MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced women's basketball team pitched their best defensive performance in program history and ran past Bethesda University, 90-26 on Monday afternoon inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (6-5) 26 points allowed are a program record, besting the previous record of 33 points in a win over Pacific Union College on January 7, 2016.

Head coach Sarah Hopkins-Chery's team held Bethesda to just 18% from the field and held the opponent to single digits in all four quarters. The Bobcats allowed just four points in each of the first two quarters.

The Bobcats also forced 23 turnovers and a steal was recorded on 15 of them. Cierra McClain and Andrea Rogers shared game-high and tied their career-high with four steals.

UC Merced's +64 scoring margin was their fourth biggest in program history. It was the fourth win this year by at least 50 points, sixth by at least 17 points.

Offensively, UC Merced has scored at least 80 points in all six wins this year.

Rainah Smith led all scorers on Monday with 13 points on an 86% (6-7) field goal percentage and neared her first double-double of the season with nine rebounds. Smith has shot at least 75% in back-to-back games and five times over the course of her career with a minimum of seven attempts. Smith also added three steals and tied her season-high with three assists in the big win.

Cierra McClain joined Smith in double figures with eleven points, while Mikayla Mabie and Madison Hotchkiss pitched in nine each. Hotchkiss, who buried three straight triples early in the fourth quarter, also dished out a season-high and team-high six assists. Mabie added five assists and was good for at least five in three of the four games during the season-long four-game homestand.

Andrea Rogers, Damilola Sule and Parker Fromm had eight points each off the bench. The mark is a career-high for both Sule and Fromm and they combined to shoot 100% (6-6) from the floor. Sule also had a career-high six rebounds. Rogers also hauled in six rebounds, her fifth game this year with at least five. 

Other individual notables include a career-high six rebounds and a block from Aislyn Dora, six points and a career-high five rebounds from Gabrielle Israel, and three assists from Nia Smiley.

The Bobcats wire-to-wire win started with a McClain triple and the Bobcats grabbed a double figure lead at 12-2. Bethesda responded with a basket, but then an Israel three-pointer off a Mabie feed put the Bobcats up for double figures the rest of the night.

UC Merced was quick to triple their advantage and started the second quarter on an 18-1 run to grab a 30-point lead. The Bobcats held Bethesda without a field goal for the first eight minutes of the second quarter and led 37-8 at intermission.

Bethesda scored first to begin the second half but it was followed by back-to-back Smith baskets and the Bobcats managed to lead by at least 30 the remainder of the contest. The Bobcats grabbed their first 40-point lead following a Haylee Owen triple with just under three minutes to play in the third quarter. Sule beat the third quarter buzzer to give the Bobcats a 59-17 lead heading into the final period.

Four straight triples to start the fourth, one from Israel and three from Hotchkiss, pushed the Bobcats lead north of 50 points at 71-18. Dora extended the Bobcats lead to 60 with 3:19 left and a Tiffany Nguyen triple a couple minutes later allowed the home team to grab their largest lead of the night, 90-22 in the game's final 70 seconds.

UC Merced finished the night shooting 52% (36-69) from the floor, 33% (11-33) from beyond the arc and 54% (7-13) from the charity stripe.

The Bobcats have shot at least 52% in back-to-back games for the first time in program history.

UC Merced's sixth win of the year gives the Bobcats at least six wins before December for the second time in program history. Hopkins-Chery's squad first accomplished that feat in the 2018-19 season.

Looking ahead, the Bobcats begin their road-filled month of December with an exhibition game against Santa Clara University on Wednesday, December 1 at 5:00pm.