UC Irvine Women Get Stuck in Neutral

What a difference a few days and a neutral court make.

Boise State opened up a 16-point second-half lead and withstood a late rally by UC Irvine to take a 54-51 victory over the Anteaters in the first round of the Big West Conference women’s basketball tournament Wednesday night at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Irvine’s Maree Vincent missed what would have been a tying layup with six seconds left, but that was the way the ball bounced for the Anteaters (16-14) all evening. They beat Boise State, 70-50, last Saturday at the Bren Center but had trouble making shots Wednesday night. It was the third time this season that Irvine lost on a neutral court.

Irvine made 20 of 58 field-goal tries (34.5%), negating its 34-28 rebounding advantage. The Anteaters also were unable to take full advantage of the 21 turnovers committed by Boise State.

The Broncos, who began the game by making six of their first 10 shots, finished 20 of 39 overall and 10 of 16 from the free-throw line.

“I thought Boise State came out strong and our nerves got to us,” Irvine Coach Mark Adams said. “They were very loose and we were having trouble running our offense and defense.”

Boise State (12-16) advanced to play top-seeded Santa Barbara in a semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Irvine made just three of its first 12 shots and trailed, 11-6, with 11 minutes 5 seconds left in the first half.

But in the next four minutes, the Anteaters went on a 9-2 run and took a 15-13 lead on Vincent’s three-point play.

But a 12-foot jumper by center Andrea Swindall got Boise State even, and the Broncos went on to lead by as many as 16 points in the second half before Irvine used an effective press and converted several turnovers.

The Anteaters trailed, 52-36, with 7:30 to go, but thanks to the press, they went on a 15-0 run and trailed, 52-51, with 41 seconds to go after a pair of free throws by Vincent.

Tawnya Gray made a free throw for Boise State with 15 seconds to go, then Vincent drove the lane for Irvine, but the ball rolled around and did not fall.

“I was so amazed that they would let me drive to the basket like that,” said Vincent, who led all scorers with 20 points. “I guess it was a good decision on their part.”

Forward Brandy Hudson scored 10 points for Irvine and teammate Cindy Oparah had nine points and 10 rebounds.