EDINBURGH, Tex. – Drew Edelman recorded her first double-double and freshman Aliceah Hernandez provided a spark in the second half, knocking down four three-pointers, as UC Santa Barbara defeated North Dakota State in the Battle on the Border tournament at Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday.
The third straight win lifted the UCSB women to 5-7 going into a holiday break.
“We’ve said all along that it’s a process, you’ve just got to hang in there,” said UCSB coach Bonnie Henrickson of the team’s win streak.
Edelman scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to complete her first double-double. She made the all-tournament team.
Hernandez caught fire from beyond the arc in the second half and scored a career-high 12 points.
“For her to come in and be ready on the bench speaks to who she is as a competitor, and being a great teammate,” Henrickson said. “She has energy on the bench, and I always say if you have energy on the bench you have a high probability of you being able to come in and impact the game positively.”
UCSB scored 15 of the first 21 points in the game and never looked back, allowing NDSU to draw as close as three points just twice before opening up second half leads of 12 and 14 points. Onome Jemerigbe conducted the offense with a season-high 10 assists, while also adding nine points with four rebounds and two steals. Drea Toler joined her in the back court off the bench to score nine and dish seven assists as well.
Coco Miller scored 10 and added seven rebounds for the second straight game.
Bolstered by a 47-27 rebounding edge, UCSB made the most of their 15 offensive boards with 12 second-chance scores.
The Gauchos close out the calendar year with a home game against the Yale Bulldogs on Saturday, December 31 at 12 p.m.
“Come party with us first, come celebrate and help us finish off 2016,” Henrickson said.