UC Irvine women outlast UCSB in Big West Tournament thriller

The marque said it was a game between UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, but it turned out to be a magnificent game by UC Sharpshooters.

UC Irvine prevailed in a record-setting 92-90 victory over UC Santa Barbara in a Big West Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. It was the fourth-highest point total in tournament history and the first time both teams topped 90 points.

Seventh-seeded UCSB (7-14) set a program and tournament record with 18 3-pointers, but the second-seeded Anteaters (14-8) went 10 for 17 from beyond the arc and then controlled the pace in the fourth quarter with two early 3-pointers and a series of drives to the basket by Haleigh Talbert and Chloe Webb.

The Gauchos shot 49.2% overall and a blistering 18 for 29 (62.1%) from long distance, and the Anteaters shot a season-best 55.9% overall (33 for 59) and scored 24 points off 18 forced turnovers. There were 19 lead changes, with UCSB leading by 12 in the first half; UCI never led by more than six.

Adding a dimension to the Anteaters’ win, they were without Big West Freshman of the Year Kayla Williams, who was held out with a sore ankle.

“If you had told me Santa Barbara hit 18 3-pointers and we won, I would have said that was not correct,” said UCI coach Tamara Inoue, whose team advances to a Friday 3 p.m. semifinal against No. 6 seed Cal Poly (13-10), which edged No. 3 Long Beach State, 61-60. “I’m really proud of the fight we had. There were a lot of times when we could have letup. Threes are like dunks in the women’s game.

“What I love about this team is that we can go inside or outside. We had those two 3-pointers and they started to help out, then it became a one-on-one game.”

Haleigh Talbert and Jayde Cadee hit those threes to turn a three-point deficit after three quarters into a three-point lead. Thereafter, it was drives by Talbert and Webb or dish-offs to Sophia Locandro for field goals and free throws.

The Gauchos’ Megan Anderson hit a 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left to tie the score at 90, but Talbert drove the lane and scored with seven seconds left to provide the final margin. UCSB had a last chance to tie but Briana Anugwom missed two free throws with one second left.

Webb had a team-high 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Talbert had 14 points and four steals. Locandro (14 points, five rebounds, five assists), Cadee (15 points on five 3-pointers), Victoria Baker (12 points, six assists) and Dani Guglielmo (10 points) all had their key moments as well.

UCSB was led by Taylor Mole (24 points, 11 rebounds), Anderson (16 points), Doris Jones (15 points, six rebounds) for former Long Beach Poly High star Danae Miller (18 points).

Regular-season records in the year of the pandemic might be the most worthless stats of all. UCSB started the season with two key players injured (Mole and Anderson) and closed the season with a 5-1 streak.

“We’ve been there before,” Inoue said. “They were playing with house money. There’s a little bit of luck in winning conference tournament games.”

Talbert, a senior, said UCI was playing with Williams (14.8 points, 4.5 assists per minute) in mind, since the decision to hold her out was a difficult one that they hope improves her chances of playing the rest of the tournament.

“It was hard to hear that your best player was out,” she said. “She talked to us about it and told us we were a great team without her. That gave us confidence. We all went out there knowing the team was relying on us.”

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