SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz women's basketball team earned a hard fought 59-53 victory over the Simpson Redhawks on Saturday night. Jenna Gorton led the Slugs with 19 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Alyssa Jackson also turned in double digit points with 10 on the night. The Slugs will be back in action on January 30th when they travel to Cal Maritime Academy at 5:30 p.m.
 
How It Happened
Jenna Gorton scored the first two points of the contest, but the two teams went back and forth in the early going working to a 9-9 tie with 5:54 to play in the first quarter. Jenna Gorton made up six of the team's points in that stretch with Alyssa Jackson accounting for the other three. The Slugs narrowly outscored Simpson 7-5 in the remainder of the first quarter, taking a 16-14 lead after 10 minutes of play.
 
The Redhawks started strong in the second quarter, using a 9-4 run to take a 23-20 lead over UCSC. The Banana Slugs were able to counter and use a 10-6 run to end the quarter on top at 30-29. Gorton played a key role in that surge, scoring another six points while Emilie Ngo and Alyssa Jackson both earned two points to put the team on top at halftime.
 
After the halftime break, the Slugs were dominant in the third quarter as they shared the wealth on offense, utilizing six different scorers to outscore Simpson 18-9 and build a 48-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Emilie Ngo led the charge in the third, scoring five points while Alexa Litchev, Claire Galbo, Lindsay Zientek, and Alyssa Jackson all chimed in for three points with Jenna Gorton adding one for good measure.
 
The Redhawks came out shooting in the fourth quarter and used just over five minutes to go on an 11-2 run, erasing the Slugs 10 point lead to pull within one at 50-49. Lindsay Zientek hit a shot from downtown to end the run, putting UCSC up 53-49. Simpson managed to respond, using a 4-0 burst to tie things at 53-53 with 1:32 on the clock. Zientek fought hard in the paint to put the Slugs back up by two to bring the Simpson comeback attempt to an end. Claire Galbo, Alexa Lithev, and Alyssa Jackson all made free throws down the stretch to seal the 59-53 victory over the Simpson Redhawks.