PASADENA, CA – A solid start and a steady second half helped give UC Santa Cruz a 74-50 win over Caltech.

The Banana Slugs placed three players in double figures led by Ryane Ortiz's 17 points. Sarah Mackey pitched in an 11-point effort while Melody Barooni came off the bench to tally 10.

UC Santa Cruz grabbed control of the opening frame with 14:20 left. Already leading 14-7, the visitors proceeded to score 18 of the next 24 points to push their advantage to 32-13 with 7:28 left until halftime.

A Rayne Ortiz lay-up gave the Banana Slugs their largest lead of the first half at 40-17 with 4:09 remaining in the stanza. UC Santa Cruz took a 44-25 lead into the locker room.

The Banana Slugs helped gain their first half lead with solid rebounding and timely defense. UC Santa Cruz held a 13-2 edge in second chance points due to a plus-eight rebounding margin. They also forced the Beavers into 14 turnovers which translated into 14 points.

During the second half of action the Banana Slugs continued with their steady play. Caltech got their deficit down to 16 points with 9:29 left on a Sarah Wright jumper but couldn't pull any closer.

Kristin Anderson tallied a double-double for the Beavers with a 15-point, 12-rebound effort. The first-year also tallied four steals. Rachel Hess also scored in double figures (12) for Caltech.

Caltech takes the next week off from play for finals week. They host Buena Vista on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. in their final home game of 2012.