MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team turned in their best all-around effort of the season and earned an 89-66 win over Lincoln University on Monday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (4-3) registered season-high's of 89 points, 34 field goals, 23 assists, 16 free throws, an .842 free throw percentage, a +25 rebounding advantage, and 19 forced turnovers. The majority of those numbers were also the second most in the Kellie Bernard era.
UC Merced broke the game open with a 23-0 run to start the second half.
Nicole Lukito led five Bobcats in double figures with 17 points, 18 rebounds, and a career-high seven assists. The sophomore has four straight double-double's and has grabbed at least 15 boards in each outing. She had nine offensive rebounds for the second straight contest. With her showing, Lukito passed Kayla Polman for seventh in program history with 442 career rebounds. Also of note, she went 5-5 at the free throw line.
Sarina Nagra and Jazzy Beltran contributed 13 points each. Beltran, who also had four assists and two steals, reached a season-high in scoring.
Mariah Flores added eleven points on 5-7 shooting to go along with five rebounds, while Leilani Blecha hit two triples and finished with ten points. Quinn Godfrey tallied career-high's of eight points and six rebounds in just nine minutes of action.
Other notables include seven rebounds and three assists from Paloma Ramirez, five rebounds from Madison Diaz, and two steals from Gabby Martini.
The Bobcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a field goal from three different players. Defensively, UC Merced held Lincoln without a made shot for nearly the first four and a half minutes but then the Oaklanders put together seven unanswered points to take their first lead of the game. Blecha followed with a triple, and then four more lead changes would follow resulting in a 16-14 UC Merced advantage after ten minutes.
There were three ties in the first three minutes of the second quarter. A little later, Beltran scored four points in a 30-second stretch and the Bobcats maintained a lead of 1-6 points for the next five minutes. Lincoln finished the half strong, pulling even at 34-34, but a Beltran layup on the final possession allowed the Bobcats to carry a 36-34 lead into the locker room.
The Bobcats opened the second half with a point to prove, surging forward with a 23-0 run in the first seven and a half minutes. Nagra scored the first six points in the run and then Ramirez hit an elbow jumper to give the Bobcats their first double digit lead of the night, 44-34. Less than three minutes later, the Bobcats led by 21 points with freshmen Flores and Godfrey leading the way. Diaz capped off the run with a layup off a no-look pass from Beltran as the Bobcats led 57-34 after the 23-0 run with 2:38 left in the third quarter. The two teams traded scores over the final two and a half minutes and the Bobcats led 66-41 going into the fourth.
UC Merced's biggest lead of the night came on its first possession of the fourth quarter as Blecha scored from the block to put her team up 68-41. The Bobcats then led 76-51 inside of four minutes before Lincoln shaved ten points off the deficit to get the margin to 81-65 with 90 seconds to play. Bernard's squad kept their foot on the gas and finished the game on an 8-1 run to solidify the 89-66 victory.
The Bobcats finished the night shooting 46% from the field, 26% from three-point range, and 84% from the free throw line. UC Merced held Lincoln to 34% shooting and outrebounded the Oaklanders 48-23.
Monday marked the first time UC Merced and Lincoln have met since November 19, 2021.
With the win, UC Merced extended its home winning streak to nine straight games dating back to last season.
Up next, UC Merced will play at Dominican University on Saturday, November 30. Tipoff from the Conlan Center in San Rafael, Calif., is scheduled for 1:00pm.
