A wild finish at the Thunderdome on Saturday resulted in the second Big West Conference victory of the season for the UCSB women’s basketball team.
Trailing Cal State Northridge by six with less than a minute to play, UCSB made up the difference in a span of only five seconds, then tallied the final point on a free throw by Bri Anugwom with eight seconds remaining to pull out a 61-60 win over the Matadors.
Facing a 60-54 deficit, redshirt junior guard Coco Miller buried a 3-pointer to make to 60-57. UCSB (5-17, 2-7 Big West) didn’t have a timeout, so play resumed with Northridge inbounding the ball. On the play, Miller came up with a steal and fed point guard Danae Miller, who buried a 3-pointer from straight away to tie it, 60-60.
The win came on the heels of a dreadful performance by UCSB on Thursday at home, where the Gauchos lost, 70-44, to first-place UC Davis.
“We were just tougher today,” UCSB coach Bonnie Henrickson said in a statement. “To be able to respond from the Davis game, and to come back the way we did, I’m proud of them. No regrets today.”
Coco Miller led the scoring for the Gauchos with 17 points. She also had a career-high six steals.
Junior center Natalia Bruening was next with 15 points, followed by Anugwom, who barely missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
UCSB trailed by as many as seven in the third quarter before outscoring the Matadors, 22-17, in the fourth quarter. Senior center Channon Fluker finished with a double-double of 23 points and 16 rebounds to lead CSUN (11-12, 5-4 Big West).
The Gauchos hit the road for a game at Hawaii on Wednesday at 9 p.m. (PST).
Vanguard 59, Westmont 46
The Warriors were stifled by Vanguard, shooting only 35.1 percent from the field in a GSAC loss Saturday, dropping to 18-7 overall and 11-4 in conference play. Vanguard moves to 19-6 and 10-4, respectively.
Westmont had only one player in double-figure points, with Kaitlin Larson tallying 11 points.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Westmont 75, Vanguard 70
Behind a game-high 19 points from Olisa Nwachie and 10 apiece via Gyse Hulsebosch and Maxwell Hudgins, the Warriors knocked off No. 4 Vanguard at Murchison Gym.
With the game knotted at 34 at halftime, Westmont surged in the second half behind 64 percent shooting and hitting four three-pointers. Meanwhile, Vanguard went cold from the field, hitting just 34.3 percent of its shots in the second half.
Westmont benefitted from its scoring in the paint, outscoring Vanguard 40-30.
The Warriors move to 15-7 overall and 9-5 in the GSAC, while Vanguard falls to 22-3 and 10-2, respectively.
<b>BASEBALL
Westmont 14-9, British Columbia 1-0
The Warriors completed a four-game sweep of the visitors, staying a perfect 6-0 on the season.
Justin Sanders picked up the victory in the opener, tossing six perfect innings before giving up his only hit in the seventh frame.
In the nightcap, the Warriors rode Bryce Morison’s four RBIs ñ including his first home run of the season ñ to the victory. Travis Vander Molen and Andrew Bayard added home runs.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Westmont 7, Redlands 1</b>
The No. 14 Warriors notched straight-set victories in five of six singles matches and dominated doubles play to pick up their first victory of the young season.
UCSB 4, SAINT MARY’S 3
Moving to 3-1 on the season, the Gauchos won a home thriller behind Amit Lev Ari’s 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 match-clinching victory.
“Amit fought very hard in that match, I think she’ll gain a lot of confidence from this win today,” UCSB coach Simon Thibodeau said.
<b>GIRLS WATER POLOCIF DIV. 2 QUARTERFINALS
Santa Barbara 8, Harvard-Westlake 4
The Dons used a dominating performance to advance to the semifinals, where they will host San Clemente Wednesday at a time to be determined.
San Clemente beat Huntington Beach, 6-4.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
UCSB 3, Penn State 0
Corey Chavers tallied 14 kills, while Ryan Wilcox had five more as the Gauchos improved to 11-3 behind a 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 victory at the AVCA Showcase in Long Beach.
The Gauchos have swept their past four matches and are riding an eight-match winning streak.
UCSB returns home Wednesday to host rival UCLA.
WOMEN’S WATER POLO
UCSB 4, UC SAN DIEGO 3UC IRVINE 11, UCSB 7
The No. 7 Gauchos split a pair of games at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, with the loss ending a six-game winning streak. UCSB sits at 10-2 on the season. Utility Kate Pipkin secured UCSB’s win over UCSD with a buzzer-beating goal.
WOMEN’S SOFTBALL
UCSB 11, MONTANA 6
The Gauchos put up five runs in the eighth inning, picking up their second win of the season.
UCSB went ahead on a field error in the eighth, and added to its total with a run-scoring single from Maci Fines and big two-run double from Genesis Ramirez.
Felisha Noriego picked up the win with 3.1 innings of shutout relief.
