The UC Irvine Women’s Basketball team (15-9, 10-3) defeated the UC San Diego Tritons (9-13, 6-7), 67-50, at the Bren Events Center on Feb. 15.
San Diego had an intense offense as the team worked well with off-ball screening. Irvine had a quicker jump on their opponents, gaining four points on the scoreboard in less than 30 seconds into the game.
The Anteaters played strategically, and they used off-ball screening to their advantage. Redshirt freshman guard Kayla Williams set one of many screens, which created space for a step-back three over her defender.
San Diego was set with plenty of opportunities to score, but the team could not hit a majority of their shots as they went one for 11 at the three. The ‘Eaters used the Tritons’ mistakes to gain an advantage over the game, ending the first quarter at 25-9.
The Tritons maintained their energy, despite a 16 point deficit. The players started to slow down their possessions, which resulted in senior guard Brianna Claros driving in the paint to find freshman guard Courtni Thompson at the right wing for a three.
Defensively, the ‘Eaters were determined to stop UCSD from easy baskets. With blocks from sophomore forward Sophia Locandro, players inside the paint had to put up a tough fight to get a shot up.
The half ended with Irvine leading by 14 points, 34-20. Both teams struggled in the three-point range, with Irvine shooting for 33% and San Diego for 21%.
With a rocky start to the third quarter, the Tritons failed to complete moves within the paint. When Claros caught a glimpse of Irvine’s defense trailing, she drove in for a floater quickly down the middle.
Breaking her silence during this half, San Diego senior forward Sydney Brown received the ball inside the paint and shot for an extra two instead of passing it out.
However, each time the Tritons scored, the Anteaters always found a way to respond back.
UCI freshman forward Cailye Kaupu drove in with a failed spin move, gathered her own rebound and passed the ball to graduate center Tara Dusharm who was right beneath the basket.
In an attempt to keep their energy up, San Diego fell to Irvine 67-50.
Playing an impressive first half, Williams closed the game with 18 points and teammate Locandro collected 11 rebounds. For the Tritons, Brown finished with 21 points and eight rebounds.
The Anteaters traveled to the SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu to take on the University of Hawaii on Feb. 19.
Jazlyn Flores is a Sports Intern for the 2022 winter quarter. She can be reached at jazlynpf@uci.edu.