Weber State women’s basketball loses 61-51 to UC Santa Barbara
Weber State women’s basketball held UC Santa Barbara to one field goal and forced the Gauchos into seven turnovers in the fourth quarter.
It sounds like a recipe for success but ultimately, WSU couldn’t make enough shots for it to matter.
UCSB led from wire to wire on the way to a 61-51 victory Saturday afternoon over Weber State in the final day of a two-day event hosted at the University of San Diego.
Two stats tell the story: WSU won the turnover battle 21-14 but UCSB had more points off turnovers (11-9), and the Gauchos outshot the Wildcats 8-3 at the 3-point line.
UCSB led 21-14 after the first quarter and mostly held control. Weber State made a run, as it has in each of its six losses this season: after getting down 42-34 midway through the third quarter, a quick 7-0 run made it a one-point game with two Jadyn Matthews buckets and a jump shot from Kendra Parra.
But after that run over just 1:28 of game time, UCSB answered with a 10-0 run over the final 3:28 of the third, capped with an Alexis Whitfield score at the buzzer, to make it 52-41.
That became 54-41 to open the fourth when the Gauchos scored their only field of the final frame. WSU got it as close as 54-48 midway through the quarter but only scored three more points the rest of the way.
Senior forward Daryn Hickok led Weber State (0-6) with 17 points, adding five rebounds and five turnovers. Matthews and Parra each scored eight points. Sophomore center Amelia Raidaveta totaled three points, nine rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers.
Mary McMorris led UCSB (3-2) with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Anya Choice single-handedly outshot WSU from behind the arc, totaling 18 points while going 4 of 5 from downtown.
Weber State regroups for the last of its seven-game road slate to open the season with a Nov. 29 matchup at Oregon State (4-0), where former Fremont High star Timea Gardiner is averaging 8.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game off the bench for the Beavers.
WSU then plays its first regular-season home game a week after that, a Dec. 6 contest against Nevada.