Irvine Left Down, Out by Idaho

UC Irvine’s gutsy season ended Thursday when the Anteaters failed to come up with an answer for Idaho sophomore guard Leilani Mitchell, who led the Vandals to a 63-50 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big West women’s tournament in front of an estimated 500 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Mitchell scored the first six points and finished with 27. She also had seven assists, seven steals and four rebounds for No. 3-seeded Idaho, which avenged an 11-point road loss to UC Irvine less than three weeks ago.

“When we’ve lost games, we were pushed around,” said Mitchell, who averaged 17.4 points and a conference-best 3.78 steals this season.

“We just really looked to push the ball ... I got a lot of my points off of the fastbreak.”

Behind Mitchell and junior forward Emily Faurholt, who had 21 points and four rebounds, Idaho (18-10) overcame the loss of leading rebounder Jessica Summers, who did not play because of a knee injury.

For UC Irvine, the loss ended a season that began with nine consecutive defeats and featured the unexpected resignation of Coach Mark Adams and injuries to a depleted roster.

“We had to have a tremendous effort defensively,” said Idaho Coach Mike Divilbiss, whose team will face No. 2-seeded Long Beach State in the semifinals today at 2:30 p.m.

Freshman Haley Tull led UC Irvine with 15 points, including 12 in the second half. The Anteaters, who shot nine free throws compared with 18 for Idaho, finished 8-21.

Cal State Northridge 62, UC Riverside 58 -- Junior Ofa Tulikihihifo struggled most of the game but scored six points in overtime to help send the No. 4-seeded Matadors (18-10) into today’s semifinals against top-seeded UC Santa Barbara.

Tulikihihifo, Northridge’s leading scorer and rebounder who has been hampered by a left knee injury over the last month, was a non-factor early, missing her first nine shots. But she stepped up when the Matadors needed her most, finishing with 14 points.

Riverside senior Casandra Reeves, who finished with 14 points, forced overtime with a three-point basket from the top of the key with three seconds left in regulation.

The Highlanders, who finished 16-13, were led by Kemie Nkele, who finished with 16 points but fouled out with 3:22 remaining in overtime.

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Today’s Games

Semifinals at Anaheim Convention Center:

* UC Santa Barbara vs. CS Northridge, noon

* Long Beach State vs. Idaho, 2:30 p.m.

Championship game, Saturday, 1 p.m.