January 8, 2006
New Year Starts off Well for Slugs
Jenna Chabot Named to All-Tournament Team

In their first two games of the New Year, the Slugs pulled out their 4th victory of the season and split their games at the Redlands' New Year's Tournament this past weekend. Unlike their trip to Washington, all the Slugs stepped up this weekend to play two hard-fought battles against Redlands (L, 56-52) and St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn (W, 70-58).

Jenna Chabot led the way for the Slugs averaging 15 points, Megan Gaynor averaged a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, Kayleigh Calandri averaged 10 points and 4 rebounds, and Rachel Ocampo had two great all-around games averaging 7.5 pts, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 5.5 rebounds.

Perbey Pandac stepped into a starting role to total 11 points, 5 assists, 4 steals and 10 rebounds. Tina Beams came off the bench to lead the Slugs with 5 steals, adding 14 points and 8 rebounds. Lauren Cardinalli chipped in 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists over the weekend.

In their first game of the tournament against host University of Redlands, the Slugs went into the locker room at half with a 1-point lead, but were unable to hold on in the second half as the Bulldogs outscored the Slugs 31-26 en route to a 4-point victory. Mara Block of Redlands led all scorers with 21 points and 11 rebounds; Kayleigh Calandri led the Slugs with 12 points while Jenna Chabot added 11. Megan Gaynor cleaned up the boards and led all rebounders with 12.

After a tough 40 minutes against Redlands, the Slugs had less than 24 hours to recover and face St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) Saturday afternoon. On fire against the Bears' zone defense for most of the first half, the Slugs shot 58% from the field and went 5-6 from beyond the arc to take a 10-point lead into halftime. UCSC led by as many as 16 in the second half to finish off the Bears, 70-58, for their 4th win of the season. Jenna Chabot led all scorers with 19, while playing only 24 minutes. Megan Gaynor had 12 points and 8 rebounds, while Rachel Ocampo added 10 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds. Perbey Pandac also had a great game finishing with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.

Senior Jenna Chabot was named to the All-Tournament team for her weekend efforts.

The Slugs (4-12) are now 4-6 against DIII opponents, dropping to 2-6 against in-region teams. UCSC faces William Jessup at home this Friday, 7 o'clock tip-off.