BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - UC Irvine women's basketball won its third-straight game with a 72-68 victory over Cal State Bakersfield Saturday at the Icardo Center.
 
The Anteaters (16-7, 11-3 Big West) pulled down a season-high 52 rebounds including 31 offensive boards. They outscored the Roadrunners, 28-2, in second-chance points.
 
Every time UCI was primed to pull away, CSUB got back in it with the 3-ball, finishing the game 12-of-24 from beyond the arc.
 
"Road games and conference games in general are tough," said head coach Tamara Inoue. "Every win is celebrated. I thought (Cal State Bakersfield) did a really good job. We knew they would come in firing. They had a big run against CSUN in the fourth quarter two days ago and that carried over into this game. But credit to my team for not quitting, staying with it, moving that ball and getting it done."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Graduate student Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba registered her second double-double with 12 points and a season-best 15 rebounds. Senior Nevaeh Parkinson also had a team-high 16 points to go along with nine boards.
 
Junior Amelia Scharpf hit a couple big buckets in the fourth quarter and finished with 13 points. Junior Déja Lee added nine points, while classmate Nikki Tom had seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Senior Diaba Konate contributed six points and four steals, and senior Nevaeh Dean corralled seven boards.
 
The 'Eaters shot 31% from the field and were just 5-of-27 from distance, but went 21-for-25 at the free throw line. They also held the advantage in rebounding (52-30), turnovers forced (16-12), points off turnovers (21-16), points in the paint (30-16) and second-chance points (28-2).
 
CSUB (8-16, 5-10 Big West) shot 46% overall, 50% from deep and 83.3% (10-12) at the charity stripe. Shaunae Brown paced the 'Runners with a game-high 22 points behind a 6-of-8 performance from behind the arc.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: It went back-and-forth in the opening quarter with five lead changes and three ties over the first six-plus minutes. Tom knocked down a 3-pointer to break a 10-10 deadlock with 3:13 remaining. Lee followed with a steal and layup before Scharpf drilled a corner three in the final seconds to put UC Irvine on top, 18-10.
 
Parkinson started the second period with a putback for the Anteaters' largest lead of the half. Cal State Bakersfield then used a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 22-20 at the 3:32 mark. Dean ended a two-minute scoring drought for the 'Eaters with a couple free throws and UCI proceeded to go back on top by six. The Roadrunners eventually made it a one-point game but Shirel Nahum connected from downtown to give the visitors a 32-28 advantage at the break.
 
CSUB won the third quarter, 22-17, to take a two-point lead. UC Irvine went up by nine on a Scharpf putback with 5:56 remaining, but the 'Runners used a 16-6 spurt down the stretch for a 50-49 edge.
 
The Anteaters opened the final frame on a 15-3 run to pull ahead by 11 (64-53) at the 4:38 mark. Cal State Bakersfield started to chip away, closing the gap to 66-62 on a Brown triple with 1:18 to play. The 'Eaters went back on top by five with five seconds on the clock. Another CSUB three then made it a two-point game, but Lee knocked down both her free throws to seal the 72-68 victory.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine will make its way to UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, Feb. 22, before returning home to host UC San Diego and its Breast Cancer Awareness game on Saturday, Feb. 24.
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine completed the regular-season sweep of Bakersfield and has now won seven of the last eight in the all-time series.
• Cal State Bakersfield's 68 points were the most the Anteaters allowed in Big West play this year.
• UCI still has a streak of 57 consecutive games holding its opponent to under 70 points.
• The 'Eaters improved to 7-0 when scoring 70+ points with four of those 70-point performances coming in conference.
• Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba's 15 rebounds were the most by an Anteater since Dec. 9, 2020.
• Nikki Tom has pulled down 6+ rebounds in each of the last three games.
• Déja Lee has scored 9+ points in every Big West game this year and is averaging 13.7 ppg in league play.