LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team earned its fourth-straight win Thursday evening, taking down UC San Diego, 60-52, at LionTree Arena.
 
The Anteaters (21-5, 13-2 Big West), who have lost three key starters to season-ending injuries over the last two months, tied a school record with their 21st win. They also remained unbeaten in conference road games at 8-0.
 
UCI led for most of the second half before UCSD made a late push to pull ahead, 52-51, with 4:20 remaining. Nikki Tom then came up big, knocking down a clutch three with just under three minutes to go, putting the visitors up for good. It was all 'Eaters the rest of the way as they closed on a 9-0 run for the eight-point victory.
 
"We're just trying to figure out ways to get through it and we're still not 100% healthy so a couple players saw limited minutes, but I'm really happy with the effort tonight," said head coach Tamara Inoue. "It amazes me how much fight my team has. I'm really proud of Nevaeh (Parkinson) for being solid and strong, and not allowing contact to bother her today. Also, Nikki hitting that big three in the fourth quarter was huge for us."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Nevaeh Parkinson led UC Irvine with a career-high 16 points and 13 rebounds. She was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field. Sophomore Nikki Tom also finished with 13 points and four boards, while Déja Lee had 11 points, four rebounds and three steals.
 
Sophomore Amelia Scharpf added nine points, and junior Diaba Konate chipped in six points, three assists and four steals. Graduate student Nyagoa Gony also corralled five boards.
 
The Anteaters won the battle in turnovers forced (20-7), points off turnovers (24-3) and rebounding (35-32). Their seven miscues were a season-low against Division I opponents.
 
UC San Diego matched its season high with 12 3-pointers made and was led by Izzy Forsyth's 14 points (3-4 3FG).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: UC San Diego (12-15, 9-8 Big West) drained a couple threes in the first two minutes for an early 6-2 lead. UC Irvine came right back with a 7-0 run, capped by Nevaeh Dean's first triple of the season, to go up 9-6 at the 5:28 mark. UCI stayed out front until the Tritons used a 9-2 spurt to pull ahead, 17-13. The 'Eaters kept it close, trailing by only three (21-18) despite UCSD making 5-of-10 from deep in the first quarter.
 
The Anteaters made the adjustments in the second period as they scored 11 unanswered points for a 29-21 advantage with 3:24 remaining. Scharpf sparked the rally with five of her nine points during that stretch. UC San Diego finally got on the board with a three at the 1:35 mark and made another in the last minute to cut the deficit to 29-27 at the break.
 
UC Irvine outscored the Tritons, 12-3, over the first five minutes of the third frame, and took its largest lead of the night at 41-30 on a jumper by Lee. After a UCSD timeout, the home team got right back in it with three treys in a two-minute span to make it 41-39 with 2:28 to play. Tom put a stop to the run with a couple free throws and UCI maintained a 45-41 cushion going into the fourth.
 
It went back-and-forth to start the final quarter before UC San Diego made a 9-2 push to reclaim the lead at 52-51 with 4:20 to go. That's when Tom stepped up for the 'Eaters, sinking a clutch three with just under three minutes remaining. Parkinson followed with another putback and Lee picked up a steal and layup to seal the 60-52 victory.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine returns home to host Hawai'i on Saturday, Feb. 25. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.
 
NOTES
• For the second year in a row, the Anteaters have tied a school record with 21 wins.
• UCI completed its third regular-season series sweep of the 2023 Big West campaign.
• UC Irvine has now won five in a row against UC San Diego.
• The 'Eaters (13-2) are second in the conference standings, sitting one game behind Long Beach State (15-2).
• The Anteaters were back in action after canceling their last two games due to a limited number of healthy players.
• Diaba Konate has registered at least one steal in each of her 23 games played this season.
• This was her second-straight outing with four takeaways.
• Nikki Tom had her 11th double-figure scoring performance of the season.
• Tom also extended her streak of games played with a 3-pointer made to eight.
• In her first career start, Nevaeh Parkinson notched her second double-double and fourth game with 10+ rebounds.
• Nevaeh Dean made her first 3-pointer of the season, and third of her collegiate career.