UC Santa Barbara harkened back to the holiday season during its Senior Day women’s basketball game at the Thunderdome on Saturday.
The Gauchos, who were 10-1 by the end of last December, stunned Big West Conference leader UC Irvine with a 70-62 victory in the final game of February.
“Today was the first time I felt I had us back, the team we were back in November and December,” UCSB coach Renee Jimenez said.
The victory, the fourth in the last five games for UCSB (20-8, 12-7 Big West), ended a seven-game winning streak for the Anteaters (24-5, 15-3).
Starting guards Maddie Naro and Skylar Burke, who missed a combined 10 games in January and early February with injuries, combined for 23 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds on Saturday.
“It took some time to get Skylar back in the mix,” Jimenez said. “But they played with confidence, they played together … We are healthy where no one is throwing up in the bathroom.
“Positive things are happening for us.”
Burke made a pair of clutch free throws with 1:35 remaining to thwart a furious Anteater comeback. She finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two steals in her final game at the Thunderdome.
“I feel like I’ve played 100% all the time,” Burke said. “Things like my ankle … it happens, and you can’t really control it.
“I was excited that I was able to come back this year and finish out these last couple of games and get back into it.”
Burke and Jessica Grant, who is tied for third in UCSB’s record books with 215 three-pointers, were honored along with the injured Martha Pietsch during the pregame Senior Day ceremonies.
“That was a huge win for us,” said Grant, who is 12 threes short of second place and 18 away from Erin Alexander’s record of 233 set in 1996.
“It’s great momentum going into the tournament, so I’m really excited for that, winning each game and taking it step-by-step and seizing this momentum.”
The undergrads had their Senior Day fun, too.
Naro, a junior transfer from Santa Clara, handed out eight assists to go with her 12 points.
Junior Zoe Borter led the Gauchos with 18 points, sophomore Olivia Bradley added 14 with a team-high seven rebounds, and sophomore Zoe Shaw shot a perfect 5-for-5 (2-for-2 on threes) for her 12 points.
UCSB out-shot the Anteaters 50% to 34.5% while making 9-of-24 three pointers (37.5%). Those two shooting percentages were the Gauchos’ best since Jan. 15.
They lost four of five games from late January to mid-February.
Jimenez read some statistics to her team to boost its confidence for the season’s stretch run.
“I started diving into the numbers … We’re 17-3 when we shoot 30% from three,” she said. “It’s not a mountain … It’s a hill. To them, sometimes, I think it’s a mountain.
“When we score 63 points or more, I think we’re 17-0.
“I am the lawyer, I’m presenting the evidence, and that’s what we talked about … The evidence doesn’t lie.”
She also taped a “Believe” sign in the locker room.
“I go, ‘We’re slapping this on the way out, and you’re freakin’ believing, because the evidence is that we win when we shoot this and score this,’” Jimenez said. “I’m so happy, because they weren’t believing for a while.”
Bradley hit two jumpers and a three-pointer in the first 4½ minutes to propel the Gauchos to a 12-3 lead. UCSB made its first five shots which included another three by Borter.
The Gauchos scored in clumps of three — long shots by Borter and Naro, and three-point plays by Borter and Chauncey Andersen — to extend their lead to 24-9.
The margin grew as large as 20 points, 34-14, on Naro’s weaving runner through the key midway through the second quarter.
The lead was still at 16, 52-36, on Borter’s three with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.
But Hunter Hernandez rallied UCI by scoring 16 of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter.
The Gauchos still appeared to have the game in hand, 63-52, when Naro broke the Anteaters’ full-court press to feed Bradley for a layup with 2:15 left.
But Irvine got physical with their pressing trap after that to turn UCSB over three times in the next 71 seconds.
The Anteaters had a chance to tie the game after Shirel Nahum’s three, Hernandez’s two free throws, and another Gaucho turnover gave them the ball with 1:03 remaining and their deficit reduced to 65-62.
But Jada Wynne missed a jumper, Summah Hanson failed to convert the putback, and Naro dove on a loose ball after Hernandez lost possession.
“We were just leaning on each other in those moments when it gets stressful and it gets hard and when calls aren’t going our way,” Burke said. “We focus on each other and stay together.
“We trust that the work we’ve put in and the things we do outside of basketball are going to show on the court and work out in those tougher moments.”
Borter’s four free throws and another by Burke finished off UCI in the final 15.9 seconds.
UCSB has just one regular-season game remaining: Saturday’s 4 p.m. contest at UC San Diego.