UCSB women’s basketball gets first home win as they blowout Hawai’i
UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team earned its first home win of the 2020-21 season with a 72-50 victory over Hawai'i on Saturday night at the Thunderdome.
Redshirt senior guard Doris Jones led the way with 23 points and six rebounds on 9-of-16 shooting, including a trio of threes, while freshman guard Alyssa Marin scored 12, dished out a team-leading five assists, and drew six fouls to snap the Gauchos' (3-12, 3-8 Big West) six-game losing streak.
Hawai'i (5-6, 4-5 Big West) scored the first points of the game on an Amy Atwell layup, but the Gauchos answered with a 9-0 run during which they drew four fouls out of the Rainbow Wahine.
Hawai'i got back within five over the next few minutes, but a bump from the visitors' Jadynn Alexander onto junior guard Taylor Mole meant the Gauchos went into the bonus, and beyond the immediate Mole free throws that she made afterward, UCSB cashed in on the opportunity with all but two of the rest of its points coming at the charity stripe as the hosts led 20-10 heading into the second quarter.
Hawai'i appeared to be creeping back into the contest, scoring on back-to-back possessions after the Gauchos had maintained their ten-point advantage for nearly three minutes. The Rainbow Wahine nearly made it three-straight possessions in which they found a score, but freshman guard Alyssa Marin drew a key charging foul against Dakota Viene, who had just Marin left to beat before an open layup opportunity.
The Gauchos built their lead back up on a pair of Marin free-throws and a corner three from redshirt senior guard Doris Jones, but Hawai'i ended the quarter on an 11-6 run to trail 35-29 at the half.
UCSB came out of the break firing on all cylinders, scoring the first 13 points of the period in a three-minute frenzy to widen the lead to a 48-29 scoreline.
The Rainbow Wahine could do little to slow down the Gauchos, making a dent in the lead with layups by Daejah Phillips and Jadynn Alexander before the blue and gold piled on 14 more as the lead ballooned to 29 at the tail end of the third quarter, the largest margin of the night.
Hawai'i wouldn't get any closer than within 22 of the Gauchos for the rest of the night, as UCSB finally earned its first win at home in the 2020-21 campaign.
"I'm proud of them for coming back from such a disappointing loss and coming in, battling, competing, and being physical tonight against a team that you have to be very physical against," said UCSB head coach Bonnie Henrickson after the game.
The Gauchos take on CSU Bakersfield at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield in their next pair of matchups. Both games are slated to start at 4 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3. Live stats will be available on UCSBGauchos.com.
Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics
