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Women's Basketball:
UC Irvine Takes Down Pacific, 68-57
Jan. 16, 2010
Irvine, Calif. – The UC Irvine women’s basketball team shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half as the Anteaters defeated Pacific, 68-57 in front of a season-high 972 fans at the Bren Center Saturday.
UCI was 13-26 from the field in the final 20 minutes, outscoring Pacific 38-27 after being tied 30-30 at the half. 25 of the Anteaters’ 68 points came off of Tiger turnovers.
Guard Jade Smith-Williams led UCI with 17 points and six assists, while guards Rebecca Maessen and Keyonna Johnson each recorded 14 points, which was a career-high for Johnson. Forward Mikah Maly-Karros had her fifth double-double of the year with 12 points and 12 rebounds off of the bench. Freshman forward Jazmyne White tied her career-high with 11 rebounds to go with seven points and four steals.
UCI had 16 assists which was a season-best, while their 12 steals was the second most this year.
Pacific’s Christina Thompson came off the bench to record a game-high 18 points, going 6-9 from the floor and 6-11 from the line. Eliza Dy also came off the bench and added 12 points. UOP starters accounted for just 18 points, including eight by Erica McKenzie.
UCI started the game on a 7-0 run and led by as many as eight but could not maintain the lead as Pacific would go ahead 27-24 on a three-pointer by Erica McKenzie with 6:13 remaining in the first half. The Anteaters would make four straight free throws before Jazmyne White would hit a basket to go back up by three (30-27) with 1:31 left. Eliza Dy would knock down the Tigers’ fifth three-pointer of the half at 1:10 for the 30-30 halftime score.
UCI came out of the locker room and out-scored UOP 13-3, which included seven points by Rebecca Maessen, to build a 10-point (43-33) lead with 15:02 remaining. Pacific would get as close as five on a pair of Christina Thompson free throws at 12:04, but UCI would score nine unanswered to take their largest lead of the game, 54-40 at 8:55. The Tigers would get no closer than seven the rest of the game as the Anteaters were 5-6 from the charity stripe in the last 2:23 of the game.
UCI improves to 5-13 overall and 2-4 in the Big West Conference, while UOP falls to 3-12 on the year and 1-4 in league play.
UCI will host Long Beach State in a Black & Blue Rivalry Series game next Thursday (Jan. 21) at 5:00 p.m. at the Bren Center. The UCI men will take on the Forty-Niners following the conclusion of the women’s game.
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