IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's basketball team never trailed and withstood a late UC Riverside rally for a 56-53 victory over the Highlanders Thursday evening at the Bren Events Center.

The Anteaters (13-5, 7-1 Big West) extended their win streak to a season-long tying five games, and won their seventh-straight at home. UCI remains in a tie for first with Long Beach State in the Big West standings.
 
The 'Eaters went up by as many as 14 in the third quarter before UCR made a comeback in the final 10 minutes. The visitors closed the gap to two with 5.5 seconds on the clock but after Amelia Scharpf made 1-of-2 free throws, UC Irvine stepped up defensively as UC Riverside was unable to get the final shot off before the buzzer.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Olivia Williams finished with a team-best 12 points on a 5-of-7 shooting performance. Senior Déja Lee added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists. Senior Amelia Scharpf, senior Nikki Tom and junior Hunter Hernandez chipped in seven points each. Sophomore Summah Hanson pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
 
UC Irvine shot 39.2% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc. The 'Eaters won the battle in rebounding (37-29), points in the paint (24-16) and second-chance points (13-1). They forced 15 turnovers but scored only eight points off those miscues.
 
UC Riverside (8-10, 4-4 Big West) was held to 35.3% overall and 31.6% from distance. Seneca Hackley led three Highlanders in double figures with a game-high 18 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: UC Irvine raced out to a 6-0 lead before UC Riverside got on the board at the 7:27 mark. The two teams went back-and-forth the rest of the way with the Anteaters taking a 15-10 advantage on a Lauryn Madsen 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining in the first quarter.
 
UCI opened the second period on a 9-3 run, capped by a three from Nevaeh Dean, to pull ahead, 24-13, with 6:56 to go. The Highlanders closed the gap to six before triples from Hernandez and Hanson in the final three minutes put the 'Eaters up, 32-22, at the half.
 
UCR accounted for the first four points of the third frame, but UC Irvine responded with a 10-2 rally that ended with a corner three from Scharpf, to take its largest lead of the night, 42-28, at the 4:02 mark. The Highlanders then outscored the Anteaters, 6-2, down the stretch to make it a 10-point game (44-34).
 
UC Riverside kept the momentum in the fourth with seven unanswered points cutting the deficit to 44-41 with 5:45 to go. Lee then got the 'Eaters back in the scoring column with a couple free throws at the 4:51 mark. A seesaw battle ensued over the next two minutes before a Hernandez jumper started a 5-0 spurt that extended UCI's cushion to eight (53-45) with 1:14 left.
 
The Highlanders made one last push as an 8-2 run brought them within two at 55-53 with 5.5 seconds on the clock. Scharpf knocked down 1-of-2 free throws on the other end and with no timeouts left, UCR quickly made its way up the court, but did not get the shot off before the buzzer, giving the Anteaters the 56-53 victory.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine makes the trek to Hawai'i for a 7 p.m. (HT)/9 p.m. (PT) tilt with the Rainbow Wahine on Saturday, Jan. 25.
 
NOTES
• This was the fourth time this season that UC Irvine did not trail against a Big West opponent.
• UCI earned a split in its regular-season series with the Highlanders.
• The Anteaters' only conference loss so far this year came at UC Riverside on January 4.
• Six different 'Eaters made a 3-pointer in tonight's contest.
• Olivia Williams was one of them as she extended her streak of consecutive games played with a 3-pointer to eight.
• Déja Lee has reached double figures in scoring in six consecutive outings.
• Nevaeh Dean surpassed 400 career points.