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UC Irvine guard Hunter Hernandez, right, drives to the basket around UC San Diego guard Makayla Rose during a Big West game on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
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IRVINE — The UC Irvine women’s basketball team is back to square one after a 68-66 loss to UC San Diego on Saturday afternoon at the Bren Events Center.
The Anteaters had won a program record 16 consecutive games and were 8-0 in conference play for the first time ever, but UCSD used a 13-0 run to grab the lead in the second quarter and never trailed again.
UCI lost at home for the first time since a Feb. 15 game against Hawaii.
“It’s definitely getting a lot more physical, which we expect,” UCI coach Tamara Inoue. “We have to be able to sustain that. We’re doing better at it, taking care of it. It’s just today we didn’t take care of our turnovers.”
After cutting the deficit to 65-64 on a 3-pointer by Summah Hanson with 1:58 left in the game, the Anteaters turned the ball over on their next three possessions.
UCI (17-3 overall, 8-1 Big West) still had a chance to win the game after Jada Wynn stole a pass and the Anteaters called timeout with 12 seconds left and trailing by two.
Wynn ended up getting an open look at the basket on a 3-point attempt from the wing, but the shot bounced off the rim with two seconds left and the Tritons (13-6, 8-1) celebrated the victory after losing their first conference game on Thursday night against visiting UC Davis.
UCSD scored 24 points off 14 UCI turnovers, while the Anteaters collected 12 points off 11 giveaways.
“We’re OK with turning the ball over, but we’ve just got to get the stops,” Inoue said. “I thought that was probably our biggest weakness today, was just kind of putting our heads down a little bit maybe and then not playing on the defensive side, which is what we’re pretty good at.”
Hunter Hernandez had 19 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season for UCI, and Hanson finished with a season-high 18 points.
Hanson has been working her way back from offseason foot surgery.
“I thought today was a good game for her,” Inoue said. “She rebounded really well for us and hit some timely shots. This is something we expect from her. She’s coming off a surgery, so I think she’s just finding her footing and it’s slowly coming. The kid just works every day and stays so positive so, hopefully, she’s turning this corner now and we’ll start to get the Summah we know.”
Hernandez came in averaging a team-high 19.3 points per game, but she was primarily guarded by Makayla Rose, the Big West Defensive Player of the Year at UC Riverside last season.
Rose limited Hernandez to just three shots and four points in the first half as the Tritons built a 32-29 halftime lead.
Hernandez made her only basket of the first half on a pull-up 3-pointer that ignited a 9-0 run and gave the Anteaters their biggest lead of the game at 16-8.
UCI took a 20-15 lead into the second quarter and Hanson sank a fadeaway on the first possession to stretch the lead to seven, but the Tritons came back with the 13-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 28-22 lead.
The Anteaters tied the score at 38-all in the third quarter, but the Tritons came back with a 7-0 run and UCI still faced a seven-point deficit entering the fourth, the second straight game when it trailed entering the final frame.
UCI also struggled to find an answer for Erin Condron, UCSD’s 6-foot-4 center, who finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.
“She was really good tonight,” Inoue said. “For us, we didn’t score against her. I thought she had some good blocks against us. She just got too many open looks for us on the other side.”
Rosa Smith scored 20 points to lead the Tritons, shooting 4 for 6 from 3-point range.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
Team – Overall, Big West
UC Irvine – 17-3, 8-1
UC San Diego – 13-6, 8-1
UC Santa Barbara – 15-3, 7-2
UC Davis – 14-6, 7-2
Cal State Fullerton – 11-9, 7-3
UC Riverside – 6-13, 4-5
Hawaii – 10-9, 4-5
Cal State Northridge – 6-12, 2-7
Cal Poly (SLO) – 3-16, 1-8
Long Beach State – 2-17, 1-8
Cal State Bakersfield – 6-13, 1-8
