SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The home team dominated in the paint and forced 28 turnovers as UC Santa Cruz cruised to a 72-43 victory over Linfield Friday afternoon at Kaiser Permanente Arena.
Ranked No. 19 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 and No. 21 in this week's Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) poll, the Banana Slugs scored 44 points in the paint to the Wildcats' 16 while also scoring 24 points off turnovers. The Slugs didn't trail once in the contest.
The Slugs were led offensively by Tess Oakley-Stilson, who dropped a 20-piece on 8 of 9 shooting from the field, including 2 of 3 from three-point range. Aubrey Wagner shot 70 percent on her way to scoring 14 points to go with two rebounds, five assists and four steals. Kaylee Murphy's double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds was complemented by four assists, a block and two steals.
Sophomore
Gillyan Landis picked up her second double-double of the season in the Linfield loss. She scored 11 points and matched Murphy's game-high 11 rebounds. Landis went 5 for 7 from the field, dished out three assists and came up with a steal.
The Wildcats made 28 percent of their shots in the game but saw a solid effort come to fruition in the third quarter. They connected on 50 percent in the period on the way to scoring 16 points.
Eve Burke and
Anna Dazey scored six points apiece to back up Landis. Burke's seven rebounds and three steals were both season highs.
NEXT
The 'Cats (4-5, 1-1 NWC) will take on Cal Lutheran at 2 p.m. Saturday in their second and final game of the California road trip. They will finish the calendar year at Northwest (Wash.) on Dec. 28.