The UCI Women’s Basketball team (16-6, 10-2) continued their success in conference play with a 56-49 win against UC San Diego (11-13, 7-5) at the LionTree Arena on Feb. 8.
Having won their last two games, the ‘Eaters were going into the game against San Diego looking for a win against a sub-.500 team, and San Diego was looking to take down the reigning Big West champions. Despite San Diego recently routing UC Riverside, it was going to be difficult for the Tritons to defeat the conference’s second-ranked Anteaters.
Irvine junior guard Olivia Williams kicked off the scoring by hitting a jumper, only for San Diego sophomore guard Sumayah Sugapong to go on a solo 5-0 run. This was the trend for most of the game. Despite decent offensive contributions in the first quarter — most notably from sophomore forward Summah Hanson — Irvine went into the second quarter trailing 12-8.
Promise started to build when UCI junior guard Hunter Hernandez hit both free throws for her first two points of the game. However, this only sparked more offense for the Tritons, who managed to be up 17-12 before Hernandez found her groove.
On back-to-back plays, Hernandez sank two three-pointers and gave UCI a short-lived 18-17 lead. After San Diego went on a 6-0 run that was capped by a jumper from Sugapong, Irvine was once again trailing.
Hanson hit a layup, but yet another run from the Tritons ballooned the score to 32-22. Both teams were quiet offensively for the rest of the quarter, which ended with a 32-25 Tritons lead — Sugapong’s 15 points in the first half was a large reason why.
The third quarter started with a layup and free throw from UCI senior guard Nikki Tom that began an 8-0 run and gave Irvine a small 33-32 lead. However, San Diego tried their hardest to hold their lead throughout the quarter. In a seesaw fashion, the Tritons took the lead and then UCI freshman guard Lauryn Madsen tied it, only for San Diego to take the lead again.
At the end of the third quarter, Irvine graduate forward Nevaeh Dean and Hernandez both hit three-pointers and Williams hit a jumper to solidify a 44-38 lead for UCI.
To start the fourth quarter, San Diego cut the lead in half and attempted to start their own comeback. Fortunately for Irvine, Hanson continued to produce, hitting a layup and a free throw to start an 8-0 run. All of a sudden, San Diego was down 11 with little time to spare.
Irvine senior guard Amelia Scharpf scored her first and only points of the game at the end of the fourth quarter, hitting a three-pointer to cap off the Anteaters’ previous 8-0 run. With two free throws later in the game, she put the cherry on top of a 56-49 win for Irvine. In perhaps their most satisfying comeback of the season so far, UCI faced a 10-point deficit in the second quarter and was able to come out with a win.
With 15 points, Hernandez was at the top of Irvine’s score sheet once again. She has bounced back from injury to lead a No. 143 nationally-ranked UCI team to second place in the Big West conference so far. Only half a game behind them, Irvine will play Hawai’i on Feb. 15 at the Bren Events Center.
The ‘Eaters will look for their fourth straight win as they travel up the coast for a game against UC Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome on Feb. 13.
Avery Rosas is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at rosasaj1@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Mia Noergaard