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Women's Basketball:
UC Irvine Sets School Record At Free Throw Line; Topples Eastern Washington 87-73
Dec. 19, 2009
Irvine, Calif. -- The UC Irvine women’s basketball team hit a school record 45 of 55 from the free throw line on the way to an 87-73 victory over Eastern Washington at the Bren Events Center Saturday.
The Anteaters (3-7) bettered the old school mark of 33 free throws made versus Pacific on Jan. 15, 2006 and 48 attempted against San Jose State on Jan. 14, 1993. UCI was 35-42 from the line in the second half as the Anteaters shot a season-high 81.8 percent for the game. Eastern Washington (6-5) shot 68 percent from the charity stripe (17-25).
UCI’s 87 points is the most since the Anteaters scored 89 against Utah Valley State (75) on Jan. 9, 2007. 27 of UCI’s points came off of Eagle turnovers. UCI bettered EWU on the boards, 43-35, only the second time this season the Anteaters have out-rebounded an opponent.
UCI’s Mikah Maly-Karros made her Bren Center debut recording a game and career-high 28 points and 11 rebounds. In her second game as an Anteater, Maly-Karros was 6-12 from the floor and 16-23 from the free-throw line. She also had two assists and a steal in 33 minutes of action. Guard Rebecca Maessen totaled a season-high 18 points, going 9-10 from the free throw line and had seven rebounds, while point guard Jade Smith-Williams was 9-11 from the free throw line and finished with 15 points and a career-high seven rebounds. Center Kim Barnes added 12 points and freshman forward Jazmyne White had seven rebounds in the victory.
"I like the way we came back in the first half on a good Eastern Washington team," UCI head coach Molly Goodenbour said. "Mikah has the ability to score and 23 free throw attempts demonstrates that. She is a consist rebounder and it is nice to have her in the lineup."
Nicole Scott and Tatjana Sparavalo each had 13 points to lead Eastern Washington. Chene Cooper had nine points off the bench, while guard Jessica Huntington led the Eagles with seven rebounds.
Eastern Washington held UCI without a field goal for five minutes and built an 11-point lead (27-16) with 6:54 remaining in the first half. UCI then went on a 13-2 run including 10 points from Mikah Maly-Karros to the tie the game at 29-29 with 3:49 to go until intermission. The Anteaters would close out the half, out-scoring the Eagles 8-2 to go into the lockerroom with the 37-31 advantage.
Eastern Washington hit a pair of three-pointers to start the second half and tied the game at 39-39 on a jumper by Julie Piper with 18:40 remaining. UCI would hold a 57-54 lead before EWU went on a 7-1 spurt to take a 61-58 lead with 8:26 remaining. UCI would battle back to tie the game on a pair of free throws by Kim Barnes with 6:06 to go. Maly-Karros would hit a jumper at 5:03 to give UCI a 70-67 advantage. That would be UCI’s last field goal of the game as the Anteaters hit 14 consecutive free throws and would score their last 17 points from the free throw line. Eastern Washington on the other hand went scoreless for four minutes and managed just six points, all by Chene Cooper, to end the game.
UCI will travel to Pepperdine Tuesday (Dec. 22) for a 1:00 p.m. game in Malibu.
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