CHANDLER, Ariz. - The University of California, Merced women's basketball team erased an eleven point deficit in the fourth quarter but fell a point short Saturday night, dropping a 65-64 contest at the hand of Benedictine University Mesa.
BenU Mesa converted a free throw with a second remaining for the win.
The Bobcats (7-9, 1-2) have dropped consecutive conference games for the first time since the 2014-15 season, a span of 62 regular-season Cal Pac games which was the longest active streak in the conference.
Despite the setbacks in Arizona, the Bobcats held a lead in the final five minutes of both games.
Haylee Owen led three Bobcats in double figures Saturday night with 14 points. Six of her 14 came during the Bobcats fourth quarter run.
Mia Belvin was good for 12 points and a team-high three steals. Belvin shot 50% (2-4) from distance, marking her fourth game of the year shooting 50% or better with at least four three-point attempts. She had four such games all of last year.
Gabriella Edmond pitched in a career-high eleven points, eight in the fourth quarter including a triple that had the Bobcats up 62-60 with 90 seconds remaining.
Deyliana Lewis and Marisse Jackson each finished with seven points. Lewis also recorded a career-high six assists, while Jackson grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Andrea Rogers scored a career-high five points and hauled in a career-high eight rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
The Bobcats were held scoreless for the games first three minutes and 19 seconds before Lewis found a sprinting Jackson for a layup. By the time the Bobcats scored another field goal it was a double figure deficit and they would go onto be outscored 21-6 in the first quarter. Despite the biggest first quarter deficit of the season, the Bobcats outrebounded the Redhawks 12-10 and held them to just one field goal in the final two minutes.
UC Merced had the ball to start the second quarter and a strong effort on the offensive glass allowed the Bobcats to get a third shot in the possession and it resulted in a Cierra McClain triple.
Andrea Rogers scored her first career Cal Pac bucket two possessions later to bring the Bobcats within ten. The Bobcats stifled BenU Mesa in the first four minutes of the second quarter but the home team found their rhythm and scored five points in the next 50 seconds to go up 26-11.
Back-to-back triples from Nguyen and Edmond made it a 26-17 contest and the Bobcats got within seven before intermission, 30-23. The Bobcats held BenU Mesa scoreless and forced two turnovers in the final three minutes and 23 seconds of the half.
The Bobcats deficit was between seven and eleven points for the entire third quarter. Jackson, Belvin and Rainah Smith brought the Bobcats within seven multiple times but BenU Mesa would stave off any further damage with a strong possession the next trip down the floor. Belvin converted a pair of free throws towards the end of the quarter to make it a 47-40 game heading into the final frame.
An Owen foul line conversion to start the fourth made it a two-possession game for the first time since the 4:51 mark in the first quarter. However, BenU Mesa buried a triple three consecutive trips down the floor a couple minutes later and led 56-45 with just under seven minutes remaining. BenU Mesa also led by eleven at 58-47.
Midway through the quarter, Belvin took the ball away from the games leading scorer Leah Goodman that resulted in an Edmond three-point field goal on the other end. Edmond's triple sparked a 12-0 Bobcat run over the next two and a half minutes that gave the Bobcats their first lead of the night at 59-58. Lewis scored the final four Bobcat points during the run. The 59-58 lead held with under two minutes to go.
The Redhawks Goodman earned a trip to the foul line and was successful on both shots to reclaim the lead. Edmond quickly countered with a three to go up 62-60 with 90 seconds remaining.
Four straight BenU Mesa points followed Edmond's three but Hopkins-Chery was able to design a play during a timeout and Lewis drove baseline to even the score at 64 with 13 seconds left.
With the shot clock off, BenU Mesa got multiple chances at a go-ahead bucket. McKenzie Alton was unsuccessful from the right block but got her own rebound and dished it out to to Gabby Zagari at the top of the key. Zagari drove to the basket and was bumped on the way up earning a trip to the charity stripe. Zagari made the first, which ended up being the game-winning shot. She missed the second. Lewis grabbed the miss but the Bobcats couldn't get an open catch and shoot shot out of a timeout and fell 65-64.
The setback was the Bobcats second single point loss of the season.
The Bobcats outrebounded the Redhawks 45-29 and forced 17 turnovers in the loss. UC Merced managed to score 14 points off the 17 turnovers, but the Redhawks scored 22 points off 20 UC Merced turnovers.
The Bobcats shot 34% (21-61) from the floor, 43% (9-21) from three-point land and 72% (13-18) from the charity stripe.
The 43% effort from downtown is the best since January 5, 2019.
Up next, UC Merced completes its three-game road trip at Simpson University on Thursday, January 16. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30pm at the James M. Grant Center in Redding, Calif.
