NEWPORT NEWS, VA- UC Santa Cruz improved their record to 16-4 on the season with a 66-55 win against the University of Mary Washington. A game with a lot of back-and-forth, the Banana Slugs fought for the win with a complete team effort, with everyone in the starting lineup having scored. Ashley Kowack led the team with a game-high 20 points, while also getting it done defensively with 2 blocks and 3 steals. Tess Oakley-Stilson (15 points) and Kaylee Murphy (13 points) also scored in double figures. Murphy ended the game with a double-double, having 11 rebounds along with a team-high four assists.
It was the sixth win in a row for the Banana Slugs
"Proud of our overall team effort against a really good Mary Washington team," said head coach Todd Kent. "The team stayed focused on the gameplan and did what we needed to do to get a big win."
 
The first quarter started off one-sided as the Slugs started off 10-0 helped by a pair of Aubrey Wagner steals, and led 13-3 with 4:47 left. The Eagles' defense tightened, leading the Slugs to finish the quarter with only 16 points.
 
The second quarter saw the Eagles make a comeback, bringing the lead down to only 3, as they went on a 4-0 run. The Slugs went on their own run, going 9-0, started by a Kowack 3-pointer to extend the lead to 12 with 5:33 left. The Eagles fought back to end the half only down by 2 at 29-27.
 
The Eagles take their first lead of the game with 2:40 left in the third quarter, before the Slugs took the lead back on another Kowack 3-pointer. The Slugs ended the quarter leading 42-40.
 
In the fourth, the Eagles got to within 3 until a 3-pointer by Talysha Wilkerson with 06:04 left in the quarter had the Slugs leading by 4 or more the rest of the way. The Banana Slugs came out with a hard-fought win, holding the Eagles to a field goal percentage of 35.8%. Overall, the Banana Slugs had 18 steals, led by Wagner's career-high seven.
 
UC Santa Cruz concludes the C2C Classic tomorrow against undefeated Christopher Newport.