Archive/HIGHLANDER

 

Feb. 22, 2012
Titans  66 – Highlanders 43

The UC Riverside women’s basketball team suffered its fifth consecutive loss versus the CSU Fullerton Titans, who ended their five game skid with a 66–43 victory over the Highlanders. In the second half of the game, the Titans’ high shooting percentage devastated the Highlanders. The Highlanders never led in this game and were tied only at the start when the game was 2-2. UCR fell to 5-22 overall and 3-12 in Big West play as their hopes of qualifying for the Big West tournament further diminish. The Titans improved to 10-16 overall and 3-10 in Big West play.

In the first half, the Highlanders did not get off to a good start as they were only one for seven from the field and trailed the Titans 16-8 with 7:44 remaining. The Titans forced the Highlanders to four turnovers and exploded for a 11-2 run to push the score to 27-10 with 4:11 remaining in the first half. The Highlanders were able to rally and get a scoring run of their own with a 6-0 run to cut the Titan lead and close off the half.  The Titans took an 11-point lead to the locker room at he half, 27-16.

In the second half, the Titans put up a shooting display as they shot 47 percent from the field. The Highlanders had the Titan lead down to eight twice. The first occasion was with 11:49 left to play, 36-28, and the other with 8:27 to play. Highlander Jessica Ogunnorin banked in a three to cut the Titan lead to 46-37. The Titan offense took off as Titan guard Lauren Chow hit her first of three three-pointers, and on the next possession, had her teammate Megan Richardson hit another three. Chow then delivered the final dart with another three and the Titans started to runaway with the game, holding an 18-point lead with three minutes left in the game. The Titans connected on two more three-pointers as they finished the game with a 23-point advantage over the Highlanders, giving them a  66-43 victory.

The Highlanders committed 20 turnovers, which the Titans took advantage of as they gained 22 points off them. Highlander Jessica Ogunnorin had a career-high 17 points and Taylor Wallace had eight rebounds. The Titans were led by Megan Richardson who had 17 points, but also had teammates Lauren Chow (15) and Mya Olivier (13) in double figures.

Feb. 26, 2012
Redhawks 64 – Highlanders 42

Playing in its final road game of the season, the UC Riverside women’s basketball team dropped its sixth game in a row Sunday afternoon to the Seattle Redhawks by a 64-42 decision at the Connolly Center. Turnovers continued to plague the Highlanders as they committed 22 turnovers in this game, while the Redhawks had just 14 turnovers.  The loss in this non-conference game caused the Highlanders’ record to fall to 5-23 overall, while the Redhawks improved to 17-9 overall. The Redhawks extended their win streak to five games, the longest this season.

In the first half, both teams struggled offensively as both teams only manged to put two points on the board for the first 4:23 of the game. The Redhawks pulled a quick 6-0 run and led the game 8-2. The Highlanders responded with a 6-2 run to close deficit to just two with 12:57 remaining. The Redhawks managed to muster another run to take a 12-point lead over the Highlanders with six minutes to go in the first half. The Highlanders managed to cut the Redhawk lead to just six points by going on a 6-0 run started by a Jazzmin Lewis’ layup and two quick jump shots by Natasha Hadley, making the score 24-18. The Redhawks scored four more points to reestablish their lead to close out the half.  Both teams went to the locker room with the scoreboard showing 28-18 in favor of the Redhawks.

In the second half, the Highlanders crept to within nine points on a Kiara Harewood free-throw point, but the Redhawks took over the game offensive and defensively, opening up the game to increase their lead to 19 points, 40-21, with 16:09 left on the clock. The Highlanders could not respond and faced a deficit as high as 27 points.  However, the closest the Highlanders got to trimming lead was down to 19 thanks a Hadley layup, 57-38, with 4:10 left to play. The second half ended with the Redhawks outscoring the Highlanders 36-24 to win the game 64-42 by a massive 22 points.

The Highlanders were once again led by Jessica Ogunnorin who had 11 points and six rebounds. Natasha Hadley added 10 points for the Highlanders. The Redhawks were led by Talisa Rhea, who had 14 points. Besides the big disparity in turnovers, the Redhawks also out-rebounded the Highlanders 51-36.

The Highlanders return home to play their last game of the season at the Student Recreation Center on March 1 against UC Irvine at 7:00 p.m.

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