Women’s Basketball: ‘Eaters impress in loss

Having intentionally played no exhibition game, there was no videotape on the UC Irvine women’s basketball team under the direction of first-year coach Tamara Inoue.

But the Anteaters unleashed somewhat of a highlight reel in the first half against highly regarded Saint Louis on Friday, before falling, 79-69, in the nonconference season opener at the Bren Events Center.

UCI, coming off a 4-27 season that ended with an 11-game losing streak and 22 defeats in the final 23 games, led the defending Atlantic-10 Conference champion Billikens, 20-14, early in the second quarter.

After a 34-34 halftime deadlock, UCI scored first in the third quarter, before Saint Louis, the preseason favorite in its conference for the first time in the program’s 42-season history, used superior size, shooting, depth and efficiency to build a 20-point lead and cruise to the win.

“I liked our energy and I was impressed with the way we were flying all over the place, and shooting the ball well,” said Inoue, a former assistant at New Mexico State. “I think we kind of ran out of gas in the second half, and you have to give credit to Saint Louis, which is picked to win its conference for a reason.”

UCI, using a full-court press, forced nine first-quarter turnovers on its way to a 17-12 advantage.

The ‘Eaters, who finished last among 344 Division I schools last season in three-point shooting (22.4%), sank five of 10 from threedom in the first two periods, including three of four by senior Mckenzie Piper.

UCI was outrebounded, 26-17, in the opening half and the Billikens, with four of their top six players 6-foot or taller, finished with a 46-25 advantage on the glass, including 16 offensive boards.

Shereen Sutherland, a 6-2 senior center, had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the hosts, who had four scorers in double figures.

Freshman point guard Brooke Bayman and sophomore Andee Ritter had 13 points apiece, while Piper finished with 11.

Sutherland was seven for 10 from the field and Bayman made five of nine field-goal tries, while posting a team-best four assists to help UCI provide a performance upon which to build.

“You look at where we have been and how we did today … we’ve come very far,” Sutherland said. “We’ve worked hard. [Saint Louis] probably thought they were going to sweep us, but we were like, ‘No.’ We got down by 20, but we brought it back. Our defense did very well in the first half.”

Saint Louis, which shot 36.1% in the first half, made 18 of 32 second-half field-goal tries. It made five three-pointers in each half to help overcome a 19-13 turnover deficit.

Guards Jordyn Frantz and Jackie Kemph had 20 points apiece and were a combined nine for 17 from three-point range.

Maddison Gits, a 6-4 reserve, added 18 points for the winners, who had a school-record 26 wins last season.

The five UCI starters averaged nearly 31 minutes apiece and its bench was outscored by the Billikens’ reserves, 26-8.

“We had trouble sustaining it today and we’re going to have to figure that out, because we aren’t very deep,” said Inoue, who has only six reserves available, only three of whom played more than one minute.

“We can’t press all the time and we’re going to have to stay out of foul trouble,” Inoue said. “But I’m encouraged and very proud of my players.”

UCI begins a stretch of seven straight road games, before starting a run of seven straight home dates on Dec. 10 against Sacramento State.

UCI scored more than 69 points only four times last season, including once against an NAIA school.

NONCONFERENCE

Saint Louis 79, UC Irvine 69

Stl – Jakubicek 7, Stipanovich 6, Frantz 20, Kemph 20, Vliet 0, Gits 18, McMahan 6, Covington 2.

3-pt. goals – Kemph 5, Frantz 4, Gits 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Piper 11, Sutherland 18, Ritter 13, Bayman 13, Hicks 6, Engelstad 4, Chavez 2, Knox 2.

3-pt. goals – Ritter 3, Piper 3.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime: 34-34.