SAN DIEGO - UC Irvine women's basketball's historic season came to an end with a 58-48 loss to San Diego in the second round of the WNIT Monday evening at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
The Anteaters had a banner season with the program's first Big West regular-season championship and their first postseason win after taking down San Diego State in a first round WNIT game last Friday. They also set school records in both overall (25) and conference (16) victories. UCI had its second-straight 20-win season for the first time since 1983-85.
 
USD (19-13) took its largest lead of the night at 50-34 with 8:31 remaining in the game, but like they did all season, the 'Eaters continued to battle. They cut the deficit in half, coming within eight at the 1:49 mark, but ultimately ran out of time in their first double-digit loss of the season. 
 
"We fought until the very end; we just missed some easy shots and free throws tonight," said head coach Tamara Inoue. "I couldn't be prouder of this team for their effort and their fight all season long."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Diaba Konate led UC Irvine with a team-high 12 points. Sophomore Amelia Scharpf also finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
 
Graduate student Nyagoa Gony tallied eight points and a team-best seven boards, while sophomore Déja Lee added eight points, four assists and a career-high tying five steals. Sophomore Nikki Tom chipped in five points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
UCI won the battle in turnovers forced (22-13) but was outrebounded by 20 and made just three of its 10 free throws.
 
Kylie Horstmeyer paced the Toreros with 15 points and Kasey Neubert pulled down 17 rebounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: UC Irvine (25-7) took an early 5-2 lead on a 3-pointer from Tom and a Konate layup. San Diego then reeled off nine-straight points to pull ahead, 11-5, at the 2:52 mark. Lee put an end to the rally with a triple but the Toreros held a 13-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
 
Both teams got out to a slow start in the second period as USD scored the only bucket through six minutes of action. Nevaeh Parkinson then made 1-of-2 at the line to get the Anteaters on the board with 4:01 remaining. After the home team took its largest lead of the half at 21-11, the 'Eaters responded with a 4-0 spurt before San Diego made a half-court shot at the buzzer to go up 24-16 at the break.
 
The two sides exchanged points over the first three minutes of the third frame. The Toreros then scored five quick points to go up, 33-20, at the 6:15 mark. Scharpf answered with a three and a back-and-forth battle ensued. UCI eventually cut the deficit to single digits as a Konate jumper with three ticks on the clock made it 43-34.
 
USD built a 16-point advantage with a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter. After a UC Irvine timeout, Scharpf knocked down her second three of the night and Konate followed with a driving layup to close the gap to 11. San Diego stayed out front by double digits until another bucket from Konate and a steal and layup by Lee made it an eight-point game with just under two minutes to go. That was the closest the Anteaters would get as the Toreros held on for the 58-48 victory.
 
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine was handed its first true road loss since Dec. 11, snapping a 10-game win streak in the process.
• It was also UCI's first double-digit loss of the 2022-23 campaign.
• The 'Eaters did not lose back-to-back games in a season for the first time since 1984-85.
• The Anteaters rank among the top-10 in the nation in scoring defense (53.2 ppg).
• They held 25 of their 32 opponents to 60 points or less and did not give up more than 67 this year.
• UC Irvine played with a seven-person rotation in its last eight games after losing three starters to season-ending injuries.
• Diaba Konate had her 13th double-figure scoring performance of the season.
• Nikki Tom made at least one 3-pointer in each of the last 14 games.