The UC Riverside women’s basketball team defeated UC San Diego, 63-48, Thursday night down in La Jolla. Going into this ball game, the Highlanders won their past four of five games and looked to carry their momentum against a struggling Triton team. Senior guard Jordan Webster continued to make her claim as the Big West Player of the Year as she had another stellar outing to carry UCR to another decisive victory.
Sophomore guard Makayla Jackson set the tone early for UC Riverside as she opened up the game with a 3-point play as she finished a layup through contact. It was a team effort in the beginning of the quarter as four of the five starters recorded a point in the quarter. Redshirt senior forward Matehya Bryant scored her first points of the game in the paint after a UCSD turnover. Minutes later, fifth-year guard RyAnne Walters knocked down a 3-pointer to give UCR an 8-4 lead. After a steal from Jackson, Webster finished in the fastbreak layup to score her first points of the ball game. UC San Diego kept the game close, however, as they were able to respond with points of their own to keep the game competitive. After a missed jumper from Webster, guard Gracie Gallegos knocked down a jump shot to bring the game within one, 12-11. After forcing a steal on Bryant, the Tritons sank in a 3-pointer to give them their first lead of the game, 12-14, with 2:50 left in the first quarter. Both offenses stalled to close the quarter as both defenses started to pick up their intensity to end the quarter.
Both teams continued to go back-and-forth to begin the second quarter. There were five lead changes within the first five minutes of the quarter as both teams exchanged buckets after buckets. Webster started to get into a flow as she knocked down two consecutive jump shots to give the Highlanders a 21-18 lead with 6:12 left in the quarter. After the Tritons responded with a 3-pointer to tie the game, UC Riverside went on a 13-4 run to give them a comfortable lead going into the half. Webster took over later in the quarter as she scored seven straight points for UCR as they took a 34-25 lead at the half.
The UC Riverside offense didn’t seem to skip a beat to start the second half as they scored six straight points to give themselves a 15-point lead. The duo of Webster and Bryant started to shred the Triton defense. Bryant had six points in the quarter and played a big factor in extending the Highlander lead while Webster continued her offensive onslaught by scoring and facilitating to her open teammates. Defensively, UCR ramped up their defensive intensity and limited UCSD to only nine points in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, UC Riverside was on top with a comfortable 48-34 lead.
Other players started to join in on the fun as the lead continued to grow. After a miss from the Tritons, senior guard Julia Stenberg knocked down a 3-pointer of her own to push the lead to 19. Junior forward Esther Matarranz joined in on the fun as she finished a layup to give the Highlanders a 20-point lead, 58-38, with 3:54 left in the game. After Webster missed a layup, she grabbed her own miss and passed it out to Stenberg, who knocked down another triple to give UCR their largest lead of the night, 63-41. As time winded down, UC Riverside got the easy win, 63-48.
Webster led the way for the Highlanders with 23 points, four rebounds and six steals. Jackson chipped in with 11 points, three rebounds and three steals. Bryant had a solid outing with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Highlanders have now won their past five of six games and improved their record to 15-11 (10-6) and will take on Hawaii on the road on Saturday, Mar. 2, at 9 p.m.
