UCR Earns Third-Place Honors At Great Alaska Shootout With 74-64 Win Over Nicholls

Wednesday, November 27

Anchorage, AK

3:30 pm

UC Riverside

3-3

Nicholls

3-3

Team	1	2	F
Nicholls	27	37	64
UC Riverside	35	39	74

Photo by: UAA Athletics

UCR Earns Third-Place Honors At Great Alaska Shootout With 74-64 Win Over Nicholls

11/27/2013 5:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Anchorage, Alaska - The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team earned third place honors in the Great Alaska Shootout Wednesday with a 74-64 victory over Nicholls State. The Highlanders (3-3) rallied back from a double overtime loss to Alaska Anchorage from Tuesday evening, using near 50 percent shooting to close out the Colonels (3-3) for the consolation game (Box Score).

Simone DeCoud scored 23 points for the Highlanders while Annelise Ito added 16. Natasha Hadley recorded a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds, while Brittany Crain completed the quartet of double-figure scorers with 10 points. Nicholl's Emani White scored a game-high 29 points to lead all players.

Both teams were cold out of the gate to start the game, going a combined 0-for-5 from the floor before Ito hit a jumper in the lane at 18:34 for the first score of the game. The Colonels hit a long ball on their next possession, but the Highlanders scored the next 10 straight to open up a 12-3 lead. DeCoud drained two three-pointers during that run while Hadley added two buckets.

With just under 11 minutes left in the half, UC Riverside led 25-13 with a field goal percentage of 64.7 percent, while its defense limited Nicholls to 25.0 percent from the floor. After a Colonels bucket, the Highlanders used another 10-0 run to increase its margin to 20, 35-15, with 6:26 to go in the period. DeCoud scored five of UCR's points during the rally, remaining perfect from the field, 6-6, including 4-of-4 from long range.

But Nicholls rallied back by scoring 12 straight points and holding UCR scoreless the remainder of the half, cutting the lead to 35-27 at the break. DeCoud led all players with 16 points at the half on 6-of-7 from the field, while Nicholl's White scored 12 points.

Following its cold streak to end the period, UC Riverside hit 44.1 percent from the floor while the Colonels increased its shooting to 30.3 percent.

Both teams were efficient to open the second half, as UCR went 7-of-7 with Nicholls hitting 5-of-8. The squads continued to be fairly even in the period, and with 7:54 left in the game, the Highlanders enjoyed a 61-50 advantage.

UC Riverside's lead never dipped below eight points until just over a minute to play, when Nicholls connected on a layup to make it a 70-64 score. Ito hit a pair from the free throw line with 35 seconds left to make it a three-possession game, and DeCoud added another pair to push the lead back to 10, 74-64, with 25 seconds to go.

Following a timeout, the Colonels failed to convert any additional points as UC Riverside sealed its third-place win. The Highlanders are now 2-2 all-time in the Great Alaska Shootout.

UCR ended up hitting 48.3 percent from the floor for the game, including a 5-of-12 mark from beyond the arc.

The Highlanders now return to Riverside for a pair of home games against CSU Bakersfield (Tuesday, Dec. 3) and Pepperdine (Friday, Dec. 6). Both contests are slated to begin at 7 pm PT at the SRC Arena.