A cold spell on offense continued for the 10th straight game for the slumping UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team on Thursday.
But coach Renee Jimenez got most hot about a Gauchos’ defense that faded at the end of both halves during their 69-62 defeat to UC Riverside at the Thunderdome.
“I thought, defensively, we did not execute the scout — I mean, not even close,” she said. “To give them a 24-point second quarter and a 21-point fourth quarter is really frustrating.
“We’re better than that.”
The defeat — UCSB’s fourth in the last five games — dropped the Gauchos (16-7, 8-6 Big West Conference) deeper into fifth place in the league race, three games out of fourth, with seven games remaining.
The top four teams receive a bye in the first round of the Big West Tournament.
Although Riverside (8-16, 6-8 Big West) shot just 42.1% for the game, it made 9-of-16 shots in the second quarter and 6-of-11 in the fourth.
Sophomore Hannah Wickstrom, who ranks sixth nationally with a 23.3-point average, exceeded that number on Thursday with 27 points. She made 10-of-17 shots which included 5-of-8 three-pointers.
She made more threes than the entire team at UCSB (4-of-19, 21.1%).
UCSB, which was ranked fourth nationally in three-point accuracy at 39.5% in early January, is now at 33.9%. The Gauchos, who have made just 73-of-269 threes (27.1%) in the last 10 games, shot 42.9% overall.
“We’ve been shooting poorly,” Jimenez said. “We got great shots. We got layups around the rim. We did not focus and we did not finish around the rim when we got up.
“But I’m just stuck on the defense.
“We talked a lot this week about making changes by February after going through a hard January, and that we needed to be more connected defensively. It was frustrating.
Chauncey Andersen came off the bench to spark the Gauchos in the first quarter. She scored three straight baskets, capped by a three-point play to draw UCSB to within one point of the Highlanders, 12-11.
The freshman forward finished with a double-double of 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 11 rebounds.
Skylar Burke scored off a back-cut and then hit two free throws to put the Gauchos ahead by the end of the first quarter, 16-14.
But UCSB’s month-long shooting slump caught up to it in the second period. The Gauchos missed six of their first seven shots, and Riverside took the cue.
Wickstrom made a trio of three-pointers and a runner during a 22-8 outburst that put the Highlanders ahead 36-24. She had 17 of her 27 points by halftime. Teammate Seneca Hackley got 14 of her 20 in the second half.
Zoe Borter, who was held to just three free throws and no baskets in the first half, rallied the Gauchos by scoring 17 of her team-high 20 points in the second half.
She made a pair of threes early in the third quarter and Maddie Naro added a trio of two-point baskets as the Gauchos reduced their deficit to 48-47 by the end of the period.
“I was proud of their effort to fight back, but you’re not going to win games when you only play for 10 minutes,” Jimenez said.
Borter scored three quick baskets to start the fourth quarter which included her third three of the game and reduced UCSB’s deficit to 56-54 with 6:28 to go.
But UCR pulled away by outscoring the Gauchos 15-6 in the last six minutes.
“We talked a lot this week about making changes by February,” Jimenez said. “We went through a hard January, and we needed to be more connected defensively. It was frustrating.
“It was real quiet on the court. We have to challenge them just to talk and speak and communicate.”
UCSB will return to action Saturday with a 2 p.m. home game against Cal Poly.