March 12, 2005
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Led by career-high point totals from seniors Mia Fisher and Kristen Mann, the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team staged a stirring second-half comeback Saturday to capture its ninth straight Big West Conference Tournament title with a 74-66 victory over Idaho in the Anaheim Convention Center.
The Gauchos' victory - their 10th in a row dating back to a Feb. 3 loss at UI - raises their overall record to 21-8 and gives them an automatic berth in the 64-team NCAA Championship for a ninth consecutive year. UCSB also extended its streak of consecutive Big West tourney victories to 25 dating back to 1997. The Vandals, who became the first conference team to defeat UCSB twice in a single season since 1993-94, fell to 19-11 and will await a possible berth in the Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.
"I am very proud of this team, especially the way we were able to come back," Gaucho head coach Mark French said. "This was a very tough test and I think it shows the resilliency this team has. It showed that this is a group of poised women."
Trailing 57-46 with 12:02 to play following Heather Thoelke's three-pointer, UCSB embarked on a dominating 19-0 run spanning nearly eight minutes. Fisher and Mann combined for 15 of those points, while on the other end Idaho missed eight straight shots and a pair of free-throws while also committing three turnovers. At the 7:13 mark Mann powered her way for a layup that gave Santa Barbara its first lead of the second half at 58-57 and two of her career-best 33 points on the afternoon.
After the Gauchos built an eight point cushion on two occasions, UI rallied to within 67-63 with just over a minute left. On its next possession, UCSB worked the ball to freshman guard Jessica Wilson who was fouled while making an acrobatic layup. She missed the ensuing free-throw, while Emily Faurholt immediately countered with her third three-pointer of the game to make the scoreboard read 69-66 with just 32 ticks left. However Mann buried five-of-six free-throws from that point to ice the championship.
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The Vandals gave Santa Barbara fits in the first half as well, scoring the first seven points and going into the locker room with a 36-31 advantage thanks to a sizzling 59.1% shooting performance. Meanwhile UCSB lost starting guard Karena Bonds after just two minutes with a right ankle injury she would return from in the second period.
In addition to Mann's game-high point total, Fisher amassed her personal best of 26 points, connecting on 12-of-14 shots for the day and an astounding 21-of-24 (87.5%) in two tourney games. Both seniors were named to the All-Big West Tournament team along with Faurholt and Leilani Mitchell of Idaho, UC Riverside's Kemie Nkele and Ofa Tulikihihifo of Cal State Northridge.
Also coming up big for Santa Barbara was senior forward Brandy Richardson, who did not score but amassed a eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 25 minutes off the bench. The Aiea, Hawaii native had missed the final five regular season games with an ankle injury that limited her to just 10 minutes In Friday's Big West semifinal win over Northridge.
Faurholt led a quartet of Vandals in double-figures with 21 points. UI became just the third team this year to shoot better than 50% against UCSB, making 54.3% of its shots.
The Gauchos will now await Sunday's announcement of the NCAA tourney field, which will be televised live on ESPN at 2:00 p.m.
