Freshman Samantha D’Costa (San Jose, Calif. / St. Francis) tied her career high with 19 points and added seven rebounds in the Caltech women’s basketball team’s 60-45 loss to UC Santa Cruz on Wednesday afternoon in Braun Gymnasium. Senior Kate Lewis (San Antonio, Texas / Ronald Reagan) opened the scoring for the Beavers with a […]
Freshman Samantha D’Costa (San Jose, Calif. / St. Francis) tied her career high with 19 points and added seven rebounds in the Caltech women’s basketball team’s 60-45 loss to UC Santa Cruz on Wednesday afternoon in Braun Gymnasium.
Senior Kate Lewis (San Antonio, Texas / Ronald Reagan) opened the scoring for the Beavers with a free throw and bucket in the first six minutes, then added another layup to register five of her eight points within the first 10 minutes of play. UC Santa Cruz held Caltech to its lowest-scoring quarter in the first as the Beavers notched just nine points versus the Banana Slugs’ 16.
D’Costa dominated the second quarter, scoring nine of the Beavers’ 16 points while sophomore Madeline Schemel (Westport, Conn. / Staples) added four points in the final two minutes to key the hosts’ comeback bid. Her free throws with 28 seconds left tied the game, but UC Santa Cruz hit a three with seven seconds remaining in the half to move back ahead and hold the margin at 28-25
Santa Cruz started to pull away early in the third quarter with a couple of early three-pointers and caught a lucky break when Lewis was called for her fifth foul just moments later, forcing the young Beavers to play even harder. Sophomore Elizabeth Eiden (White Plains, N.Y. / Holy Child) scored a fast break layup to bring the Beavers back within seven, then D’Costa hit a couple of acrobatic layups and Eiden capped the run with a putback to bring make it a one-possession game.
Sophomore Nika Haleftiras (San Diego, Calif. / Our Lady of Peace) hit a jumper for her first points of the evening on the opening possession of the fourth quarter to trim the margin to one, but the Beavers were unable to come all the way back as Santa Cruz went on a 20-8 run to close out the ball game.
Lewis had eight points and two assists before fouling out while Schemel provided eight points and five rebounds, going 4-for-4 from the free throw line and shooting 67 percent from the field. Eiden finished with six points, four rebounds and a block in an efficient 18 minutes off the bench.
Head Coach Sandra Marbut and the Beavers return to SCIAC action in the New Year on Monday, Jan. 2 vs. Whittier College (1-8 overall, 1-0 SCIAC) at 7 p.m.
