The UC Irvine Women’s Basketball team (3-1, 0-0) stayed hot against Saint Mary’s College (2-2, 0-0), winning 64-61 at the Bren Events Center on Nov. 16.
The home win was the third straight for the ‘Eaters, who started their season with a loss before bumping their record back up to 3-1. Saint Mary’s was also looking to win three straight but were ultimately unsuccessful.
In an instant to start the game, Irvine senior point guard Déja Lee made a triple to start the scoring, which was matched by a three from the Gaels. Soon after, Saint Mary’s took the lead and pulled away for the rest of the first quarter. A 7-0 run from Saint Mary’s — while sophomore guard Emily Foy hit a layup — was enough for the Gaels to take the lead. Irvine trailed for the rest of the quarter, which ended 20-15.
In the second quarter, UCI quickly got back into the game, with Irvine junior guard Hunter Hernandez going on a solo 7-0 run, landing two threes to trim the lead a bit further. Irvine threatened for the lead but still weren’t able to close the gap despite layups from graduate forward Nevaeh Dean and junior guard Olivia Williams.
The ‘Eaters stayed productive in the second quarter, something they have had trouble with going back to last season. There was still work to be done at halftime in the Bren, but Irvine put themselves in a good position to make a second-half comeback with a 30-26 deficit.
Heading into the last half of the game, Saint Mary’s freshman power forward Edie Clarke started the third quarter with a jumper from in the paint, which was matched by Irvine twice. UCI’s Williams landed a triple to cut the lead to three, but the Gaels went on a 5-0 run that continued to put pressure on Irvine’s offense.
Hernandez continued to produce in the third quarter, scoring five and assisting on several important plays that sent the Anteaters into the fourth quarter down 45-40. Irvine trailed the entire game up to this point, but they were about to show why they were coming off a championship season.
Jumping out of the gate early again were UCI’s Dean and Williams, who made a jumper and a three-pointer, respectively, to cut the lead down to one point. Two made free throws from Lee put Irvine sophomore point guard Shirel Nahum in position to tie the game — which she was able to do with a triple that sent the home bench out of their seats.
Irvine, however, gave up the tie shortly after — but only until Williams pulled up for yet another triple, this time giving the ‘Eaters the lead for the first time since the beginning of the game. Fighting relentlessly to keep this lead, Irvine kept finding themselves trailing by a slim margin. Saint Mary’s senior guard Kennedy Johnson made a layup that set the deficit back to three, but UCI’s Hernandez kept on fighting with a layup of her own.
Dean and Lee were right alongside Hernandez as Irvine’s clutch scorers, giving themselves a chance to win with a 60-58 lead. The game looked promising until Foy hit a three that gave Saint Mary’s the lead with 38 seconds left.
Fortunately, Lee came to the rescue one last time, making both free throws to take the lead and never look back, as the Anteaters defeated the Saint Mary’s Gaels 64-61 in their non-conference matchup.
Irvine traveled to Philadelphia, Pa., to face Drexel University on Nov. 20 57-47, and will face Penn State on Nov. 21.
Avery Rosas is a Sports Intern for the fall 2024 quarter. He can be reached at rosasaj1@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Mia Noergaard