Turnovers plagued the UC Riverside women’s basketball team (6-17, 3-6) as they fell on the road to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (13-8, 7-2) Saturday, Feb. 3, 91-73.
The Highlanders committed 24 turnovers on the night, from which the Mustangs were able to convert into 27 points. Meanwhile, the Highlanders could only manage 15 points off of Cal Poly’s 13 giveaways on the night.
After jumping out to a 16-7 first quarter lead, the Highlanders’ largest of the day, Cal Poly responded with a 14-0 second quarter run. The score was 40-30 in favor of the Mustangs with 3:23 left to play in the first half, as UCR responded with a 12-1 run, taking a slight 42-41 lead after senior forward Skyler Lewis hit a jumper early on in the third.
Cal Poly jumped out to a solid start to the second half, outscoring Riverside 26-16 in the third quarter. This allowed the visiting team to take a 67-54 lead into the fourth quarter, and the lead never fell below 14 points going forward, reaching as high as 22 in the fourth.
Redshirt sophomore guard Jannon Otto scored a career-high 22 points for UCR, becoming the third Highlander this year to have a 20-point game. Otto also rounded up the stat sheet with six rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Senior guard Michelle Curry put up 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting, along with three assists and two steals after returning from a two-game absence. Curry now has 300 assists for her career, moving her past former player and current assistant head coach Seyram Bell (299) for No. 8 on the UC Riverside all-time charts.
Senior Lauren Holt had 10 points on the night, marking the 16th consecutive game that she scored at least 10 points. Redshirt sophomore forward Skyler Lewis barely missed out on another double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing a season-high of 12 rebounds. Lewis and fellow wing Marina Ewodo (sophomore) both had a game-high of three blocks.
UC Riverside will return home to face UC Santa Barbara for the first time this season on Thursday, February 8 in this year’s Play4Kay game. Tip-off starts at 7 p.m.
