Lane climbs rebounds list as UCSB falls to Long Beach State

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS

Ila Lane continued re-writing the UCSB women’s basketball record books Thursday night against Long Beach State, pulling in 14 rebounds to bring her career total to 827, the seventh-most in program history. The senior from Moraga added 19 points to lead the Gauchos (15-7, 8-4 Big West), who fell just short of upsetting the conference-leading Beach (16-7, 11-2 Big West) at the Thunderdome.

How It Happened

After a slow first five minutes, Callie Cooper came off the bench to spark the Gaucho offense, providing three assists and forcing a pair of turnovers in the first quarter alone. Alexis Whitfield scored five points in the opening frame and kept the momentum rolling into the second.

The sophomore forward scored UCSB’s first bucket in the second, then Alexis Tucker and Ila Lane took over. The two seniors combined for seven points in one minute to turn a four-point deficit into a three-point lead. The offense lit up again in the last minute to stretch the Gaucho lead to five by halftime.

Lane had seven points and six rebounds at the interval, and the senior wasted no time increasing those totals in the second half.

Lane scored the first bucket and grabbed the first board out of halftime and, with 4:19 left in the third, recorded the 822nd rebound of her career to put her alone in seventh place. However, that rebound came right as the Beach started a 13-3 run, which put the visitors ahead by the end of the frame.

UCSB kept themselves within touching distance throughout the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to one with just over a minute and a half to play, but barely missed out on another comeback win. The Gauchos had the ball with under a second left, but could not put up a shot to beat the buzzer.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The next Gaucho ahead of Ila Lane on the career rebounds list is Brandy Richardson, who pulled down 836 boards between

2001-2005; after Richardson comes Erin Buescher and her 864 rebounds from 1997-2000.

• Alexis Tucker was UCSB’s next highest scorer Thursday, scoring 14 points on only seven shots from the field; she went 2-2 from three-point range.

• Alexis Whitfield led all substitutes with seven points off the bench, all of which she scored in the first half.

UP NEXT UCSB will look to bounce back in Northern California on Saturday, as the Gauchos travel to UC Davis. While Santa Barbara won the most recent game between these two teams, the University Credit Union Center is not full of happy memories; the Gauchos have not won in Davis since February of 2015. Saturday’s game tips off at 2 p.m., and will be live on ESPN+, with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com.

Eric Boose writes about sports for UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com

UCSB baseball picked to win Big West in Preseason Coaches’ Poll

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS

The Big West announced the results of its Preseason Baseball Coaches’ Poll Friday, and UCSB has been picked to repeat as conference champions in 2023. The conference’s 11 head coaches picked the Gauchos to finish atop the Big West this season and elected UCSB’s Mike Gutierrez and Broc Mortensen to the Preseason All-Conference team.

The Gauchos have retained multiple key pieces from the team which finished 2022 with a 27-3 conference record, while also adding talent through the transfer portal and in the incoming class of freshmen. In addition to Gutierrez and Mortensen, who were both named to the All-Big West Second Team last season, UCSB returns all-conference honorees Ryan Gallagher, Matt Ager, Christian Kirtley, and John Newman, Jr. for a total of six AllBig West selections. Gallagher and Ager both earned Freshman All-American honors last season, and Gallagher was named Big West Freshman of the Year.

Also back this season after missing the 2022 campaign is Carter Benbrook, who was named a Preseason All-American by the National College Baseball Writers Association earlier this month. The crop of newcomers is headlined by freshman Tyler Bremner, whom D1Baseball picked as their Big West Preseason Freshman of the Year. Following behind the Gauchos in the Preseason Poll in order are UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Cal

The Gauchos have retained multiple key pieces from the team which finished 2022 with a 27-3 conference record, while also adding talent through the transfer portal and in the incoming class of freshmen.

Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Hawai’i, CSUN, UC San Diego, UC Davis, CSU Bakersfield, and UC Riverside. UCSB received eight first-place votes, with the Dirtbags, Titans, and Rainbow Warriors receiving a single first-place vote each. UCSB’s first game of the season is only a week away, as they will open the 2023 campaign against Minnesota at the Sanderson Ford Classic in Surprise, Ariz. First pitch against the Golden Gophers is set for 4 p.m. Pacific Time.

Eric Boose writes about sports for UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com