Tess Oakley-Stilson led three Banana Slugs in double figures as the No. 19/21 ranked women's basketball team shook off the post-finals blues with a 72-43 win over visiting Linfield.
The Banana Slugs never trailed and tied the best start in program history going to 8-1.

UC Santa Cruz opened a 20-5 lead in the game's first seven minutes, holding the Wildcats to just two made shots. The Wildcats hit a three and two free-throws to get within 20-11 at the end of the first. However, UC Santa Cruz opened the second on a 7-0 run, capped by Oakley-Stilson's "And-One" to push the lead to 27-11. Linfield then hist a three, but UC Santa Cruz finished the half on a 10-4 run to lead 37-18, capped by a steal and layup by Lindsay Zientek.
The Wildcats got to within 14 at 44-30 4:28 into the third, but another 7-0 Banana Slug run pushed the lead back to 21. The Banana Slugs hit their biggest lead at 30 with 5:15 left in the game after an acrobatic "And-One" from First-Year Talysha Wilkerson.

Oakley-Stilson finished with 20 points on 8-9 shooting. Aubrey Wagner added 14 points with team-highs of five assists and four steals. Kaylee Murphy had a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Overall, UC Santa Cruz shot 29-65 (44.6%) from the field and collected 17 steals, forcing 28 Linfield turnovers.
Gilyan Landis led Linfield (4-5) with 11 points and 11 boards.
UC Santa Cruz continues the homestand on Sunday when they play Cal Lutheran at 2pm.