The UC Irvine Women’s Basketball team (9-5, 3-1) defeated Cal State Northridge (3-11, 1-4) 68-39 in its fourth conference matchup of the season at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 9.
The game began with a CSUN technical foul leading to two made free throws by UCI junior guard Olivia Williams. Postgame, New University learned that Northridge failed to input their starters officially before the required time before tip.
UCI traded stops with Northridge to open the first quarter. Irvine junior guard Hunter Hernandez then hit the first field goal of the night with a mid-range jumper from the nail off of an assist from senior point guard Déja Lee. Lee followed up the assist with a layup soon after, following a miss by Hernandez on the break.
Irvine intermittently entered a light press early against Northridge, dropping back into man coverage. The Matadors eventually called a timeout at the 7:30 mark of the first quarter, after missing their first three field goal attempts and committing two turnovers in their first five possessions.
Immediately out of the timeout, CSUN turned the ball over again, leading to a layup by Irvine graduate forward Nevaeh Dean following numerous offensive rebounds by the Anteaters. Shortly after another giveaway by Northridge, Lee gave the Anteaters their first double-digit lead of the night with a catch-and-shoot three from the right wing.
Hernandez and Lee extended the Anteater opening run with a layup on a drive to the rim and a three, respectively. With just under four minutes to go in the quarter, UCI looked dominant with a 18-0 lead.
The Anteater lead swelled to 20-0 after sophomore forward Summah Hanson checked in and immediately hit a layup.
Finally, CSUN got on the board with just over 2 minutes to go in the first quarter, after a deep three at the end of the shot clock was converted by graduate guard/forward Jenna Kilty. The first quarter closed with a 20-4 Irvine lead after both teams went scoreless in the final minutes.
The second quarter got off to a better start for CSUN as the Matadors scored in the first 90 seconds via a layup from freshman center Yves Cox.
The offense heated up on both ends of the court as Kilty, Lee and Williams all hit jumpers to bring the score to 25-9 in favor of UCI.
Three triples in a row by CSUN junior guard Morgan Edwards and multiple stops on defense brought Northridge within five points, forcing a timeout by UCI head coach Tamara Inoue.
Immediately out of the timeout, Hanson righted the ship for the Anteaters with a post-up score to bring Irvine’s lead to 27-20.
Williams added onto the UCI scoring, hitting two free throws after drawing a foul on a drive to the left side of the cup.
Hernandez followed the Irvine scores with a two-way highlight. The San Jose native rejected a CSUN shot on the block and followed up the defensive play with a pocket pass to Hanson for an easy layup, reestablishing a double-digit Anteater lead.
Both teams traded deuces to close the half with layups made by Edwards for the Matadors and Willams for the Anteaters. At the half, Irvine led 35-24.
The third quarter opened with consecutive empty possessions for both teams before Hernandez cut through the lane and hit a fall-away jumper. The junior connected on another mid-range jumper the next possession, this time stepping back in the left short corner on a punch dribble.
CSUN responded with a made three by junior guard Laini Dahlin, bringing the score to 39-27 in favor of UCI.
Despite the big hit by Dahlin, Irvine punched back with a nice pass made by Williams to Dean on the right block for an easy layup. After a stop by the Anteaters, Hernandez continued her torrid start to the quarter with another three, this time from the left wing and assisted on by Lee.
A broken possession by UCI led to a loose ball pickup by Lee and a subsequent three knocked down by the Canadian native, giving UCI their second 20 point lead of the night.
After a free throw by Northridge, Irvine freshman guard Lauryn Madsen got on the board with a three of her own, her first points of the night. A couple of possessions later, Madsen doubled her point total with another catch-and-shoot triple to bring UCI’s lead to 53-29.
The three-point onslaught for Irvine continued as Williams got in on the fun, cashing a deep three from the left wing to close the third quarter with a 27 point UCI advantage.
UCI opened the fourth quarter with a bucket on a fadeaway jumper by senior guard Amelia Scharpf. Irvine redshirt freshman forward Daniela Falcón Hernández hit her first shot of the night after Scharpf’s bucket, and Dean collected her fifth and sixth points of the night on the ensuing possession.
Dahlin responded for CSUN with her second and third triples of the night, both coming off the catch.
The night ended with Irvine holding off Northridge handily, up most of the fourth quarter by 25 or more points, enroute to a 68-39 final.
Lee led UCI in scoring for the night with 15 points on 5-10 shooting overall and 3-7 shooting from deep. Postgame, Coach Inoue spoke about Lee’s effort against Northridge.
“[Lee] is a three level scorer and I thought today she handled [the offensive load] very well and was able to do things she’s good at, so you just gotta let her go — you don’t coach her much and just let her go on offense,” Inoue said in an interview with New University.
UCI had a quick turnaround following their victory against Northridge, defeating UCSD at home on Jan. 11, 73-66.
Jacob Ramos is a 2024-2025 Managing Editor. He can be reached at jacobtr@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Mia Noergaard.