UCI dropped by Spartans

Chris Yemma

After forcing San Jose State to play catch-up in the first half, the

UC Irvine women’s basketball team was put in the Spartans’ shoes in

the second half.

But the shoes didn’t quite fit in the end, as the Anteaters fell

to the visiting Spartans, 54-52, in UCI’s season opener at home

Tuesday night.

After taking a 15-point lead midway through the first half, the

Anteaters let San Jose State gain momentum, and midway through the

second half UCI found itself down, 47-39. UCI fought back to tie it

at 52 with 3:08 remaining.

But with one sophomore (Angie Ned) and two juniors (Melissa Jacob

and Lauren Yadon) in the starting lineup, the Anteaters crumbled in

the final seconds. And with two turnovers in the final two minutes,

UCI found itself two points short.

“This is a young team playing their first game of the season,”

Anteaters’ Coach Mark Adams said. “We’re still looking for our

chemistry and our rotation, but we do put stock in all our games.”

After a Jacob foul at 2:31, the Spartans’ Lindsay Harris made

one-of-two free throws to give San Jose State a 53-52 lead. After a

couple more fouls, the Anteaters in bounded the ball with 30 seconds

left and ran the clock down to 11 seconds hoping for a final shot.

But San Jose State’s Lamisha Augustine stole it on an attempted pass

to the post.

UCI got one last chance with six seconds left, down, 54-52, but an

errant Anteater pass ended the game.

“The players aren’t going to lose confidence [losing the first

game of the season],” Adams said. “Late in the game we didn’t get the

boards, we got fatigued and we lost the momentum.”

The Anteaters looked like a team on track to win its season opener

in the first half. They shot 43 percent from the field, hitting 12 of

28 shots, and at one point were up, 28-13. But UCI only hit 30

percent of its shots in the second half and 36 percent for the game.

Yadon led the Anteaters with a game-high 18 points. She also had

11 rebounds in the 32 minutes she played.

“The first game [of the season] is important because it shows

where you are at,” Yadon said. “It shows what you need to work on

come crunch time.”

Yadon said one of the biggest aspects the team needs to work on is

their transition defense. There were too many times when the Spartans

would get a steal and a quick score before they could react, she

said.

“There was a point in the game when we let that slip for about

five minutes,” she said.

Senior Courtney Ferguson had 15 points for the Anteaters,

including four three-pointers. She also drew a charging foul to give

UCI the ball with 30 seconds left.

But the inexperience showed in the final seconds, as UCI fumbled

away a couple of chances for the win.

“The effort was there,” Adams said. “We played a hard game, the

defense played really well but we just had too many turnovers.”

*--*

Nonconference

San Jose State 54, UC Irvine 52

San Jose State -- Jackson 15, Augustine 11, Gemo 4, McGlaston 1, Kellogg 2, Gleisberg 6, Harris 8, Uiagaleilei 0, Reynolds 7.

3-pt. goals -- Harris 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

UC Irvine -- Yadon 18, Biggins 2, Ferguson 15, Ned 0, Jacob 8, Forry 2, Tull 0, Davidson 3, Curtis 0, Usher 4.

3-pt. goals -- Yadon 1, Ferguson 4.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Halftime -- UC Irvine, 32-27.

*--*