CAMBRIDGE, Ma. – The UC Santa Cruz women's basketball team fell to the MIT Beavers 53-49 to wrap up their East Coast road trip, falling to 8-10 on the year. The Banana Slugs will be back in action on January 10 with a road game against Cal Maritime at 2:00 p.m. Emilie Ngo led the team's efforts today, nearly logging a triple double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Danielle Tyner had 10 points and four boards in the contest with Sarah Reuter, Alyssa Jackson, Jenna Gorton, and Bria Tate earning the rest of the team's points.
 
How It Happened
The Banana Slugs had the advantage after the first quarter, outscoring MIT 10-8, starting the game with baskets from Sarah Reuter, Emilie Ngo, and Danielle Tyner. Ngo and Bria Tate added the last two buckets to give UCSC the 10-8 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
The Beavers narrowly outscored UCSC in the second quarter with a 17-16 edge but the Slugs were able to work to a six point lead midway through the quarter as Emilie Ngo and Jenna Gorton worked to put UCSC up 20-16. MIT quickly erased the lead with eight unanswered points before Emilie Ngo and Alyssa Jackson made a quick 6-0 run to regain the lead at 26-22 with 1:18 left in the half. The Beavers hit a three with 20 seconds left to cut the deficit to one point at 26-25 heading into halftime.
 
Alyssa Jackson opened the third quarter with a three pointer to put UCSC up 29-25 but the Beavers outscored UCSC 14-9 the rest of the way in the third to take a slight 39-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Banana Slugs quickly worked to a 41-41 tie with points from Tyner and Tate, but a 4-0 run put MIT back on top at 45-41. The Banana Slugs and Beavers traded buckets with UCSC getting points from Jenna Gorton and Sarah Reuter to cut the lead to 47-45 with 7:04 on the clock. A three from MIT put the Beavers ahead by five with 4:57 remaining. UC Santa Cruz was able to narrowly outscore MIT 4-3 down the stretch but the Beavers held on for the 53-49 win.