Box Score Final Stats

LOS ANGELES - The sixth-ranked UC Irvine women's water polo team fell to No. 2 USC, 16-5, Saturday afternoon at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
 
The Anteaters (8-6) kept it close early as they did not trail by more than three until the Trojans scored with two seconds left in the second period to make it 9-5 at the half. USC (9-0) then held UCI scoreless over the final 16 minutes to run away with its ninth consecutive victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UC Irvine outshot USC, 30-22, but the Trojans were extremely efficient with a 73% clip (16-22)
>Elena Flynn led the 'Eaters with two goals
>Nioka Thomas, Kennedy East and Airian Grisham also found the back of the net for UCI
>Jessica Lynch and Brooke Banta each tallied an assist
>Erin Tharp earned the start in goal, finishing with two saves
>Jordan Frost added two stops in second-half action
>The Anteaters won three of the four sprints
>USC's Tilly Kearns and Bayley Weber each notched a hat trick on perfect 3-for-3 performances
>The Trojans' Alejandra Aznar also finished with two goals and a game-high four assists

FIRST PERIOD
>UC Irvine took a 1-0 lead with Flynn converting on a powerplay at the 7:11 mark
>USC pulled even 26 seconds later
>The Trojans proceeded to score four unanswered for the 4-1 lead
 
SECOND PERIOD
>UCI won the sprint and quickly found the back of the net with Thomas' goal coming at 7:34
>After a Tharp save on the defensive end, Flynn struck again to close the gap to one (4-3) with 6:37 remaining
>USC responded with goals from Téa Poljak and Paige Hauschild to increase its lead back to three
>The teams exchanged goals over the next three minutes
>East and Grisham found the back of the net during that stretch to keep the 'Eaters within two
>The Trojans then scored twice in the final 50 seconds for a 9-5 advantage at the half

THIRD PERIOD
>USC took control in the third frame where it outscored UC Irvine, 5-0
>Webber and Kearns both completed their hat tricks to close out the run for the Trojans
 
FOURTH PERIOD
>The Anteaters limited USC to just two goals in the final quarter but were unable to get on the board
>The 'Eaters had a handful of opportunities bar out to keep the final score at 16-5

UP NEXT
>UC Irvine returns home next weekend to host the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, Feb. 24-26.