SAN FRANCISCO — Both the opponent and the game were too long for the UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team on Saturday.
USF used its size advantage to good effect in the second half to pull away from the Gauchos, 59-37, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
“They wore us out, they’re so big and so physical,” UCSB coach Renee Jimenez said.
Foul trouble — 23 in all — kept the Gauchos (1-1) from getting its offense untracked. UCSB shot just 20.8% while making only 3-of-22 of its three-point attempts.
Veteran point guard Alyssa Marin made 2-of-4 while leading the Gauchos with 16 points, but early foul trouble kept her out of rhythm for her other shots. She was just 2-of-9 from inside the arc.
“We could never really get Alyssa into any kind of flow because she has to sit, then she’s cold, and you can’t really get her going,” Jimenez said. “That was pretty frustrating, for sure.”
Jessica Grant, one of UCSB’s best three-point threats, fouled out after playing just nine minutes.
“She got her fifth and I’m like, ‘Holy cow, she’s probably only played seven minutes tonight!’” Jimenez said.
Center Laurel Rockwood also fouled out while Marin and Flora Goed had four fouls apiece.
“USF’s guards are big — I think they had maybe one guard under 5-8 — and we’re small, and so we have to be scrappy,” Jimenez said. “We got four calls on our guards like boxing out. I told the refs, ‘That’s our only shot to put a body on somebody.’
“I’m telling my little guards, ‘Hey, your only job is to drive them out of the paint,’ and then we’re getting fouls called … That kind of negates the whole thing.”
UCSB trailed just 13-12 by the end of the first quarter and 22-16 at halftime. The Gauchos held the Dons to 26.9% shooting in the first half.
USF (1-1) was led by Deborah Dos Santos with 14 points and nine rebounds.
“For 20 minutes, I thought it was one of the best defensive performances that I’ve ever seen from any of my teams,” Jimenez said. “And then for the last 20, it just got away from us.
“Their size messed with us a little bit. They changed our shots and rushed us, and all these things. We let that affect who were are defensively.
“Regardless of how we’re playing offensively, whether or not shots are falling, we’ve got to stick to the plan.
UCSB will return to the Thunderdome for games against Nevada on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. against San Jose State.