Overview:
Jessica Grant pumps up the Gauchos’43.5% shooting from three-point distance by making 5-of-7 long shots
UC Santa Barbara’s Killer B’s got a buzz going at the Thunderdome Monday night.
Olivia Bradley and Zoe Borter, a pair of free-wheeling forwards, combined for 35 points to lead the Gauchos to an 80-44 rout over Cal State Monterey Bay in their women’s basketball season opener.
“Overall, a long way to go,” UCSB coach Renee Jimenez said of her team’s debut, “but I like where we’re headed in terms of style of play and freedom and being able to space the floor and have five guys on the perimeter.”
Jessica Grant was the deadliest Gaucho from the perimeter, adding 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from three-point distance.
“I don’t even look anymore,” Jimenez said of Grant, who led the Big West Conference last year with 39.1% shooting from three. “I just assume they all go in.”
The Gauchos out-shot the NCAA Division 2 Otters 50.8% to 30% overall (43.5% to 23.5% from three).
Bradley, a redshirt sophomore from Adelaide, South Australia, scored a career-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. She added a three-pointer and 4-of-5 free-throw shooting while also making a game-high four steals.
She was still rehabilitating a major knee injury at this time last year and didn’t make the debut of her redshirt freshman season until Dec. 15.
Bradley did give a sign of things to come, however, by scoring her previous high of 18 points against Long Beach State on Feb. 22.
“She wasn’t the guy last year — she was a role player who played behind a lot of people,” Jimenez pointed out. “She’s stepping into a new role of being one of our main scorers, so we’ve been trying to find a space for her to really excel.
“She shoots it from the perimeter, she’s long, she can score with her back to the basket … She’s going to be a really big part of what we do.
“She didn’t have great scrimmages to start, but I thought this was really a breakout game for her.”
Borter, a 6-foot junior who averaged nearly 33 minutes per game last year, continued a role which Jimenez described as “my warm, fuzzy blanket.”
She covered it all for UCSB on Monday by scoring 16 points with a pair of threes, grabbing six rebounds, handing out a pair of assists and making steal.
“Zoe is steady-Betty out there,” Jimenez said. “She does a little bit of everything, and she’s really grown her game.
“She spent a lot of time getting shots up this summer, working out with coach Dario (Frias) … He worked on having her bring her arc down a little bit, and she’s shooting the ball real confidently right now.”
A pair of transfers handled much of UCSB’s playmaking on Monday. Junior Madison Naro from Santa Clara led all players with six assists while also making three steals. Sophomore Zoe Shaw from St. Bonaventure added five assists.
“When we were getting into the portal, we wanted (guards with) high assists to low turnovers,” Jimenez said. “Bringing in kids like Maddie and Zoe has really elevated us.
“Maddie Naro is a point guard in every facet of the game in terms of leadership and communication and all those things.
“Zoe Shaw is a little bit more quiet — she’s young, she’s only a sophomore — but they both see the floor really well and understand who’s on the floor with them and how to create shots for them.”
The two Zoes helped UCSB overcome an early deficit.
Shaw hit a pair of jumpers and a three-pointer in the first nine minutes.
Borter scored off a pair of post moves and then capped the period by turning a steal into a running bank shot and a 19-14 lead.
Monterey kept it close during the first 10 minutes with its 9-to-4 advantage in rebounds. Leah Sarabia led the Otters with 12 points and eight rebounds.
They grew their rebound margin to 19-10 by halftime before UCSB turned the tables in the second half. The Gauchos finished with a 37-36 edge on the backboards.
Borter, as usual, led the charge.
“She’s just a hustle player,” Jimenez said. “When I said, ‘We need a rebound,’ she went out and got three in a row.
“She was able to start our transition that way.”
Freshman Chauncey Andersen got five of her six rebounds in the second half.
The Gauchos pulled ahead 44-28 by halftime and tightened the clamps even more in the third quarter. They doubled the score on the Otters, 64-32, by holding them to just 1-of-10 shooting during the 10-minute period.
Monterey finished with 26 turnovers, and Jimenez said it could’ve been more.
“We’ve really kind of cranked up our defense,” she said. “We just weren’t getting into passing lanes the way we want to.
“We’ve really worked on trying to pin the ball to a side of the floor and try to anticipate more passes.”
“We had 12 steals and I think there were at least eight more out there for us.”
Such high expectations come more from need than greed. Bradley is the tallest Gaucho starter at just 6-foot-1.
“We’re small, it’s not a secret,” Jimenez said. “So our kids — all five of our players on the court — have to really commit to rebounding.
“When we rebound, we can play in transition the way we want to play and kind of space the floor and get great shots.
“But when we don’t rebound, it’s a game.”
The Gauchos will need to rebound to make it a game on Thursday when they visit third-ranked UCLA in an early matinee. Tipoff at Pauley Pavilion will be at 11:30 a.m.