The UC Irvine Women’s Basketball team (17-3, 8-1) ended the third-longest winning streak in NCAA Division I women’s basketball by falling short, 68-66, to the UC San Diego Tritons (13-6, 8-1) at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 24.
The monumental matchup was between the number one and number two teams in the Big West Conference, which began with a few ties and five lead changes in the first five minutes.
The Anteaters opened the game with sophomore guard Lauryn Madsen, junior point guard Shirel Nahum, junior forward Summah Hanson, senior guard Hunter Hernandez and senior guard Jada Wynn.
Conference standout UC San Diego junior power forward/center Erin Condron claimed the first two points of the game from the free-throw line at just eight seconds in.
The ‘Eaters quickly followed with a layup from freshman forward Nohe’alani Stores, assisted by Anteater Wynn and left the game at a 2-2 tie.
UC San Diego was quickly down by two points as Anteater Wynn was able to get the second layup for UC Irvine with an assist from Hernandez.
The lead was short-lived when Condron came back with a tip-in shot, claiming two points for the Tritons and the second tie of the first quarter.
After two successive ties, the Tritons claimed a small lead after senior guard Makayla Rose successfully made two free throw shots.
A little less than a minute later, UC Irvine’s Wynn swooped in with a 23-foot three-pointer, which gave the lead to the Anteaters at 7-6.
Triton junior guard Rosa Smith then got a jump shot for two points; however, Anteater Hernandez followed her with a three-pointer jump shot, stealing the lead from the Triton 10-8.
Afterwards, the Anteaters got a three-pointer, a layup and a free-throw shot that gave them an eight-point lead against the Tritons at 16-8.
Trying to close the gap, Triton guard Smith earned two points for her team and assisted power forward/center Condron in a layup, giving UC San Diego four additional points.
UC Irvine’s forward Hanson made it difficult for UC San Diego to catch up as she earned two more points for her team and UC Irvine guard Nahum made a jumpshot that ended the first quarter with an Anteater lead of 20-15.
The second quarter began with a slow start until Anteater forward Hanson, with the assist of guard Hernandez, got the first two points with a jump shot that kept UC Irvine in the lead.
Followed by some back-and-forth passes, the Tritons attempted to bridge the gap victoriously, making a couple of two-pointers and a free-throw shot.
As UC Irvine tried to hang onto the lead, the Tritons claimed two free throw points, tying up the score and quickly surpassed the ‘Eaters with an additional three-pointer shot made by Triton guard Rose.
Both teams earned several points in the last few minutes of the quarter, although the lead stayed in the Tritons’ hands as they ended up ahead by three points at 32-29.
When the third quarter started, 20 seconds in, Anteater forward Hanson claimed two points for her team, leaving the Tritons up by only one point.
However, UC San Diego junior guard Dymonique Maxie made a jump shot, which left the Anteaters behind by two more points.
UC San Diego followed this with three two-pointer shots. UC Irvine came closely behind with a three-pointer and a two-pointer, which kept the separation no more than two points between the teams.
A little under the halfway point of the third quarter, Triton Condron got two more points for her team, leaving the Anteaters behind 42-38.
Both teams scored three-point jump shots that kept the Tritons ahead by four points until UC San Diego guard Smith claimed two more points, increasing the gap to six points.
In the final two minutes of the quarter, UC Irvine sophomore forward Daniela Falcon Hernandez tapped in the ball for a two-pointer and UC San Diego senior guard Sabrina Ma made a three-pointer in the final second, which ended the quarter at 50-43.
Opening the fourth and final quarter, Triton Ma made a three-pointer and secured a ten-point lead for her team.
Anteater forward Hanson took that fall as motivation and claimed both a tip-in shot as well as a three-pointer, earning five points for her team, which cut the gap in half to 53-48.
UC San Diego gained one point from free throw shots and UC Irvine gained two points, subsequently keeping the score close at a four-point difference.
Triton Smith then earned a three-pointer, and just a minute later, Eater Hernandez claimed three points for her team as well.
Hernandez is ranked 38th in the nation in points per game and also reached double figures as she scored at least 10 points in 17 back-to-back games.
With under six minutes left on the clock, UC San Diego received three points from the free throw line right before UC Irvine forward Hanson claimed two points from the line.
Seconds later, both teams made consecutive jump shots, which brought the score to 65-58 Tritons.
The next six points in a row were earned by Anteaters Hernandez and Hanson with a triple that cleared the gap to only a one-point difference with the Tritons leading 65-64.
Closing out the game, the Tritons claimed three free-throw points, followed by Anteater Hernandez scoring a two-pointer in the final 22 seconds of the game.
The Tritons brought home the win 68-66 as Anteater Wynn missed a three-pointer shot in the last two seconds of the game, which was the first loss for the ‘Eaters since Nov. 12, 2025.
The two teams are now tied for the top spot in the Big West Conference, but the Anteaters hope to take it as they travel to the University of Hawai’i on Jan. 29.
Cayley Mazer is a Sports Intern for the winter 2026 quarter. She can be reached at cmazer@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor, Joshua Gonzales
