Ashley Kowack became the fourth woman in program history to score 1000 points, and UC Santa Cruz used a huge fourth quarter to take the lead for good in a 72-63 home win over Whitman College.
UC Santa Cruz won their seventh straight game to go to 8-1, the best start in school history. Whitman fell to 10-1. The Blues entered the game ranked second in the country by D3Hoops.com. However the Banana Slugs went on a 12-0 run in the first 3:38 of the fourth quarter to comeback from a 12-point halftime deficit.

After a fast-paced first quarter ended in a 20-20 tie, the visitors outscored the Banana Slugs 21-9 in the second to go up 41-29 at the break.
The Banana Slugs began their comeback with 4:45 left in the third. Trailing 47-34, an 11-1 run courtesy of five steals got the Banana Slugs back within 48-45. The rattled Blues settled down and were able to get the lead back to 54-47 at the end of the third, however the hosts got the momentum back and would go on to dominate the fourth.

Three more steals helped the game-changing fourth quarter run. UC Santa Cruz took the lead back for good on Kaylee Murphy's layup with 6:38 left. Kowack's jumper with 1:41 left gave her her 1000th point, but more importantly made the lead 67-61 before the Banana Slugs finished the game off from the free-throw line.

Murphy led four Banana Slugs in double figures, with 20 points to go with 15 rebounds. Kowack finished with 16 points, 15 of them in the second half. Aubrey Wagner had 15 points and Amanda Inserra scored 12. Murphy and Wagner each had 4 of the Banana Slugs 12 steals.
Korin Baker led the Blues with 17 points. Kaylie McCracken had 14 along with a game-high 17 rebounds.

Overall, UCSC shot 46.4 % (26-56) for the game, including 51.6% (16-31) in the second half and got 27 points off turnovers. The Banana Slugs will face another ranked team next, when they host No. 14 Tufts on Wednesday December 29th in the UCSC New Year's Classic.