The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Cold-shooting UC Irvine falls in double overtime
The UC Irvine women’s basketball team ran out of second chances on Wednesday afternoon.
The top-seeded Anteaters dominated the offensive boards against ninth-seeded Cal State Bakersfield in their Big West Tournament quarterfinal but not nearly enough shots fell through the basket, resulting in a 61-59 double-overtime loss at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.
UCI (24-6) grabbed 29 offensive rebounds compared to 12 for the Roadrunners, but the Anteaters shot just 20% from the floor.
Bakersfield (8-22) moves on to play fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (20-11) in a semifinal on Friday at noon.
“It’s hard to win a game shooting 20% from the field,” UCI coach Tamara Inoue said. “I thought we had good looks. More importantly, where we’re pretty good at is free throws and making layups, and I thought those two things today were a little bit of a struggle.”
Taylor Caldwell made a baseline jumper to beat the shot clock and give Bakersfield a 61-59 lead with 22 seconds left in the second overtime.
UCI’S Diaba Konate failed to convert on a drive with eight seconds remaining. The Roadrunners grabbed the rebound, called timeout and avoided getting fouled in the final seconds after inbounding the ball.
Deja Lee, who came in averaging 7.9 points for UCI, scored 18 off the bench as the lone Anteater in double figures. Nevaeh Parkinson had eight points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter. UCI finished 15 for 75 from the field and was just 5 for 26 (19.2%) from 3-point range.
The Anteaters were fortunate to get to the second overtime after a loose ball ended up in the hands of Nyagoa Gony and the reserve forward, who averages 2.1 ppg, sank a baseline jumper at the buzzer to tie the score at 55-all. In the final five-minute period, UCI managed just four points — all on free throws — and was held scoreless for the final 3:58.
The Anteaters won the first regular-season title in program history last week, despite losing three starters to season-ending knee injuries over the past few months.
Hunter Hernandez was leading the team in scoring (12.0) when she went down against UCSB on Feb. 15. She averaged 19.5 points over her last four games.
Naomi Hunt led UCI in scoring (11.7) when she sustained a season-ending injury on Dec. 31, and Olivia Williams was the team’s scoring leader (8.2) when she was injured on Jan. 19.