HONOLULU, Hawaii – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team overcame a fourth quarter deficit and used a 19-6 run down the stretch to earn another gritty road win on Saturday afternoon, beating Chaminade 66-60 inside McCabe Gymnasium.
With the win, the Bobcats have started the season 3-1 for the first time since 2018-19.
Mariah Flores scored 13 of her season-high 18 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Bobcats to victory. UC Merced trailed by seven points with seven minutes left before going on the game-changing 19-6 run.
Flores hit a career-high four three-pointers as part of her 18-point game and she shot 57% (4-7) from downtown. Flores also grabbed five rebounds.
Sarina Nagra tallied 16 points and season-high's of six rebounds and six assists. She added two steals. The majority of her scoring output came at the foul line as she hit a career-high ten free throws, becoming just the third player in program history with at least ten made free throws in a road game. She joins Christina Castro and Nicole Lukito.
Freshman Kylie Salzler scored a career-high 13 points while shooting 60% (3-5) from three-point range.
Lukito finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and a block.
Quinn Godfrey was good for nine rebounds, a career-high three blocks, and four points. Paloma Ramirez grabbed seven rebounds and hit a triple for the fourth consecutive game.
The score was within a possession for the first five minutes of the game but Chaminade scored five straight points to go up 13-6. The Bobcats also trailed by seven points inside of a minute. Lukito hit a couple free throws and then Salzler connected on a three-pointer to cut the Bobcats deficit to just two points at 17-15 heading into the second quarter.
The teams traded buckets to start the second quarter before the Swords used a 7-0 burst to go up by double-digits 28-18 with midway through the frame. Chaminade's lead was between 8-13 points the rest of the half and it was a 39-28 game at intermission.
Lukito opened the second half with back-to-back buckets and scored UC Merced's first six points overall. Her third field goal got the Bobcats within seven points, 41-34 less then three minutes into the frame. Both teams were scoreless for nearly the next four minutes. Godfrey then cut the Bobcats deficit to five points but the Bobcats trailed 47-40 at the end of the third quarter.
The Swords scored first in the fourth quarter to go up nine points. Chaminade led 54-47 a few minutes later before the Bobcats 19-6 game-ending run.
UC Merced's run started with a Salzer jumper with 5:52 left and then a Flores triple followed by a fastbreak layup tied the game 54-54 with four minutes to go.
Four lead changes followed in the next two minutes with the Bobcats taking their final lead on a Salzler three-pointer with 2:16 left. UC Merced led 63-58 under a minute in part due to more scoring from Salzler. After the Swords made it a one-possession game with 50 seconds left, the teams traded stops and then Nagra cashed in at the free throw line to help seal the win with seven seconds left. She scored a basket at the final horn to finish the 66-60 victory.
UC Merced made a season-high 18 free throws. The Bobcats also forced a season-high 17 turnovers and shot a season-high 47% (8-17) from downtown.
The Bobcats held Chaminade to just 35% shooting from the field.
Up next, UC Merced will play 22nd-ranked Alaska Anchorage back-to-back beginning on Friday, November 28. Tipoff from Alaska Airlines Center is scheduled for 4:15pm PST.
