UC Irvine Drops Season Opener at No. 11 UCLA

Thursday, November 5

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

UC Irvine

0-1,0-0Big West

UCLA

2-0,0-0Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	4	F
UC Irvine	8	13	21	0	42
UCLA	23	19	22	14	78

Box Score (PDF)

Delaney White drives past a UCLA defender in the Anteaters' season opener at Pauley Pavilion.

Photo by: Jake Hamlin

November 05, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

LOS ANGELES - UC Irvine women's basketball fell to defending national champion UCLA, 78-42, in their season opener Thursday evening at Pauley Pavilion.

The Anteaters went on a 16-2 run in the final three minutes of the third quarter, but the 11th-ranked Bruins held UCI scoreless in the fourth to improve to 2-0 and extend their win streak to 33 games.

Freshman Delaney White, who graduated from Sierra Canyon High School in Los Angeles, had an impressive collegiate debut, finishing with a team-high 12 points and three steals. The 5-foot-7 guard also pulled down five rebounds.

Senior Ahrray Young recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards in her first game as an 'Eater. Senior Shirel Nahum added nine points (3-5 FG). Junior Sarah Miller chipped in four points and five rebounds, while junior Lauryn Madsen dished out a team-best four assists.

UCLA shot 45.6% from the field and used its size advantage to hold UC Irvine to 23.7%. The home team also owned a 50-34 margin on the glass. Sienna Betts led the Bruins with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

HOW IT HAPPENED: UCLA scored the first seven points of the game before Daniela Falcon Hernandez got UC Irvine on the board with a jumper at the 7:41 mark. The Bruins answered with a 12-2 run to open up a 19-4 lead. Back-to-back layups from White and Makiah Asidanya cut the deficit to 11, but UCLA closed out the opening quarter with a 23-8 cushion.

Young started the scoring in the second period with a coast-to-coast layup. The Bruins came right back with 10 unanswered to pull ahead, 34-10, with 7:16 remaining. Nahum then ended a two-minute scoring drought for the 'Eaters with a triple. Miller followed with four-straight points, including a corner three, to close the gap to 34-17, but UCLA outscored UCI, 8-4, over the final four minutes to go up, 42-21, at the half.

The Bruins kept the momentum to start the second half as they took their largest lead of the night at 62-26 with 3:33 to go in the third. UC Irvine then reeled off 10-straight points in a two-minute span. Nahum and White combined for eight points during that stretch. After UCLA converted a couple free throws, the Anteaters used another 6-0 spurt, capped by a four-point play from Young, to make it 64-42.

It was all Bruins in the fourth quarter where they outscored the 'Eaters, 14-0.

UP NEXT: UC Irvine stays on the road next week, traveling to Flagstaff, Arizona, to face NAU on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

NOTES
• This is only the second time in 12 years the Anteaters have started the season on the road.
• It is the first time the 'Eaters have played the defending NCAA champion.
• UCI, which finished the 2025-26 season ranked third in the nation in free throw percentage, went 11-for-13 at the stripe (84.6%).
• UC Irvine scored 16 of its 21 third-quarter points in the final three minutes.