Gauchos win at Fullerton behind a record-tying quarter

FULLERTON, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team (15-11, 9-7 Big West) scored 52 points in the second half of Thursday night's game, including a 33-point third quarter, at Cal State Fullerton (7-19, 5-11 Big West), rolling to an 80-56 win, their largest margin of victory in a conference game this year. Alyssa Marin led the way with 18 points while Skylar Burke added 17 more. Olivia Bradley made it two great games off the bench in a row, scoring 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Gauchos' 33-point third period matches the program record for points in a quarter and is the most that UC Santa Barbara has ever scored in one quarter against an NCAA opponent.

FROM HEAD COACH RENEE JIMENEZ
"This may have been our most complete game of the season," Jimenez said. "I thought our team came out with great intention on the defensive end of the floor. We need to continue to carry this momentum into our next four games."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos were in control for most of the game, thanks in part to a strong defensive first quarter, when they allowed just eight points. Laurel Rockwood cleaned up after a missed layup early and drew a foul for a three-point play, which she converted from the free-throw line, and Bradley electric off the bench in the first ten minutes too. After Burke made a pair of free throws to give the Gauchos an 8-7 lead, Marin made a layup to stretch the advantage to 10-7, then Bradley made two more shots to secure Santa Barbara's grip on the game. Fullerton made just one free throw in the final six minutes of the first, the Rockwood popped up again to make the score 16-8 when the buzzer sounded.

Things got a little unsteady in the second quarter, as the Titans did out-score the Gauchos in the frame and come within just three points, but Santa Barbara never surrendered their lead. Around the midpoint in the quarter, Fullerton twice came within six points, but each time Bradley responded to re-extend the Gaucho lead to eight. The Titans did get themselves within three points with just under 90 seconds until halftime, but Burke drew and converted a key and-one opportunity with just eight seconds left to send Santa Barbara into the break up by six.

The Gauchos came flying out of the break, scoring on three of their first four possessions to take their first double-digit lead of the night. Anya Choice had the hot hand early, scoring all seven of her points in a three-minute timeframe early in the third. Fullerton shot a perfectly respectable 7-of-14 from the field in the third but the Gauchos shot a nearly perfect 9-of-11, going 5-of-6 from three-point range while holding the Titans to just 1-of-5 shooting from outside in the quarter. Santa Barbara, the best free-throw shooting team in the country, also added 10 points from the charity stripe in their explosive third quarter. By the end of the frame, the Gauchos had a 20-point lead, 61-41.

In the fourth, Santa Barbara just kept extending that lead. When Marin was fouled on her fourth three-point make of the night, she converted the four-point play to put the Gauchos up by 27, 70-43. Later in the quarter, Martha Pietsch marked her return to the lineup with a pair of three-pointers, her first baskets since dropping 12 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting when these same Titans visited the Thunderdome. Her second three-ball was the final basket of the game, giving the Gauchos their 24-point margin.

BY THE NUMBERS
Santa Barbara's 33-point third quarter matches the program's best mark, set on Dec. 21, 2021, also in the third quarter, against Bethesda University, which competes in the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA). The Gauchos' previous best quarter against an NCAA institution, Division-I institution and Big West institution was all the same number: 32, which Santa Barbara posted in the fourth quarter of their Feb. 24, 2018 matchup with UC Riverside.
Bradley set a new career high in scoring against NCAA opposition for the second game in a row on Thursday night. After dropping 12 points against UC Riverside on Saturday, she tallied 14 on Thursday. That number is three shy of her outright career high of 17, set against NAIA institution Life Pacific last season.
As a team, the Gauchos matched their season high in shot blocks on Thursday, swatting seven. Bradley and Cayla Williams each had two, with Burke, Rockwood and Jessica Grant each adding one.
The Gauchos also had their best three-point shooting night of the season on Thursday, going 11-of-22 from downtown for an even 50%. Marin went 4-of-5 from deep, with Burke and Pietsch both going 2-of-3. Grant went 2-of-5

UP NEXT
Santa Barbara returns to the Thunderdome for their penultimate home game of the season on Saturday, hosting Long Beach State at 4 p.m. The game will be live on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/WBBLiveStats.

Saturday is also UC Santa Barbara's Pink Game, as part of The Big West's Tough Like Tammy campaign. The Tough Like Tammy campaign aims, in conjunction with the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to raise money toward research in not just breast cancer, but all cancers affecting women.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).