THOUSAND OAKS (1-23) – UC Santa Cruz played their first game in almost a month as they took on California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. The Banana Slugs outscored the host Regals by fifteen in the second half en route to a 70-64 victory and improves to 9-2 this season.
 
In the first quarter, the Regals would start the game on an 11-3 run capped by a Cameron Mallory jumper with 5:42 left in the quarter. From that point, the Banana Slugs went on a 8-2 run, capped by an Amanda Inserra layup with 1:37 left in the quarter, to trim the Regals' lead to 13-11. The Regals led 17-14 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, a 21-10 Regals run, capped by a Mallory layup with 1:30 left, gave them their largest lead of the ballgame at 39-24. The Banana Slugs would go on a 6-0 half-ending run, capped by a Lindsay Zientek layup with seven seconds left in the half, to trim the Regals' lead to 39-30 at halftime.      
                                   
In the third quarter, the Banana Slugs would get back into the ballgame. A 17-8 run, capped by an Ashley Kowack three pointer with 3:21 left in the quarter, tied the game at 47-47. The Banana Slugs took the lead at 50-49 on a Tess Oakley-Stilson layup with 1:13 left but the Regals would lead 54-52 after three quarters.
 
The Banana Slugs would take the lead on a Lindsay Zientek three-pointer on the first shot of the fourth quarter to go ahead 55-54. The Regals tied the game at 62-62 on an Aliya Dimuro layup with 2:36 left. Three pointers by Aubrey Wagner and Inserra keyed the 8-2 run to finish the game and wrap up the 70-64 victory.
 
Kowack had a game-high 23 points for the Banana Slugs. Inserra scored 15, Kaylee Murphy had 13 and Oakley-Stilson had 9 in the victory.  Murphy added team-highs of 9 rebounds and six blocks. The Banana Slugs shot 33.8% (22-65) from the field, 40.9% (9-22) from the three-point line and were 81% (17-21) from the free throw line. UC Santa Cruz's defense forced thirteen turnovers.
"We came out a little rusty," said Wagner after the game. "Some of us have not played in over a month. I think the second half it clicked and we started playing how we usually do."
The next game for the Banana Slugs will be Saturday as they take on old rivals Chapman University in Orange. Tipoff is set for 4 pm.