Zoe Borter knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and scored 11 points during a four-minute span in the third quarter, rallying the UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team from a 13-point deficit to a 72-62 win over Seattle University on Saturday at the Grand Canyon Thanksgiving Classic in Phoenix.
Borter made 4 of 7 from behind the arc and finished with a career-high 22 points. She also shot a perfect 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and grabbed five rebounds.
The Gauchos were down 43-30 at 8:22 of the third quarter when Borter caught fire. She nailed a trey to ignite a trio of 3-point makes. Martha Pietsch hit the next one and Borter buried the third in row to make the score 43-39.
Pietsch stole the ball and Borter hit a pair of free throws to make it a two-point game at 5:56 of the quarter. A 3-pointer by Jessica Grant gave the Gauchos a 44-43 lead at the 5:22 mark.
Seattle regained the lead on a layup by Sophie Benharouga, but Borter answered with her third 3-pointer of the period for a 47-45 Gaucho advantage.
Grant made another triple to put UCSB ahead by five (54-49) and Borter sank two free throws after an Alyssa Marin steal for a seven-point lead.
Borter scored on back-to-back layups and Skylar Burke finished twice in the paint, extending the advantage to 13 (66-53) with 4:07 left in the fourth quarter. The Gauchos held the Redhawks scoreless for nearly five minutes.
Burke scored 14 points and Marin added 12, while Laurel Rockwood led the Gauchos (5-3) in rebounding with eight boards.
Seattle (2-5) was led by Taisiya Kozlova with 16 points.
UCSB is back on the road Thursday, playing at UC San Diego in a Big West opener.
