ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team fell to 17th-ranked and unbeaten Alaska Anchorage 100-58 on Saturday afternoon in the final game of a back-to-back inside Alaska Airlines Center.
The Bobcats dropped to 3-3 on the season.
Nicole Lukito led the Bobcats with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and four assists. Saturday marked her third double-double of the season and 38th of her career. It was also her third 20+ point game of the year. The junior shot 56% (9-16) from the floor and 80% (4-5) from the foul line, in addition to hitting her first three-pointer of the campaign.
With Lukito's efforts, she passed Shelby Howard for third in program history with 204 career made free throws and passed Rainah Smith for tenth in program history with 136 career assists.
Sarina Nagra broke through on UC Merced's top ten scoring list as she scored 12 to reach 675 career points, passing Deyliana Lewis for tenth. She connected on a pair of three-pointers to go along with three rebounds and two assists.
Kylie Salzler hit both of her three-point attempts and made four shots overall to score ten points.
Quinn Godfrey had six rebounds, three blocks, and a steal. She moved ahead of Jecenia Trinidad for tenth in program history with 22 career blocks.
Other notables include four rebounds from Paloma Ramirez, three assists from Jazzy Beltran, and a block from Mariah Flores.
Alaska Anchorage scored the games first six points and led by double digits midway through the first quarter at 12-2. Nagra and Salzler splashed back-to-back threes and then Lukito scored for an 8-0 Bobcat burst that made it a one-possession game with 2:42 left in the first quarter. The teams traded buckets the rest of the frame as the Seawolves led 20-16 at the first break.
The Bobcats allowed an 11-1 Seawolves run over the first three minutes of the second quarter and fell behind 31-17. UC Merced managed to chip away at the deficit, pulling within seven points with a Nagra layup towards the end of the half. However, UAA led 41-31 at intermission.
Alaska Anchorage gained all momentum in the third quarter as they outscored the Bobcats 26-11 and led by 17+ points for the final five minutes. The Seawolves grabbed their first 20-point lead at 55-33 just over five minutes into the frame. Their lead was 25 points at the end of the quarter, 67-42.
UAA then scored a game-high 33 fourth quarter points and led by at least 30 points for the final eight minutes of the game on the way to victory.
UAA finished the game shooting 45% from the floor and 46% (13-28) from downtown.
UC Merced shot a season-low 30% from the floor.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will play at UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday, December 2. Tipoff from KP Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif., is scheduled for 5:30pm.
