MERCED, Calif. - Mia Belvin poured in 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds but the University of California, Merced women's basketball team fell 71-63 to Benedictine University Mesa Thursday night in game one of a three-game homestand.
The Bobcats (11-11, 5-4) never led in the game and trailed for the final 34 minutes after the California Pacific Conference's leading scorer, McKenzie Alton, buried a triple to break a 7-7 tie.
Alton finished with 20 points in 20 minutes.
Despite the loss, Belvin posted the third highest scoring total of her career and was able to do so on a 61% (11-18) shooting night. Belvin also added a new achievement to her impressive resume as she posted back-to-back 25+ point games for the first time ever. The senior's nine rebounds, seven on the offensive end, ties her season-high (2 short of career-high). Belvin also had two assists and two steals in 38 minutes of action.
Haylee Owen was good for eleven points, four rebounds and a steal. One of the most efficient free throw shooters in program history, Owen was 87% (7-8) from the stripe and has only missed one free throw in the last four games.
Rainah Smith pitched in seven points and six rebounds, while Deyliana Lewis managed to make a couple field goals and grab ten boards. Lewis' rebounding total is her highest mark since grabbing a career-high 13 back on December 9, 2019.
Nia Smiley and Marisse Jackson finished with five and four rebounds, respectively.
The Bobcats outrebounded BenU Mesa 47-37 overall, 16-11 on the offensive glass. Head coach Sarah Hopkins-Chery's team lost in every other statistical category.
BenU Mesa scored four straight to begin the night before Belvin and Owen got going offensively and the Bobcats tied the game up at 7-7 midway through the quarter.
The game was tight for the next few minutes and the Bobcats trailed 14-13 at the two minute mark. Alton extended the Redhawks lead shortly after and it was the start of a Benu Mesa 8-0 run that had the visitors on top 22-13 after one quarter of play.
The 8-0 run extended to a 16-0 run in the second quarter as the Redhawks Grace Russell made three straight shots, including two from beyond the arc. The run spanned over four and a half minutes of clock time and it allowed the Redhawks to claim the largest lead of the night at 17 points, 30-13.
Belvin stopped the bleeding with a three-point play and Andrea Rogers had a steal and score that inched the Bobcats closer to a single figure deficit.
Belvin closed the gap to nine points at 30-21 with 5:44 left in the first half. The deficit remained between 9 and 12 points the remainder of the frame and the Bobcats trailed 37-25 at intermission. It was the Bobcats largest halftime deficit of the season and largest since December 4, 2018 against William Jessup University.
The Bobcats failed to shave any points off the deficit for the first seven minutes of the third quarter and with 5:20 on the clock found themselves trailing 47-31.
UC Merced cut it down to 47-37 a few minutes later and a Belvin bucket capped off a 10-0 run to bring the Bobcats within two possessions, 47-41. However, BenU Mesa scored ten points in the final 106 seconds of the third quarter and carried a 57-45 advantage into the final frame.
The double figure margin held for the first six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter and BenU Mesa led by as many as 15 midway through.
Late in the period, the Bobcats consistently got to the charity stripe and a pair of Owen free throws with 1:41 left made it a seven point game at 66-59.
Both teams came up empty on their next possession and with under a minute left, the Bobcats were forced to foul. BenU Mesa split the free throw attempts and at the other end, Owen found Lewis down low to cut the deficit to 67-61 with 44 seconds to play.
That was as close as the Bobcats would get however, despite BenU Mesa missing four of their next eight free throws.
UC Merced finished shooting 38% (23-60) from the floor, 7% (1-14) from downtown and 69% (16-23) from the charity stripe.
BenU Mesa scored 23 points off 23 UC Merced turnovers.
Up next, the Bobcats host 20th-ranked Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) on Saturday, February 8 at 5:30pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium. Embry-Riddle is the defending co-regular season California Pacific Conference champion.
