Nicole Nesbit of UCSB goes up and drops in one of her two 3-point shots while being defended by Kate Gaze of St. Mary's. (Vince Agapito photo)
Carlene Mitchell’s first victory as UCSB women’s basketball coach will be remembered by her team’s tenacious defensive play in the first half and its ability to make free throws down the stretch to hold off an opponent.
That’s how Thursday night’s home opener went for Mitchell’s Gauchos, as they built a 35-14 first-half lead and held on for a 61-52 victory over St. Mary’s at the Thunderdome.
“It’s great,” Mitchell said of getting her first win. “I can stop answering all the questions about how long it’s going to take. I was hoping that would end quickly. Hopefully, there will be a lot more with this team, and I know we’re going to continue to grow and get better. With that, there should be a lot of wins this year and, hopefully, for years to come.”
Sophomore guard Nicole Nesbit led three Gauchos (1-2) in double figures with 15 points. Emilie Johnson was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line en route to 14 points and Sweets Underwood recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The key play, however, was made by center Kirsten Tilleman with 3:10 left in the game and St. Mary’s on a 13-2 run.
With the score 48-40, Tilleman drew a charging foul on the Gaels’ Jasmine Smith as Smith drove in for a layup. It was the second charge taken by Tilleman late in the game. The basketball was nullified and the St Mary’s bench was hit with a technical foul. Emilie Johnson sank two free throws to put the Gauchos up by 10.
“Tilleman taking the two charges at the end of the game probably saved us,” said Mitchell.
Smith, who scored a game-high 16 points, made 4 of 6 from the field in the second half after a 1-for-9 first half performance. She brought the Gaels within six, 53-47, on a 3-pointer and two free throws.
But the Gauchos (1-2) were nails from the foul line in the final 58 seconds, going 8-for-8, to pull out the win for Mitchell after losing their first two on the road.
Gaucho guard Melissa Zornig is guarded by Alex Carbonel of St. Mary's during the first half. Zornig scored nine points and had five assists.
For the game, UCSB made 19-of-26 free throws. That made up for frigid 4-for-18 shooting from the floor in the second half.
In the first half, the Gauchos showed their fans the type of tough defense Mitchell has them playing every day in practice.
They completely stifled St. Mary’s offensive rhythm, holding the Gaels (1-2) to 3-of-21 shooting while roaring to a 35-7 advantage.
“I think our defense, especially at the beginning of the game, really led to our offense and we were really feeding off of that,” Nesbet said. “We were finding each other in transition. It was just fun to be out there in the first half.”
The effort was pleasing to Mitchell, who said at the beginning of the season she wanted to make it cool to play tough defense.
“Now we’re going to have to work on carrying that over to the second half,” she said. “It was a lot of fun for the kids to get up and down (the court). They were making right decisions 99 percent of the time. It allowed us to hop out to that big lead. Fortunately, at the end of the game, it probably saved us.”
The Gauchos return to action Saturday with a home game against Loyola Marymount at 2 p.m.
