Maly-Karros Posts Ninth Double-Double As UC Irvine Topples Titans
Jan. 30, 2010
Irvine, Calif. – Mikah Maly-Karros recorded her league-leading ninth double-double as UC Irvine defeated cross-county rival Cal State Fullerton, 73-65 at the Bren Center Saturday.
Maly-Karros recorded a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds in 28 minutes of action. She was 7-14 from the floor and 14-15 from the free throw line. It was her fifth consecutive double-double as she leads the Big West Conference with nine double-doubles in 14 games. Guards Jade Smith-Williams and Rebecca Maessen each added 14 points in the win, with Smith-Williams totaling a game-high four steals and nine assists, which ties her career-high. Freshman forward Jazmyne White had eight points and eight rebounds, while senior guard Keyonna Johnson totaled five points, all from the free throw line.
UCI improves to 8-14 overall and 5-5 in the Big West. The eight wins are the most for an Anteater team since the 2005-06 squad won nine. UCI has won six of the last seven games at home, including the last three contests. Cal State Fullerton falls to 9-12 on the year and 4-4 in league play.
The teams combined for 59 fouls with UCI going 35-45 from the free throw line and the Titans hitting 24-30. UCI out-rebounded CSF, 37-32. It was the second highest made and attempted from the charity stripe by the Anteaters this year.
Cal State Fullerton was led by Jasmine Scott with 18 points and six rebounds followed by Lyndsey Grove with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
UCI went on a 5-0 run which was capped a Mikah Maly-Karros free throw to give UCI its largest lead of 11 (22-11) at 10:53. The Anteaters continued to lead by 10 (28-18) at 6:47 before the Titans out-scored UCI, 15-7 to narrow the margin to 35-33 with 15 seconds to go in the first half. A layup by Jazmyne White sent the Anteaters into the locker room with a 37-33 lead.
The Titans began the second half, out-scoring the Anteaters 10-5 to take a 43-42 lead with 16:07 remaining. UCI would score the next six points on a Maly-Karros layup followed by a three-pointer and free throw by Jade Smith-Williams to regain the lead at 48-43 with 14:41 to go. The Titans would close to four (65-61) on a pair of Megan Richardson free throws at 1:25, but the Anteaters would hit 8-12 from the free throw line while Fullerton could only muster two baskets the rest of the game for the 73-65 final score.
UCI will entertain Cal State Bakersfield in a non-conference contest next Saturday (Feb. 6) at 5:00 p.m. at the Bren Center. The UCI men will follow at 7:30 p.m.
