RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team continued its defensive dominance with a 56-45 win over UC Riverside Saturday evening at SRC Arena.
 
The Anteaters (19-5, 11-2 Big West) held their opponent to under 60 points for the fifth-straight game and 18th time this season.
 
For the second time this week, UCI raced out to an early lead that it never relinquished. The 'Eaters went up by 10 with 3:26 left in the first quarter and stayed out front, going on top by as many as 21 before closing out the 11-point victory.
 
"The strong starts have been great," said head coach Tamara Inoue. "We started off well and we've been finishing stronger. In the fourth quarter today we were able to maintain but we missed too many layups and the turnovers are too much right now. We have to fix those little details but I'm proud of them for the fight."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Sophomore Hunter Hernandez had her third-straight double-figure scoring performance with a game-high 16 points to go along with six rebounds. Sophomore Déja Lee added 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting (2-3 3FG).
 
Graduate student Nyagoa Gony had an impressive defensive effort, finishing with eight rebounds and a career-high six blocks. Her six rejections are tied for third in UCI's single-game history.
 
Junior Nevaeh Parkinson was also a big presence down low, pulling down a career-high tying 11 boards. Junior Diaba Konate chipped in seven points and five assists, while sophomore Nikki Tom had seven points and four steals.
 
The 'Eaters shot 38.6% from the field, 35.7% from beyond the arc and were a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line. They outrebounded the Highlanders, 42-26, with a 17-8 advantage on the offensive glass.
 
Jordan Webster paced UCR with 14 points and six rebounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: UC Irvine scored the first six points of the game and extended its lead to 15-5 following a Lee 3-pointer at the 3:26 mark. UC Riverside responded with back-to-back triples, but the Anteaters closed out the quarter with a couple free throws from Tom and a jumper by Hernandez to pull ahead 19-11 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The 'Eaters kept the momentum in the second period, using a 12-3 run, capped by a Parkinson layup, to go on top, 31-14, with 3:45 remaining. After trading buckets, the Highlanders put up six-straight points to cut the deficit to 11. Konate then knocked down a jumper in the paint to increase UCI's margin to 35-22 at the break.
 
After UCR (5-19, 3-11 Big West) got the scoring started in the third frame, UC Irvine reeled off nine unanswered points for a 44-24 advantage. UC Riverside then ended a four-minute scoring drought before Konate drained a three to give the Anteaters their largest lead of the evening (47-26) with 5:04 to play. UCI was held to just two points the rest of the way, but still took a 49-34 cushion into the fourth.
 
The 'Eaters stayed out front by double digits until a 6-0 spurt by the Highlanders made it an eight-point game (53-45) with just over two minutes to go. Parkinson then stepped up, putting an end to the rally with an and-one at the 1:21 mark to seal the victory.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine returns to the Bren Events Center next Wednesday, Feb. 15, when it plays host to UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m.
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine improved to 7-0 in Big West road games.
• The Anteaters (11-2) remain a half-game behind Long Beach State (12-2) in the conference standings.
• Nyagoa Gony is the first 'Eaters with 5+ blocks in a game since 2017.
• Gony has registered at least one block 15 times and has had multiple rejections on eight occasions.
• Nevaeh Parkinson notched her third double-figure rebounding performance, all of which have come in Big West action.
• Hunter Hernandez has reached double figures in scoring in 10 of the team's 13 conference outings.
• In league play, Hernandez is averaging 13.8 points per contest.
• UCI led wire-to-wire in back-to-back games for the first time this season.