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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023
MON DAY, F E BRUA RY 13, 2 023
UCSB men’s basketball takes down Aggies By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS
The UCSB men’s basketball team (19-4, 10-2 Big West) are back in action as they returned to The Thunderdome to take on the Aggies of UC Davis. After this physical game with the community behind them, the Gauchos were able to come out with a win, taking down the visiting Aggies 84-74. This is the second-most points the Gauchos scored in a game this season. “Anytime you get 18 assists, you’re really sharing the ball,” UCSB Coach Joe Pasternack said. “We shot 61 percent; basketball is a game of percentages, and the team with the best percentages wins. I thought our second half defense was great as we held them to just 40 percent. These factors are ultimately why we won the game.”
HOW IT HAPPENED In the first five minutes of this contest, the Aggies hustled and kept up with the Gauchos. The two lead changes that happened in this game took place during that time, with neither team getting more than two points ahead of the other. However, UCSB wasn’t having any of that. They ended up taking the lead about six minutes into the first half and ran with it, resulting in a 38-32 score at the half. Once both teams returned to the court, the Gauchos continued to grow their lead. By the time the game ended, UCSB was up by 10, resulting in the 8474 final score in favor of the home team.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS • Ajay Mitchell did it yet again
as he finished as the team’s leading scorer. He ended the night with 24 points, the third time he has hit that number this season, while adding on two assists and a block. He also went five-for-five from the free throw line. • Josh Pierre-Louis had a phenomenal night for the Blue and Gold, contributing 18 points while making seven of his 11 attempted shots. Along with that, he added on seven rebounds, four of which were offensive, while leading the team in assists with eight. To top it all off, he secured two steals. • Miles Norris had another great performance for the Gauchos as he tallied 16 points in tonight’s Big West thriller. Not only did he do well on offense, but he helped on defense as he led the team in rebounds with eight while
blocking two shots. • Calvin Wishart was the fourth Gaucho to finish in double-digit points. He was the first to hit double digits until he was fouled out early in the second half, keeping him on the bench after recording his 11 points and three assists.
UP NEXT The Gauchos will be in The Thunderdome again on Wednesday as they face UC Irvine for the final time in the regular season with a Blue Out. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. with a live stream through ESPN+.
UCSB men’s tennis remains undefeated with win over LMU By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS
In a close dual against Loyola Marymount, the UC Santa Barbara men’s tennis team continued their winning streak, defeating the Lions, 4-3 Saturday afternoon. The Gauchos are now 8-0 to start the 2023 campaign. The Lions got off to a strong start by sweeping the doubles point, but UCSB came back with four fierce singles victories to remain unbeaten. Reigning Big West Player of the Week Phillip Jordan won on court one in straight sets, as did
Conrad Brown on court six. Gianluca Brunkow and Luka Mrsic each gritted out threeset wins on court three and five, respectively, to turn the score to the Gauchos’ favor. It was Brunkow who secured the decisive fourth point. The Gauchos will compete at home again in just six days, hosting the Boise State Broncos at the Arnhold Tennis Center on Friday. Matches are set to begin at 1 p.m. Eric Boose writes about sports for UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com
Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com
UCSB women’s basketball earn first win in Davis since 2015
HOW IT HAPPENED Alexis Tucker scored the first basket of the game, but it was Taylor Mole who really kickstarted the Gaucho offense a few minutes later, hitting a corner three to end an 8-0 Aggie run
put up her career-high 14 points and foul out of the game. She is the only player to lead UCSB in scoring and foul out of the game this season. • For the second straight game, Alexis Whitfield led all bench players in scoring, racking up 12 points, all in the first half. • Ila Lane knocked down a season-best eight of nine free throws Saturday night, the most makes (and attempts) from the charity stripe in the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
Eric Boose writes about sports for UCSB.
• Remarkably, Callie Cooper managed to
UCSB softball goes 1-1 to start season By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS
Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com
UP NEXT The road trip continues on Wednesday as UCSB will look to carry momentum from Saturday into yet another tough place to play — UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center. The Gauchos and Anteaters will tip off at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The game will be live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available through ucsbgauchos.com.
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email: sports@newspress.com
Westmont women’s swimming shines shines to close out Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference By JACOB NORLING WESTMONT SPORTS WRITER
By the time Westmont Women’s Swimming wrapped up competition in the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championships, the Warriors had cemented their name above the rest of their NAIA counterparts. The Warriors finished eighth overall with 486 points, coming in ahead of several of their most-frequent rivals. “Scoring the most points out of any NAIA team is huge,” began Westmont head coach Jill Jones Lin. “Beating Fresno Pacific again, too, was a big deal. This time we were able to knockdown Alaska-Fairbanks, who we’ve been going head-to-head with all season long. “To come out here and put it all together for conference was so exciting.”
PRELIMINARIES Morgan Bienias made the day’s first headline when she competed in Saturday’s inaugural event, the 200 yard backstroke. After coming in with a previous season-best time of 2:18.04, the senior cut nearly nine seconds off to finish in 2:09.11. Bienias’ time was the 11th-best mark, which earned her a spot in the finals on Saturday night. Trimming a near-10 seconds off was especially impressive for Bienias, who has only been on a regular swim routine for a little over a month. The former NAIA All-American spent the fall semester on an abroad trip to Uganda, before returning to the Warriors and to the pool after the New Year. Please see SWIMMING on A3
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The UCSB Softball team (1-1) opened up the 2023 season today as they took on the University of Nevada Wolf Pack and the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. The Gauchos had a strong showing in this first day of games as they secured a win over the Fighting Hawks and lost to the Wolf Pack. UCSB came out for their first game under head coach Jo Evans ready to play as they kept Nevada at bay through the first two innings. The Wolf Pack was the first team to put themselves on the board with a run in the third, but it didn’t stop the Gauchos. UC Santa Barbara went and scored five runs in the fifth inning with the help of Korie Thomas’s triple, giving themselves the chance to win this game. However, the Wolf Pack had big fifth and sixth innings of their own to take the lead as the Gauchos lost the first game 8-5. “I am happy with the way our team competed today,” Coach Evans said. “We battled against Nevada and Cam Snyder through some very solid innings for us. She kept us in the game and gave us a shot to win. Our offense made good adjustments at the plate and stayed aggressive.” In this first game of the day, Thomas had a huge swing to right center to get her three RBI’s while Sam Denehy stole a base to help her come across home plate. Camryn Snyder pitched the first five innings for the Gauchos as she struck out five batters along the way. The Gauchos were back on the field shortly after their game against Nevada, but this time, they took on North Dakota. UC Santa Barbara took control of the game from the very first inning. Of the 11 runs the team
scored in this game, nine of them came in the first three innings. With this commanding performance along with two more runs scored in the fifth, the Gauchos took the second game of the day 11-3 as this also gave Coach Evans her first win as a Gaucho. “I am pleased with the way we responded in Game Two,” Coach Evans said. “We had an hour rain delay and our team came out focused and attacking on offense. Ava Bradford was on top of her game on the mound and our hitters did a great job scoring in four out the five innings. Bella Fuentes had a great game in her first start as a freshman, offensively and defensively, and it was a great team win. I saw a lot of positives out there today and we will continue to grow as a ball club.” Madelyn McNally made her presence known on the diamond, registering four of the team’s 11 runs. Along with that, she registered three hits while adding on two RBI’s. The shortstop also assisted on four putouts. Along with her, Chloe Stewart earned multiple runs, grabbing two of her own, while getting an RBI. Bella Fuentes also had her first career start and the freshman excelled. She registered a run of her own while bringing in three of her teammates. The Gauchos will be back on the field in San Luis Obispo tomorrow morning as they take on the Wolf Pack and Fighting Hawks again. The first pitch of the day will be at 9 a.m.
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UCSB women’s basketball (16-7, 9-4 Big West) exorcized their Davis demons Saturday afternoon, romping to their first win over UC Davis (11-12, 7-6 Big West) at the University Credit Union Center since 2015, 77-64. Callie Cooper scored a career-high 14 points and Alexis Tucker recorded a double-double in the win, with Ila Lane adding 14 of her own and Alexis Whitfield scoring 12. Saturday’s win was the 100th at UCSB for both Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson and Assistant Coach Nate Fripp. With the victory, Henrickson becomes only the third head coach in program history to lead the Gauchos triple-digit wins in their career, joining Bobbi Bonace and Mark French.
and spark a 9-0 run for UCSB in return, giving them a lead they would never relinquish. The Gauchos were up three after the first quarter and opened the game up in the second, outscoring the Aggies by double digits in the second frame. Alexis Whitfield put up 10 of her team’s 22 second-quarter points herself and finished the half with 12 points. Seconds before halftime, Alyssa Marin stretched the Gaucho advantage to 13 with a three-pointer that just barely beat the shot clock buzzer. UCSB essentially put the game out of reach in the third quarter, scoring 30 points in the period, including a 20-4 scoring run. The Gauchos led by as many as 31, and despite Davis scoring 20 of their own, UCSB led by 23 at the beginning of the fourth. The Gauchos could have won without scoring a single point in the final frame but added 10 more points, mostly from the free-throw line, to reach their highest score in conference play this season
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