BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball led wire-to-wire in a 65-40 Big West-opening win over Cal State Bakersfield Thursday evening at the Icardo Center.
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The Anteaters (6-3, 1-0 Big West) held their opponent to under 50 points for the second time this season, while the 40 points allowed were a season low.
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UCI outscored the Roadrunners, 25-14, in the second quarter to build a 19-point lead at the half. The 'Eaters continued to lock down defensively after the break, holding the 'Runners to under 20 points over the final 20 minutes.
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BY THE NUMBERS: Sophomores
Shirel Nahum and
Summah Hanson (4-6 FG) led the 'Eaters with 12 points each. It was a season high for Nahum who went 5-for-9 from the field.
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Senior
Amelia Scharpf finished with eight points (4-7 FG) and six rebounds. SeniorÂ
Déja Lee also pulled down a career-high nine boards to go along with five points, two assists and two steals. Junior
Hunter Hernandez added seven points, seven rebounds and three steals, while senior
Nevaeh Dean chipped in seven points.
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The Anteaters shot 41.5% from the field and limited CSUB to 34.0%. They also won the battle in rebounding (39-34) and turnovers forced (22-11). In addition, UCI held the advantage in points off turnovers (21-7), points in the paint (34-20) and second chance points (15-9).
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Marley Langi and Caitie Gingras paced the Roadrunners with nine points apiece.
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HOW IT HAPPENED: Hernandez scored the first four points of the game before Cal State Bakersfield (0-7, 0-1 Big West) got on the board at the 7-minute mark. The Anteaters then used an 11-3 run, capped by a Scharpf layup, to take a 15-5 lead with 27.1 seconds on the clock. The Roadrunners were able to get the final bucket to make it an eight-point game at the end of the first quarter.
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Lee knocked down a triple to start the second period. After back-to-back buckets by the 'Runners closed the gap to seven, Dean banked in a 3-pointer to start a 14-6 spurt that put the 'Eaters on top, 32-17, with 3:24 remaining. UCI kept its foot on the gas, pulling ahead 40-21 at the half.
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Nikki Tom buried a corner three to begin a 9-2 rally that gave UC Irvine a 49-23 cushion with 4:25 remaining in the third frame. Scharpf and Nahum then combined for eight points down the stretch to increase the Anteaters' margin to 28 (57-29).
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The 'Eaters went up by as many as 29 in the fourth quarter before closing out the 65-40 win. Nahum scored six of UCI's eight points in the final 10 minutes.
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UP NEXT: UC Irvine will have a week off for finals before closing out non-conference action at Oregon State (Dec. 15) and Oregon (Dec. 19).
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NOTES
• UC Irvine won its Big West opener for the fifth-straight year.
• The Anteaters' 25-point win was their largest margin of victory in their all-time series with Cal State Bakersfield.
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Nikki Tom dished out her 200th career assist.
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Summah Hanson had her fifth consecutive double-figure scoring game.
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Déja Lee has made a 3-pointer in 13-straight outings dating back to last season.
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