Four UCSB women scored in double figures and the team never trailed in posting a 64-50 Senior Day win over UC San Diego Saturday at the Thunderdome.
Anya Choice opened the game with a 3-pointer on her way to leading the team with 15 points. Skylar Burke added a career-high 13 points, and Alexis Tucker added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Ila Lane scored 10 points.
While the UCSB offense was running smoothly the whole game, it was the defense that made the difference in the second and third quarters. After leading 18-15 after one quarter, the Gauchos held UC San Diego to nine points on 3-13 shooting in the second quarter and didn’t allow a Triton field goal for the first eight minutes of the third.
UCSB outscored UC San Diego 30-20 over the second and third quarters, making much of the difference in the final score line.
Despite it being Senior Day, a good deal of spotlight found Choice and Burke late in the game, with the junior and freshman combining to score 12 of the team’s final 16 points.
Early in the fourth, Burke put home a layup off a great pass from Ila Lane to reach double digits for the first time in her collegiate career, drawing a foul in the process. She converted the and-one, then added two more points before the final buzzer. Burke added seven rebounds and four assists to her night’s total.
Choice, who had been dicing up the Triton defense all night, got her 15th point by banking a jumper off the glass with a pair of defenders in her face. For the game, she was 5-for-10 from the field and 2-for-6 from behind the arc.
Senior Lane scored the team’s final point of the night, bringing her into the double-digit club on the evening.
The Gauchos, now 19-9 overall and 12-6 in the Big West, play their last home game of the season Thursday against UC Davis, with a 7 p.m. tipoff.