POMONA (11-25) –UC Santa Cruz's women's basketball team played their first game of the David Wells Classic. Their opponent was Pomona Pitzer. The Banana Slugs led wire-to-wire and won their first game of the season 83-55 over the Sagehens.

Both teams lost their last game. UC Santa Cruz lost to Whitworth University 67-65 on Saturday in Spokane while the Sagehens fell 84-76 to Linfield College on Tuesday in Pomona.

In the first quarter, the Banana Slugs started the game on a 9-0 run capped by a Jasmin Dimson three pointer with 8:20 left in the quarter. The Banana Slugs would gain a double digit lead at 22-12 on a Tyler Stewart three pointer with 1:06 left in the quarter. The Banana Slugs gain their largest lead of the quarter at fifteen, at 27-12, on a Suhansi Perera three pointer with one second left. The Banana Slugs led 27-12 at the end of the first quarter.  

In the second quarter, the Sagehens would widdle away at the Banana Slugs' lead. The Banana Slugs' largest lead of the quarter was fifteen, at 29-14, on a Tyler Stewart layup with 8:58 left in the half. The Sagehens would come as close as eight, at 38-30, on an Anita Romero free throw with 2:35 left in the half. The Banana Slugs led 41-30 at the halftime intermission.

In the third quarter, the Banana Slugs would expand on their lead. The largest lead of the quarter for the Banana Slugs was sixteen, at 48-32, on a pair of Jenna Sparks free throws with 7:27 left in the quarter. The Sagehens came as close as eight, at 48-40, on a Romero free throw. The Banana Slugs led 59-43 at the end of three quarters of play.

In the fourth quarter, the Banana Slugs would build on their advantage. The closest the Sagehens would come would be sixteen, at 61-45, on a Keilani Ikehara layup with 8:35 left. From that point, the Banana Slugs would go on a 21-6 run capped by an Annie Susco three pointer with 2:26 left to give the Banana Slugs their largest lead of the game at thirty-one at 82-51. The Banana Slugs won 83-55 over the Sagehens for their first win of the 2016-2017 season.

Stewart had a game high sixteen points to lead the Banana Slugs. Alaina Woo also had a game high sixteen points for the Sagehens. Kim Tom, off the bench, had fifteen points, Dimson had twelve points and CJ Catina, off the bench, had ten points in the win. Keilani Ikehara had fourteen points and Romero had thirteen points for the Sagehens.

The Banana Slugs shot 40.3% (27-67) from the field, 50% (16-32) from the three-point line and was 72.2% (13-18) from the free throw line. The sixteen three pointers made set a UCSC women's basketball program record. The Sagehens shot 32.7% (18-55) from the field, 5.6% (1-18) from the three-point line and 75% (18-24) from the foul line. UC Santa Cruz's defense forced thirteen Sagehen turnovers scoring eleven points off the turnovers while the Sagehens' defense forced twelve turnovers by UC Santa Cruz scoring seventeen points off the turnovers. UC Santa Cruz outrebounded Pomona-Pitzer 47-29 and the Banana Slugs had thirty-three more points off the bench (37-4) than did Pomona-Pitzer.

The Banana Slugs will finish their four-game road trip tomorrow as they take on Claremont Mudd Scripps. Tip-off is set for 3 pm.