MERCED, Calif. - Rainah Smith scored a career-high 21 points and the University of California, Merced women's basketball team scored 23 points off turnovers but it wasn't enough as the Bobcats fell to 15th-ranked University of Antelope Valley, 70-64 Saturday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
Halfway through the conference slate, the Bobcats (10-10, 4-3) hold a postseason spot and are a game up on Benedictine University Mesa.
Smith's scoring outburst came while shooting 80% (8-10) from the floor. Last year's Cal Pac Freshman of the Year scored ten of her 21 points in the fourth quarter to help cut a 15-point deficit down to six with 35 seconds to play. Smith also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, four offensive, and held team-high with three assists.
Mia Belvin finished with 12 points and two steals to remain the only player in the California Pacific Conference to score double figures in every game this season. Belvin added four rebounds and two steals against the two-time defending Cal Pac Tournament champion.
Haylee Owen, Deyliana Lewis and Nia Smiley were good for seven points each. Smiley was arguably the Bobcats top defender Saturday night and recorded a career-high three steals. The sixth different Bobcat to record at least three steals in a game this year, Smiley was huge in holding UAV 13 points below its season average. The Bobcats held UAV to 70 points which is the Pioneers lowest Cal Pac single-game total since February 16, 2019.
The Bobcats held UAV scoreless on three of its first four trips down the floor and a strong offensive start for Lewis allowed the home team to gain what would be its biggest lead of the game at 6-2.
A 5-0 UAV run quickly followed and the lead changed five more times before the first quarter came to a close. UAV accounted for the final lead change, scoring in the paint with the shot clock off and led 20-18 at the buzzer.
UAV's 20-point first quarter was the highest total for either team all night.
The Bobcats were held scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of the second quarter but only trailed by two possessions, 34-28 when Tiffany Nguyen earned a trip to the charity stripe. Ngyuen cashed in on the second free throw to stop the drought. Madelynn Reed then made a pair of shots at the foul line and both Belvin and Smiley scored a bucket to give the Bobcats a 25-24 lead.
It was 28-28 with three minutes left in the half and 33-33 with 60 seconds remaining. However, the Bobcats failed to score or get stops in the final minute and trailed 37-33 at intermission.
The 37-33 score marked the Bobcats first halftime deficit since January 11.
The Bobcats deficit doubled 90 seconds into the third quarter and head coach Sarah Hopkins-Chery's team was down 49-35 a few minutes later. The Bobcats were down by as many as 20 points, 55-35, after an 18-3 UAV run that took up seven minutes of the third quarter.
A Haylee Owen triple with 2:35 on the clock stopped the bleeding and sparked an 11-0 UC Merced run leading up to the third quarter buzzer. Lewis also hit a triple during the stretch, her second in the last three games and it came off an assist from Smith. The 11-0 run made it a 55-46 game.
The two teams traded buckets to start the fourth quarter but UAV scored on three straight possessions midway through the frame to garner a 69-54 lead with three and a half minutes to play.
The Bobcats were quick to erase the double figure deficit and got within eight points shortly after the two minute mark, 69-61.
After the Pioneers came up empty on their next possession, Smith made it a two-possession game with a tough bucket inside.
With 30 seconds left and trailing 69-63, the Bobcats sent UAV to the charity stripe the rest of the game. UAV made just one of four free throws, but it was more than enough as the Bobcats combined for just one point on their final two possessions and time expired with UAV on top 70-64.
Overall, the Bobcats shot 34% (21-61) from the floor, 21% (3-14) from beyond the arc and 63% (19-30) from the charity stripe.
UC Merced and UAV had 20 turnovers each and turned them into 23 and 20 points, respectively.
Other notables include 16 UC Merced offensive rebounds.
The Bobcats are now 1-1 this year against NAIA DII Top 25 teams. The Bobcats erased a ten point deficit and beat 21st-ranked Oregon Tech back on November 15.
Up next, the Bobcats pay their return visit to Pacific Union College on Saturday, February 1. Tip-off from "The Covered Wagon" in Angwin, Calif., is scheduled for 6:30pm.
