CARSON, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team caught fire offensively to win its first ever CCAA game, dominating Cal State Dominguez Hills 91-61 on Thursday night inside the Torodome.
The Bobcats (4-10, 1-6) tallied multiple season-highs offensively with 91 points and 13 three-pointers. The Bobcats 13 three-pointers are the most in a road game since November 16, 2021. Head coach Kellie Bernard's team put together a season-best shooting slash of .517/.565/.818. Five Bobcats scored in double-figures.
Defensively, UC Merced blocked a season-high seven shots against the 2025 NCAA Division II runner-up and defending CCAA Champion Toros.
Sarina Nagra led the Bobcats with a CCAA high 22 points highlighted by shooting 67% (4-6) from beyond the arc. With her scoring output, Nagra passed Rainah Smith for eighth in program history with 779 career points. Nagra also had four assists and three rebounds in the Bobcats big win.
Nicole Lukito scored 16 points on a career-best .857 field goal percentage and passed Haylee Owen for fifth on the program's all-time scoring list with 916 career points. She also cashed in both of her three-point attempts and foul shots. The junior added eight rebounds, three assists, a season-high tying three steals, and two blocks to her scoring efforts.
Paloma Ramirez put together another solid scoring night with 15 points on 50% shooting both from the field and beyond the arc. Ramirez, who passed Brittany Martinez for ninth all-time with 89 career games played, finished with five rebounds and a season-high three steals to go along with her 15 points.
Mariah Flores and Ixchel Rojo Valdez pitched in 12 and ten points, respectively, while both shooting 50% from the field.
Rojo Valdez's ten points marked a season-high. She also hauled in a career-high eight rebounds, dished out a career-high tying four assists, and blocked a career-high two shots in her first career start.
Elise LeBeau was good for seven points and a season-high tying four assists. Other notables include a blocked shot from Quinn Godfrey and the first career basket for Simdi Chukwu. Godfrey's block put her eighth in program history with 28 career blocks, passing Danielle Ward.
The Bobcats led for all but two minutes on Thursday night and by as many as 35 late in the game in their historical win.
The game started out with the teams going back and forth with UC Merced's first lead coming at 9-6 on a Ramirez three-pointer. The Bobcats extended their lead to seven points with two minutes left in the first quarter, but the lead shrunk to one possession at 20-17 at the end of the period.
CSUDH jumped ahead 21-20 to start the second, marking the Toros last lead of the game. Nagra answered with a triple and the Bobcats used a 10-2 burst to go up by eight points at 31-23. UC Merced built its lead to double digits at 43-33 in the final 30 seconds of the first half. The Bobcats lead was 44-35 at intermission.
UC Merced opened the second half with a 13-4 run over the first five minutes highlighted by back-to-back-back three-pointers from Lukito and Nagra that put their team up by 18 points, 57-39. CSUDH hung around, cutting the Bobcats lead down to 12 points, but Nagra was key in pushing the Bobcats lead up 65-49 going into the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats ran away in the fourth quarter with a 20-3 run stretched over the first six minutes. Ramirez and Rojo Valdez each buried a pair of three-pointers in the game-sealing explosion, putting the Bobcats up by 33 points with 4:23 remaining. Shortly after, LeBeau hit a pair of free throws to give the Bobcats their biggest lead of the game of 35 points, 89-54. UC Merced outscored CSUDH every quarter, including 26-12 in the final frame to win it 91-61.
While the Bobcats posted season-best's shooting percentages across the board, the defense was also stellar as the Bobcats forced 19 turnovers and limited the Toros to just 33% from the field and 14.8% from deep.
The Bobcats 30-point margin of victory was their biggest since February 6, 2025.
Up next, UC Merced will play at Cal State LA on Saturday, January 10. Tipoff from University Gym in Los Angeles is scheduled for 1:00pm.
