Gauchos celebrate Senior Day with lopsided win over CSUN

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team (18-11, 12-7 Big West) sent off its seniors in style on Saturday evening, defeating CSUN (4-23, 2-16 Big West) by a 74-52 scoreline. Fifth-year Gaucho Alyssa Marin said goodbye to the Thunderdome with a game-high 23 points, while junior Skylar Burke added 17 to lead the offense. Laurel Rockwood put in a swan-song performance on the glass, matching her career high with 12 boards on the night. Cayla Williams added a pair of her trademark threes off the bench, while Anya Choice did a little bit of everything for the Gauchos. Flora Goed came in late, meaning all five healthy seniors were able to share the floor.

FROM HEAD COACH RENEE JIMENEZ
"We should have been able to put this game away early in that first half, and we didn't," Jimenez said. "That's the next step for this team, I think, is being able to step on someone's throat. When they're down, not letting them have any momentum to come back into the game, but I'm proud of how our team responded in the fourth quarter, our seniors showed up tonight. I mean, Laurel Rockwood had 12 rebounds, Alyssa had a great game, Cayla came in, hit some really key threes for us. Anya Choice was big down the stretch against that press when they came in, so everybody did a little bit tonight. Flora Goed got in the game tonight for us, so it's always fun when you can play your seniors."

"Those guys have had, I mean some of them have been here a long time, they're better known in this community than people who have been here a while. But, really proud of this group, I'm happy for them, it's a great legacy that they've left here, especially in such a community that values women's basketball in the way that they do. This is a group that will come back and people are going to remember them."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos wasted no time getting out in front, out-scoring CSUN, 20-8 in the first quarter. Rockwood got the first basket of the night, then Marin and Burke drained threes to make it 8-0 inside three minutes. Burke and Marin both had monster first quarters, scoring eight points apiece. Choice added a late bucket as well, the one that brought Santa Barbara up to 20 before the first buzzer.

The CSUN offense managed to shake off the slow start for the second quarter, but the Gauchos again out-scored them in the frame, this time just 16-14. Marin continued to play a key role in Santa Barbara's offense, making another three-pointer in the frame, with Williams and Jessica Grant providing scoring support from deep of the bench. In a crucial moment after CSUN had cut their deficit to just eight, Williams and Grant hit back-to-back threes to re-extend Santa Barbara's advantage to double digits, at 30-16. Marin's four points helped get that lead up to as many as 18, but the Matadors had cut it down to just 14 again by halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Gauchos kept CSUN at arms' length throughout the third quarter, never letting the visitors come within 10 points. Zoe Borter hit a three as the first basket out of halftime, and Williams added another three of her own later on, but it was the defense making life hard for the Matadors that kept Santa Barbara so far out in front. After the eight-point first quarter, the third was CSUN's next-worst frame shooting the ball, as they went just 5-of-17 from the floor and 1-of-7 from three. They didn't help themselves at the charity stripe either, going just 4-of-9 in the quarter.

Things got interesting in the early stages of the fourth, as CSUN made two quick baskets to draw within eight, then went to the free-throw line with a chance to make the deficit just six. However, they missed both, and that was just the break the Gauchos needed. Marin drained a three to put Santa Barbara back up by double-digits, and Choice scored shortly after to stretch the lead to 13. When the Matadors scored again, Marin responded with a four-point play the next time down, making it a 15-point Gaucho lead. From there, Santa Barbara ran away with the game. They led by 16 or more for the final six minutes of action, which gave coach Renee Jimenez the opportunity to play all five of her healthy seniors — Marin, Choice, Williams, Goed and Rockwood — on the floor together and to sub them all out to a standing ovation in the final minutes. Unfortunately, Analillia Cabuena missed out due to injury. When the seniors came out, Karena Eberts, Arshiya Ranjitkar and Malani Mastora all checked in to make their Big West debuts.

BY THE NUMBERS
Since fifth-year seniors Alyssa Marin and Anya Choice arrived in Santa Barbara, the Gauchos' Class of 2025 has won 77 games, playing a combined 8,017 minutes over a combined 432 appearances. Together, they have scored 2,584 points.
With Saturday's win, the Gauchos have a new longest win streak under Coach Jimenez, stringing together four victories for the first time this season.

UP NEXT
Santa Barbara has just one game left before The Big West Championship, traveling to face UC Irvine at the Bren Events Center next Saturday, March 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the game to be broadcast live on ESPN+ and with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/WBBLiveStats.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).