KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season to start the Lithia – Oregon Tech Classic, falling 91-64 to Oregon Tech on Friday night.
Freshman Mariah Flores led the Bobcats (2-1) with a career-high 19 points off the bench shooting 67% (8-12) from the floor and 50% (3-6) from downtown.
Leilani Blecha added 17 points on 5-10 shooting from three-point land, while Sarina Nagra scored ten points and grabbed a career-high six rebounds. Blecha's five triples tied her career-high.
Nicole Lukito contributed a bit of everything with eight points, seven rebounds, and a career-high tying five blocks. Jazzy Beltran finished with six points, four assists, and two steals.
The Bobcats were within a possession early in the second quarter before the Cascade Collegiate Conference foe went on a 15-0 run and slowly created more separation as the night went on.
In the first quarter, the Bobcats led 5-2 after Paloma Ramirez opened the game with a bucket and then Nagra converted a three-point play shortly after. UC Merced also led 8-6 midway through the frame and then Blecha broke an 8-8 tie with her second three-pointer of the early going. The Bobcats biggest lead was 13-8 after a Beltran layup. OIT ended the frame on a 7-0 run to carry a two-point lead into the second quarter.
A Beltran free throw 73 seconds into the second quarter ended up being the Bobcats only point for the next five minutes as Oregon Tech went on their game-changing 17-0 run. In the run, OIT made 6-11 shots while holding the Bobcats scoreless on nine straight possessions. The Owls forced three UC Merced turnovers in the stretch.
Flores stopped the drought with a three-pointer, but the Bobcats couldn't pull any closer than 15 points the rest of the half and trailed 40-24 at intermission.
The Bobcats put together their best offensive quarter out of the break, but so did the Owls and head coach Kellie Bernard's team was unable to cut into the deficit. UC Merced scored 20 points in the period and shot 50% (4-8) from beyond the arc, but fell behind by as many as 25 points at 58-23 midway through the quarter.
Oregon Tech led by as many as 30 points in the final minute of the game before Beltran beat the buzzer with a three-pointer to finalize the scoring at 91-64.
Despite the loss, Lukito was a bright spot in the fourth quarter scoring all eight of her points in the frame on 3-4 shooting. She also grabbed five rebounds.
Rebounding plagued the Bobcats throughout the night as OIT outrebounded the visitors 70-29, 27-6 on the offensive glass.
UC Merced won the turnover battle, forcing 18 Oregon Tech turnovers.
Up next, UC Merced will play fourth-ranked Southern Oregon University on Saturday, November 16 at 1:00pm at Danny Miles Court in Klamath Falls, Ore.
