UC Irvine comes up short

UCI women’s gamerUC Santa Barbara utilizes height advantage to earn Big West Conference victory Monday at Bren Center.IRVINE -- UC Irvine women’s basketball coach Molly Tuter is pleased with the continued growth displayed by her team.

But, as Monday’s 71-60 Big West Conference loss to UC Santa Barbara showed, the Anteaters could still use some help when it comes to their players’ stature.

“If we could just figure out a way to grow [taller],” said Tuter, who watched the Gauchos (7-7, 3-1 in conference) use their superior height to great advantage.

Santa Barbara, which has won the last 10 regular-season conference championships, totaled 42 points in the paint to the Anteaters’ 20.

UCSB starters Jenna Green and Autumn Nichols, 6-foot-4 and 6-2, respectively, combined for 25 points and 11 rebounds. In addition, Kat Suderman, a 6-4 sophomore reserve who came in averaging 6.0 points per game, made 8 of 10 field-goal attempts to finish with a career-high 17 points. Suderman also added 13 rebounds to help the Gauchos build a 51-32 advantage on the boards.

“They’re tough,” Tuter said of the Santa Barbara frontcourt rotation that also included 6-2 freshman Shantel Thomas.

Tuter, who started three guards, relied most heavily upon 5-10 sophomore Stephanie Duda and 6-0 freshman Kelly Cochran to try to defend the visitors inside.

“There wasn’t much we could do, except bring Joanna Usher [a 6-5 senior] in for some relief,” Tuter said.

Usher defended well when she was in, but played just six minutes. She finished with two points and no rebounds.

Despite the huge size disadvantage, the Anteaters (2-12, 0-2) battled throughout. UCI, which made its first three field-goal tries, then missed its next nine, led, 12-11, before a 10-2 Santa Barbara run put the visitors in command.

Santa Barbara, which saw a 45-game winning streak against current Big West teams halted at Long Beach State Saturday, led, 38-23, at halftime.

But, led by junior guard Angie Ned, who scored all of her game-high 18 points after halftime, UCI forced the Gauchos to work to finish the job.

A 17-foot jumper by Cochran pulled UCI within 66-57 with 1:49 remaining, but that was as close as the ‘Eaters would come.

Ned, a second-team all-conference performer last season who came in leading the Anteaters in scoring (11.8 points per game), was 0 for 4 from the field at halftime. She made 6 of 14 in the second-half, including 3 of 9 from three-point range. She also added five steals and five rebounds.

The rest of the Anteaters were 0 for 10 from three-point range. UCI had been averaging 5.5 three-pointers per game, tops among Big West teams.

“We couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn,” Tuter said of her team’s 34.3% shooting (23 of 67 from the field).

Cochran, making her first career start, had 13 points.

Big West Conference

UCSB 71, UC Irvine 60

Score by Halves