EUGENE, Ore. - UC Irvine women's basketball was unable to get its offense going against the height and length of Oregon's defense as it dropped a 71-43 decision to the Ducks Thursday evening at Matthew Knight Arena.
 
The Anteaters (7-4) were held to season lows in points scored, field goals made (13) and field goal percentage (25%). They also tied a season high with 19 turnovers.
 
The 'Eaters got out to a slow start as they went 0-for-10 from the field and were limited to just four points in the opening quarter. They started to find their rhythm in the second period where they shot 43% and went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to cut a 23-point deficit down to 16 at the half. UCI was able to make it a 14-point game midway through the third frame before the Ducks pulled away with a 12-0 run.
 
UC Irvine held Oregon (9-3) below its season average of 74.1 points per game. The Anteaters also kept the Ducks to under 20 points in every quarter just two days after UO scored 20+ in all four periods of a 98-36 win over Air Force.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Hunter Hernandez led UCI with nine points and six rebounds. Junior Ines Gnahore, who was making her second appearance of the season, went 3-for-3 from the field and finished with eight points. Sophomore Summah Hanson added seven points, while junior Olivia Williams had six. Senior Nikki Tom tied for the team lead with six boards.
 
Oregon shot 38% from the field, 29% from beyond the arc and 71% at the free throw line. Katie Fiso paced the Ducks with a game-high 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Alexis Whitfield also had 10 points and four steals, while 6-foot-8 center Phillipina Kyei pulled down nine rebounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a defensive battle in the early going as UC Irvine took a 3-1 lead, with all four points of the game coming at the free throw line. Oregon then knocked down the first field goal of the night with 5:12 left in the first quarter. That started a 16-1 rally that gave the Ducks a 17-4 advantage.
 
Hernandez connected from downtown for the Anteaters' first field goal at the 8:57 mark of the second period. UO responded with a 16-4 run to take its largest lead of the half at 34-11. The 'Eaters then came back with a 9-2 spurt of their own, which included consecutive 3-pointers from Gnahore and Hanson, to close the gap to 36-20 at the break.
 
After trading points over the first four minutes of the third frame, UCI scored five unanswered, capped by another triple from Hanson, to make it a 14-point game (41-27) with 4:47 remaining, Oregon then reclaimed the momentum, scoring the final 12 points of the quarter to increase its cushion to 55-29.
 
The Ducks maintained their 20-point margin over the final 10 minutes. The closest the Anteaters got was at 60-39 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Williams with 6:22 to play.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine is idle until Thursday, Jan. 2, when it welcomes Cal Poly to the Bren Events Center for its Big West home opener.
 
NOTES
• This was the Anteaters' seventh-straight road game.
• The 'Eaters allowed more than 70 points for the first time this season.
• It was UC Irvine's first loss by more than 20 points since March 11, 2020.
• Nikki Tom surpassed 400 career rebounds (404).
• Déja Lee had two steals on the evening to move into a tie for seventh in school history with 173 career takeaways.