LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC Irvine women's basketball came alive in the third quarter to erase a seven-point halftime deficit and run away with a 56-49 win at UC San Diego Saturday afternoon at LionTree Arena.
 
The Anteaters (16-6, 10-2 Big West) trailed 32-25 after the first 20 minutes of action before outscoring the Tritons, 31-17, after the break.
 
UCI bookended a 19-6 third quarter with a pair of 8-0 runs. Nikki Tom set the tone with an and-1 on the opening possession before a layup from Olivia Williams gave the 'Eaters their first lead since the 6:24 mark of the second period. The Tritons responded with a 6-3 spurt but threes from Nevaeh Dean and Hunter Hernandez, and another bucket from Williams put the visitors on top, 44-38, at the end of the third.
 
UC Irvine stayed out front the rest of the way and went up by as many as 11 on a second-chance 3-pointer from Amelia Scharpf.
 
"I thought Nikki's defense really helped us today," head coach Tamara Inoue said. "In the second half, I thought we settled in on offense and started taking what they gave us. Hunter hit some big shots and Amelia was very brave on her shot; it was lucky it went in for the both of us."
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Hunter Hernandez finished with a game-high tying 15 points, while pulling down seven rebounds. Sophomore Summah Hanson added 11 points and senior Nevaeh Dean corralled a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Junior Olivia Williams and senior Amelia Scharpf both contributed seven boards. Williams also had six points and Scharpf recorded five points and four assists. Senior Nikki Tom chipped in five points and five rebounds.
 
UCI closed out the game with a season-high 50 boards compared to 39 for UC San Diego. The 'Eaters also shot 35.6% from the field, while holding the Tritons to 27.1% overall and 3-of-16 from distance.
 
Sumayah Sugapong paced UCSD with 15 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a seesaw battle in the first quarter with three lead changes and two tie scores. UC Irvine struck first but Sugapong proceeded to score five unanswered for UC San Diego. Buckets from Déja Lee and Hanson put the Anteaters back on top at the 4:35 mark before the Tritons closed on a 7-2 spurt to pull ahead, 12-8.
 
UCSD (11-13, 7-5 Big West) increased its margin to five early in the second period, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Hernandez gave UCI an 18-17 edge with 6:24 remaining. The home team responded on their next possession and continued on a 15-4 run to build a 10-point advantage. Ines Gnahore knocked down a triple in the final minute to close the gap to 32-25 at the half.
 
The 'Eaters scored the first eight points of the third frame to go up, 33-32, with 5:37 to go. UC San Diego then put up four-straight, but UC Irvine made the final push, using an 11-2 rally over the final 3:43 for a 44-38 lead. Lauryn Madsen, Dean and Hernandez all buried a 3-pointer during that stretch.
 
The two sides traded points over the first four minutes of the final quarter. A layup from Tom followed by a Scharpf three then gave the Anteaters their largest margin of the afternoon at 54-43 with 1:56 to play. The 'Eaters maintained a double-digit advantage until a couple baskets from the Tritons in the final 40 seconds as UCI came out with the 56-49 victory.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine will close out a three-game road stretch at UC Santa Barbara next Thursday, Feb. 13, before returning home to host Hawai'i on Saturday, Feb. 15.
 
NOTES
• UC Irvine is tied for first in the Big West standings with Hawai'i (10-2), which hosts UC Santa Barbara tonight.
• The Anteaters held their opponent to under 50 points for the fourth-straight game.
• UCI completed the regular-season series sweep against UC San Diego to improve to 8-2 against the Tritons in UCSD's Division I era.
• The 'Eaters committed 20+ turnovers for the first time this season.
• Nikki Tom took over sole possession of fourth among the program's all-time steals leaders (187).
• Hunter Hernandez had her team-leading 16th double-figure scoring game and surpassed 700 career points.