9-4 (5-0)
UC Irvine
11-6 (3-2)
Mustangs Defeat UC Irvine for Fifth Straight Win
1/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
IRVINE, Calif. – Cal Poly came back from an eight point deficit in the final 11 minutes of the game to defeat UC Irvine 72-70 in a Big West Conference women's basketball game on Saturday in front of 1,575 fans at the Bren Center on the campus of UC Irvine.
With the win the Mustangs improve to 9-7 overall and 5-0 in Big West play. UC Irvine falls to 11-6 and 3-2. The win for the Mustangs gave the team their best start in the Big West since Cal Poly joined the conference for the 1996-97 season.
Senior Rachel Clancy led a trio of Mustangs in double figures with 24 points with junior Abby Bloetscher adding 16 points and sophomore Caroline Reeves scoring 15.
Clancy's points came when she hit six of 14 shots from the floor and six of nine long range while hitting all six of her shots from the line. Bloetscher was five of nine from the floor and six of seven from the line with Reeves hitting five of 13 from the floor and all five of her shots from the line.
Mikah Maly-Karros led all scores with 28 points hitting 12 of 17 from the floor. Jade Smith-Williams added 14 points for the Anteaters.
The Mustangs shot 41 percent from the floor and connected on eight of 14 long range (57 percent) while UCI shot 43 percent form the floor and hit seven of 22 from beyond the arc.
The Mustangs went to the line 22 times making 20 while the Anteaters made nine of 13.
UCI outrebounded the Mustangs 36 to 35 with Maly-Karros corralling 12. Bloetscher led the Mustangs with nine boards with Reeves adding eight.
Cal Poly committed 14 turnovers compared to UCI's 10.
UC Irvine pulled out to a six point lead on three different times in the first half with the last coming at the 10:39 mark.
The Mustangs fought back to tie the game at 23-23 with 7:41 left in the half when Bloetscher converted the first of two of free throws and took the lead on the second.
Cal Poly extended its lead to six (37-31) at 3:41 when Clancy hit a three and held its biggest lead at seven (44-37) when Desiray Johnston hit a three with 43 seconds remaining in the half. UCI hit a field goal with 12 seconds remaining and the Mustangs went into the break with a 44-39 lead.
UCI had the hot hand to open the second half when they tied the game at 47-47 at 13:41 on a jumper by Kiara Belen.
The Anteaters remained hot and continued on a run that would eventually be 14-1 and their largest lead (56-48) with 11:01 left in the game.
Cal Poly went on its own run, 14-3, and held a three point lead (62-59) when Kayla Griffin hit a jumper with 5:37 left.
The Mustangs extended their lead to six (70-64) with 2:09 left when Clancy hit a pair of free throws.
UCI cut the lead to two on a layup by Maly-Karros with 1:04 left, but Reeves hit two from the line to give Cal Poly a 72-68 advantage.
Smith-Williams made a layup with 36 seconds remaining to pull UCI within two. After a Cal Poly turnover on the UCI inbounds play, Cal Poly committed a foul that sent Belen to the line for a one and one with three seconds left on the clock. She missed the free throw but the rebound went out of bounds off a Cal Poly player. UCI's last chance came at the buzzer when Kassandra McCalister missed a jumper from the right side.
The Mustangs will return home for a pair of games when they continue Big West Conference play when they host UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge.
The Mustangs will play the Highlanders on Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 7 pm and the Matadors on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 4 pm.
