Cal Poly women’s basketball took on UC Irvine, the No. 2 seed in the Big West, ultimately falling in the game’s final seconds, 59-57 on Saturday.
In the team’s first matchup earlier this month, the Mustangs (8-10, 3-5 Big West) suffered a loss by more than 20 points. However, today’s game against the Anteaters (12-5, 6-1 Big West) told a different story.
Cal Poly jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, putting early pressure on the Anteaters to answer.
“Attack it,” head coach Shanele Stires urged on the sidelines as the Mustangs tried to take advantage of the early momentum.
UC Irvine had trouble guarding sophomore center Mary Carter throughout the game. They struggled to anticipate screens and rotations, allowing the Mustangs to dominate the paint.
“Establishing paint presence is really important because it allows us to have some diversity in our offense,” Carter said. “It makes it harder for the defense to guard both inside and out.”
The 6-foot-3-inch center finished with 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting, but her performance wouldn’t be enough to secure the win.
Turnover trouble
Both teams applied strong defensive pressure in the second quarter, the Mustangs scoring just eight points and allowing seven in return.
Cal Poly struggled to find their rhythm offensively, with turnovers again proving to be a significant setback, as they would end the game with 18 turnovers to the Anteaters’ 13.
At halftime, 14 of UC Irvine’s 23 points came off of Cal Poly turnovers. The Mustangs’ struggles with ball security continued to plague them, allowing Irvine to capitalize and convert mistakes into crucial points.
However, the Mustangs were still leading 25-23.
With the score remaining tight throughout the whole first half, the Mustangs needed a well-devised game plan heading into the locker room, as they had to execute efficiently in order to build a more substantial lead.
“We really just had to clean a lot of things up,” senior guard Annika Shah said. “Points off turnovers and their second-chance opportunities are things that stood out and are in our control, so we talked about cleaning that up going into halftime.”
Key Mustang performances
Shah fired up back-to-back three-pointers and pulled the Mustangs further ahead. She ended the night with a career-high seven rebounds and 18 points, leading the Mustangs in scoring.
Rebounding played a pivotal role throughout the game, fueling the fast breaks that kept the Mustangs ahead into the second half.
Redshirt sophomore Sierra Lichtie also ended the game recording a career-high 15 rebounds.
“When we heard that she got 15 rebounds, we were just in shock,” Shah said. “She does a lot of dirty work for us, and she works hard every single day to make those plays for us.”
Final seconds of play
At 38-37, just one point separated the teams going into the fourth quarter.
With just seconds remaining and the Anteaters down by one point, UC Irvine’s Hunter Hernandez aggressively attacked the basket, making a shot and drawing a foul, earning an and-1 opportunity with one second remaining on the clock.
She made the free throw, and while the Mustangs had one last possession, they could not convert, falling short by two points.
Hernandez led the Anteaters with 18 points, her final basket securing the win for UC Irvine.
Despite the loss, the team took the close game as motivation for their coming matchups.
“Every team we play in the Big West, our mindset is that they are very beatable, as you can see from today,” Shah said. “It doesn’t matter what the winning percentage is or what seed they are. Every team is beatable, so we just have to keep hunting and being on the attack.”
Cal Poly will look to build back their momentum as they take on Long Beach State on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Walter Pyramid.