SAN DIEGO – The UC Irvine women's basketball team's season came to an end with a 61-55 loss to fourth-seeded San Diego State in the first round of the WBIT Thursday evening at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
The Anteaters (26-7) finished the 2025-26 campaign with school records in wins, total points (2,340), free throws made (566), free throw percentage (80.6%), and 3-pointers made (284).
 
UCI and SDSU were locked in a back-and-forth battle from start to finish with nine ties and 12 lead changes. The 'Eaters went on top 55-53 on a Hunter Hernandez jumper with 2:38 left in the fourth quarter, but the Aztecs answered on their next possession to knot it back up. UC Irvine then went scoreless the rest of the way, while San Diego State made all six of its free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.
 
"San Diego State has had a tremendous season and the way they play is a good brand of basketball," UCI head coach Tamara Inoue said. "All credit to them and best of luck to them the rest of the tournament. For us, I'm really proud of my team for the way we fought and stayed in it. I thought we did a great job of managing the threes and getting after it. The fourth quarter at the very end, I thought we had some good looks and opportunities, but it didn't go our way. Right now, I'm just really proud of what we've been able to accomplish."  
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Big West Player of the Year Hunter Hernandez finished with a team-best 19 points and four assists. Big West Newcomer of the Year Jada Wynn filled the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks. Junior Summah Hanson chipped in seven points, five boards, and four steals.
 
The Anteaters shot 35% (20-57) overall, 29% (6-21) from beyond the arc, and went a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line.
 
SDSU was 41% (21-51) from the field, 35% (6-17) from deep, and 13-of-13 at the charity stripe. The Aztecs also held a 34-29 rebounding advantage. Naomi Panganiban led the way with a game-high 22 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: San Diego State (26-5) struck first but UC Irvine scored the next four for its first lead of the night. It continued to go back-and-forth as SDSU reclaimed the edge before Hernandez, who had the Anteaters' first eight points, tied it up at 8-8 on a jumper at the 4:39 mark. The Aztecs pulled out front again, but a Hanson triple in the final seconds made it 14-14 at the end of the first quarter.
 
San Diego State opened the second period on an 11-2 run to go up, 25-16, with 5:37 remaining. UCI regrouped at the media timeout then proceeded to outscore SDSU, 7-0, to cut the deficit to two at the half (25-23).
 
After trading buckets over the first two minutes of the third frame, Wynn buried a 3-pointer to put the 'Eaters up, 30-29. The lead would change hands three more times before Hernandez and Lauryn Madsen connected from downtown on back-to-back possessions. UC Irvine extended that into a 10-3 run for its largest lead of the game at 42-37 with 1:02 remaining. The Aztecs answered in the final minute with a couple threes to go on top, 43-42.
 
The seesaw battle continued in the fourth. The Anteaters started with the momentum, using a 6-0 spurt to go up, 48-45, at the 7:31 mark. San Diego State responded with six-straight points to flip the script (51-48). Shirel Nahum quickly brought the 'Eaters even with a triple. Two more ties followed before SDSU broke a 55-55 deadlock with six consecutive free throws over the final 33 seconds to escape with the win.
 
NOTES
• This was the Anteaters' sixth postseason appearance, fifth under head coach Tamara Inoue, and fourth in the last five years.
• UCI surpassed the previous single-season school-record of 2,321 points that was set in 2013-14 on Lauryn Madsen's three with 4:35 left in the third.
• Individually, Hunter Hernandez finished the year with a single-season school-record 655 points.
• Hernandez also closed out her career as UCI's all-time leader in free throws made (402).
• In addition, she ranks second in program history in career points (1,477) and career FT% (83.1%).
• In their last three games, the 'Eaters went 41-of-42 (97.6%) at the free throw line.
• Jada Wynn moved up to No. 6 in single-season school history with 496 points.