The UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team had to play without two injured starters on Thursday.
But it still had a great finisher in Olivia Bradley.
The sophomore forward scored 19 of her career-high 27 points in the final 9½ minutes to lead the Gauchos to an 82-67, comeback victory over Cal State Bakersfield at the Thunderdome.
“If Liv wasn’t in foul trouble, she probably would’ve had 40 points,” UCSB coach Renee Jimenez said. “Super clutch.”
The victory keeps the Gauchos (13-2, 5-1 Big West Conference) on the heels of co-leaders UC Irvine and UC San Diego (both 6-0) in the league race.
Starting guards Maddie Naro and Skylar Burke sat out Thursday’s game with injuries, limiting Jimenez to just nine available players.
“We are thin,” she said. “I’m just really proud of this group. We knew it was going to be hard and that we were going to have to grind it out.”
UCSB out-shot Bakersfield (6-11, 1-6) 60.4% to 35.8%. The Gauchos, who came into the game ranked eighth nationally in three-point percentage (37.89%) and 12th in three-pointers per game (9.5), made 8-of-20 attempts (40%) on Thursday.
But they still led just 34-33 in the first half.
“Our defense has to be better,” Jimenez said. “We gave up so much cheap stuff.
“It wasn’t pretty, but this is how we have to win right now.”
Zoe Shaw started the second half with a trio of three-pointers to ignite a 10-2 run that took just two minutes.
“Zoe Shaw really stepped up into a leadership role with Maddie out and Skylar out, having to handle the ball at the point-guard spot,” Jimenez said. “Just showing a lot of growth.”
Shaw finished with 14 points and three assists.
Zoe Borter contributed 20 points, five assists and four rebounds.
“She is just such a beast,” Jimenez said. “In the fourth quarter we told her, ‘Hey, you might have to play some point guard.’ And she said, ‘No problem … Got ya.’
“That’s just who she is and what she does. I’m just so proud of her.
“She played 40 minutes. Jessica Grant played 40 minutes. We knew they were going to have to.”
Chrishawn Coleman rallied Bakersfield into the lead, 48-46, by scoring off a steal with 3:44 left in the third quarter. She led the Roadrunners with 27 points.
A basket by UCSB freshman Chauncey Andersen tied the game, however. And then Bradley took over.
The 6-foot-1 forward scored nine points in the last 2:39 of the period, mostly on drives from the high post. She added 10 points in the first seven minutes of the final period to give the Gauchos a 76-63 lead with 3:47 to go.
Bradley was a perfect 7-for-7 in the second half and 11-for-14 overall. She also had six rebounds and three assists.
“She and Zoe (Borter) are just so hard to guard,” Jimenez said. “They’re such a matchup nightmare for guards and too mobile for bigs.
“Happy for Liv and what she did. I know she was in foul trouble and kind of out of her rhythm, but we really challenged Liv to step up and be the guy.
“I think she’s shown that, game to game to game. She’s really grown before our eyes, and that’s really cool.”
UCSB out-rebounded Bakersfield 38-24, with Andersen and Julia Puente-Valverde getting 11 apiece.
“Chauncey came off the bench and had to play 26 minutes, which she hasn’t done all year,” Jimenez said. “Huge rebounds, some big buckets, and just some great energy for us.
“She’s kind of learning on the fly, so we’re asking everyone to do a little bit more.
“Hopefully we can get some of those other guys back soon.”
UCSB will play at Hawai’i on Saturday in a game that won’t tip off until 9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.