SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Onome Jemerigbe's field goal with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter gave UC Santa Barbara a 61-60 victory over CSU Bakersfield Thursday night.

The Gauchos jumped out to a 10-4 lead midway through the first quarter.  Keyed by a pair of Erika Williams three-pointers,  CSUB responded by outscoring UCSB 11-4 to lead 15-14 at the end of the opening frame.

With the scored tied at 24 and six to play in the half, the Roadrunners mounted an 11-5 charge that allowed CSUB to lead by six at halftime.  The Gauchos closed to within three, 39-36, at the third quarter timeout. The Roadrunners sped to the next eight points as Williams and Alexxus Gilbert hit back-to-back three-pointers to take a 47-36 advantage.

CSUB held the Gauchos without a point for nearly five minutes as the 'Runners pushed the lead to 11 before UCSB came back with a 6-2 spurt to cut it to 49-42 upon the conclusion of the third quarter.  Coco Miller made the first basket of the fourth quarter to reduce the CSUB lead to five 1:30 into the fourth.

Makela Roper drew the Gauchos to two, 49-47, when she made a three-pointer on the next UCSB possession.  After a steal, Miller tied the game with a layup.  Batabe Zempare recorded CSUB's first field in nearly six minutes on the ensuing Roadrunner possession to get the lead back for CSUB. UC Santa Barbara tied the score again when Taylor Ferris scored with just over six to play.

Out of the fourth quarter media timeout, Williams made 1-of-2 free throws before Farris made a jumper. CSUB responded with a Zempare layup who was fouled. The 6-2 forward failed to complete the three-point play, leaving CSUB up by only one.  The teams exchanged defensive stops before Zempare was fouled on an offensive rebound. She made both to extend the lead to three.

Jemerigbe tied the game with a three-pointer before Zempare was called for her fourth foul as she attempted to rebound a CSUB miss. Miller was fouled and she returned the lead to UCSB when she made 1-of-2 free throw attempts. Zempare scored the next time down for a 58-57 CSUB lead. Miller's three-point attempt rebounded by Williams. The Roadrunners turned the ball over which led to a Roper layup and a 59-58 UCSB advantage.

Williams missed a three-point attempt, but CSUB came up with a steal of the defensive rebound.  Alyssa Shannon could not connect on a three-pointer. UCSB got the rebound and called timeout at the 50-second mark. Eight seconds later, Hali Ford stole the ball away from Roper, which allowed CSUB to call timeout and set up a play. Addi Walters missed a three-point field goal out of the timeout. The ball was tied up on the rebound, giving the ball to the Gauchos, who had the possession arrow in their favor.

CSUB fouled Jemerigbe with 25 seconds to play. Jemerigbe missed both free throw attempts with Williams getting the rebound. The Roadrunners called their final timeout and advanced the ball to half court. CSUB worked the clock down to 13 seconds when Zempare made a layup off a Williams pass.

UCSB called timeout, allowing the Gauchos to take the ball out at half court, setting the stage for Jemerigbe's game winner.  Jemerigbe was fouled by Zempare (her fifth) on the play, but she missed a free throw that would have completed the three-point play.

Taking the ball out from underneath the CSUB goal, the Roadrunners advanced the ball to half court where a jump ball saw the 'Runners have the possession arrow in their favor. With 2.6 seconds remaining, the Roadrunners inbounded the ball to Shannon who had a field goal attempt blocked at the buzzer by Kali Jones to secure the UCSB victory.

“It came down to one defensive stop,” said CSUB head coach Greg McCall. “We need to do a better job of executing and learn how to get stops when we need them. We are on the doorstep and continue to work hard. We will learn how to finish games off.”

Zempare led all scorers with 16 points. She led CSUB with nine rebounds. Williams scored 13.  Jones and Roper both scored 13 points to pace the Gauchos. Jones grabbed a game high 16 rebounds. Jasmine Ware and Miller both had 10 points.

CSUB returns home Sunday when the Roadrunners host San José State at 1 p.m. Tickets are available at Vallitix.com. The game can also be seen on the WAC Digital Network.

~www.GoRunners.com~