Jan. 2, 2005

Box Score

(Irvine, CA) - The Anteaters erased a 13-point halftime deficit to win for the first time this season, defeating San Diego 86-81 at the Bren Center in Irvine. Freshman center Amber Sprague poured in 33 points and junior guard Tiara Harris connected on three 3-pointers for San Diego (5-8). Five different Anteaters reached double figures in scoring to give UC Irvine (1-9) a victory heading into its Big West Conference opener at Cal State Northridge on Thursday. San Diego has lost three straight.

Consecutive 3-point baskets by Harris in the closing seconds of the first half gave USD a 45-32 lead at the break. As a team San Diego was 9-of-17 (52%) from three-point range in the first half. Freshman forward Alice Russell came off the bench to score nine points in the opening period, making good on all three of her attempts from beyond the arc.

Angie Ned scored 15 second-half points and Ashley Biggins added 13, allowing UCI to outlast a Torero team that went ice cold (0-for-9) from 3-point range over the final 16 minutes. A Biggins lay up with 13:03 remaining cut the Torero advantage to one at 51-52, prompting a 30-second timeout from Toreros head coach Kathy Marpe. The Anteaters took the lead, 53-52, on its next possession and never looked back.

Sprague scored 24 of her 33 points in the second half, going 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. She also led USD in rebounding with eight. As a team San Diego shot 85% from the line (17-of-20) and totaled just 11 turnovers. Harris scored 13 points and had five rebounds.

San Diego opens up West Coast Conference play Thursday, January 6th, with a 7pm date with Pepperdine at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion.