The Cal Poly women’s basketball team defended UC Irvine 61-51 on Thursday night in Mott Gym for their fifth-straight victory.
The Mustangs (14-7, 6-3 Big West Conference) led 20-18 at intermission in a game in which both teams struggled with their shooting out of the gate. Cal Poly led just 9-8 with 5:42 remaining in the first half in a back and forth half that yielded seven ties.
Leading by one early in the second half, the Mustangs went on an 11-0 run to lead 34-22 with 15:06 remaining in the game. The Mustangs never trailed in the second half.
Cal Poly took its largest lead of the game, 43-29 with 9:52 remaining.
UC Irvine (5-17, 2-7) got within seven points on multiple occasions with under three minutes remaining but never got closer as Cal Poly held on to win.
Sophomore forward Kristina Santiago came off the bench to lead the Mustangs, scoring a game-high19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and added a game-high eight rebounds.
Starting in Santiago’s stead, senior forward Becky Tratter scored 15 points and added three rebounds.
The Anteaters were led by sophomore center Kim Barnes hitting on 7-of-9 from the field. She added four rebounds and two assists.
Cal Poly cleaned up the glass outrebounding UC Irvine 40-29.
The Mustangs shot 44.9 percent from the floor for the game while holding UC Irvine to just 36.2 percent.
For a full recap of the game, go online to mustangdaily.net.