Kaylee Murphy became the fifth woman in program history with 1,000 points as No. 18 UC Santa Cruz used a late surge to pull away for a 71-51 win over Minnesota-Morris on Thursday.

The Senior from Eureka hit the mark with 5:23 left in the fourth off an assist from Aubrey Wagner. She joins Kayleigh Calandri, Sarah Mackey, Leah Parrish and teammate Ashley Kowack as an official member of the Women's 1K club. The Banana Slugs improved to 10-2.

UC Santa Cruz never trailed in the game, but the Cougars (1-10) made it a game and prevented the hosts from running away with it. The Banana Slugs led by nine after one quarter and the Cougars were still within nine in the second quarter until Kowack's three before the buzzer gave UC Santa Cruz a 36-24 halftime lead.
The Cougars got within eight again before another three by Kowack at 3:06 left in the third made it an eleven-point game at 43-32. That began a 12-2 run that gave UC Santa Cruz a 52-34 lead going into the fourth and the Cougars never got within single digits again.

Amanda Inserra led UC Santa Cruz with 18 points plus four steals and a season-high eight rebounds. Murphy finished with 13 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for her eighth double-double this season. Kowack scored 16 points. First-Year Talysha Wilkerson added nine points, seven rebounds and three steals in her first career start. The Banana Slugs shot 38.5% from the field (25-65) but were 41% (12-29) on threes. UC Santa Cruz also enjoyed a 46-30 rebound advantage.
Tariq Brownotter led the Cougars with 10 points off the bench.
The Banana Slugs have a week off before they travel to Texas for their next three games, starting with 2022 NCAA Tournament participant East Texas Baptist on December 29th.