UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball went on a scoring frenzy as four Gauchos scored double digits against the UC San Diego Tritons. The Gauchos won on Senior Night with a score of 64-50 as freshman guard Skylar Burke set a new career-high in scoring.
(Maddy Fangio / Daily Nexus)
The Gauchos started the scoring early, as junior guard Anya Choice made her first basket of the day from deep, giving the Gauchos an early 3-0 lead. Senior guard Alexis Tucker led from there as the Gauchos struggled to score a minute after Choice made the three.
Tucker scored the following eight points for the Gauchos as they led 11-5 over the Tritons. UCSD quickly responded as they scored 5 unanswered points to bring the score to 11-10 before the media timeout.
Both teams went point to point for the rest of the quarter before sophomore forward Alexis Whitfield assisted Burke in hitting a buzzer-beater three to put the Gauchos up 18-15.
Going into the second quarter, the Gauchos maintained their lead by exchanging baskets with the Tritons for almost the entire quarter. UCSB scored at the end of the quarter to extend their lead before heading into the locker room for halftime.
The Gauchos went on an 8-point run to end the half as they led 33-24. The defense was a primary factor for UCSB in the second quarter. The Gauchos held UCSD to 9 points in the quarter on 3-13 shooting from the field.
The third quarter followed the same narrative for UCSB, as they continued to score and not allow the Tritons to have any hope of trying to come back. The Gauchos extended them to the utmost of 18 points with two minutes left of the third quarter. Gauchos lead 48-35 to end the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the scoring frenzy continued for the Gauchos, as Burke hit a milestone in her collegiate career. Burke knocked down a layup, giving senior forward Ila Lane the assist, but the layup from Burke earned her the accomplishment of reaching double digits in scoring for the first time in her collegiate career.
Burke converted the and-one following her foul on the layup and scored 2 points later to finish her new career high of 13. Burke also finished with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Choice was one of the Gauchos that finished in double digits as she finished with 15 points going 5-10 from the field and 2-6 from three.
Seniors Lane and Tucker were the last two Gauchos to finish in double digits as the duo combined for 22 points.
UC Santa Barbara will play their final home of the season on Thursday, March 2, against the UC Davis Mustangs. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Thunderdome.
