BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? The CSUB women's basketball team acquitted itself well against two?time defending Big West Conference champion UC Riverside, but cold shooting and a tough defense proved too much to overcome in a taut 69?62 loss Saturday night at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield.

Riverside (9?11) led for much of the game but couldn't put CSUB (9?12) away until the closing seconds despite the Roadrunners shooting a miserable 32 percent from the field. UCR led by as many as nine points in the second half, but the 'Runners closed to within two points or less on six occasions.

CSUB held the ball down 62?58 twice in the final two minutes but committed turnovers on consecutive possessions before Brittany Wardell buried a three?pointer from the wing with 38 seconds remaining to put the game on ice.

Wardell finished with a career?high 29 points to lead all scorers for UCR. Roney Friend added a 10?point, 13?rebound double?double.

Junior guard Kelley Tarver led CSUB with 13 points off the bench. Senior forward Naomi Johnson added 12 points and a team?high eight rebounds.

After playing the defending Big West champions, the 'Runners will jump right back into the fire Wednesday when they play at 2008 Big West leader UC Santa Barbara Wednesday.

UC RIVERSIDE (9-11 overall) -- Waddell 9-16 8-8 29; Gbewonyo 4-13 6-8 16; Friend 3-8 4-6 10; Lott 2-4 0-0 4; Glyniadaki 2-2 0-0 4; Foster 2-3 0-0 4; Cox 1-3 0-1 2; Campillo 0-2 0-0 0; Schmuckal 0-0 0-0 0; Good 0-1 0-0 0; Morris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 18-23 69.

CSU BAKERSFIELD (9-12 overall) -- Tarver 3-13 7-11 13; Johnson 3-10 6-9 12; Jones 3-6 2-2 9; Leon 3-6 0-0 6; Kepenekian 1-6 3-4 5; West 2-3 1-2 5; Arase 1-5 2-2 5; Stribling 1-1 2-4 4; Belt 1-5 0-0 3; Carter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-56 23-34 62.

Halftime: UCR 33-27. 3-point goals--UCR 5-16 (Waddell 3-7; Gbewonyo 2-6; Cox 0-1; Campillo 0-1; Morris 0-1), CSUB 3-14 (Jones 1-1; Belt 1-3; Arase 1-3; Kepenekian 0-4; Leon 0-2; Tarver 0-1). Fouled out--UCR-Lott CSUB-None. Rebounds--UCR 44 (Friend 13), CSUB 33 (Johnson 8). Assists--UCR 16 (Foster 7), CSUB 7 (Arase, Tarver 2). Total fouls--UCR 22, CSUB 18. Technical fouls--UCR-Coach Margaritas, CSUB-None. A-868.