger Turkey Tip-Off against tournament host Pacific Saturday (Nov. 25) at 3:30 p.m.
 
NOTES
• This was UC Irvine's first win away from the Bren Events Center this season.
• The Anteaters have scored over 70 points in all three of their victories.
• They had four players in double figures for the second-straight game.
• UCI  has given up fewer than 70 points in 39 consecutive outings.
• Déja Lee had her second 20-point effort of the season and fourth of her career.
• Lee made 17 consecutive free throws before her first miss of the year with just under one minute remaining in the fourth quarter.
• Diaba Konate is averaging 7.5 assists over the last two games.
• Nikki Tom had her fourth game with 3+ steals and leads the team with 16 (3.2/gm) on the year.