UC Merced women shine on offense behind Belvin’s career day

The UC Merced women’s basketball team is still getting a feel for one another.

Injuries have nagged the Bobcats during nonconference play, robbing five of the team’s regulars of 11 games already.

One of the side benefits to the injuries, however, has been extended minutes for Sarah Hopkins-Chery’s freshmen. The group struggled early but is starting to make an impact now that the band is healthy and back together. No one has made bigger strides than guard Mia Belvin.

She proved it Tuesday afternoon, pouring in a career-high 24 points with a team-high five steals as UC Merced defeated Bethesda 90-75.

“I started off nervous because it was college basketball,” Belvin said. “It took a little while to get adjusted to the speed. Now I’m feeling comfortable. I understand my role and know what I can bring to the team.

“We haven’t really had the entire team together the whole season, so now we’re starting to show what we’re really capable of.”

The win was the Bobcats’ third straight and moved them to 5-6. It was also the team’s highest-scoring game of the young season.

Players and coaches alike said high energy to start the game was the key. UCM is perfectly solid when executing its half-court offense but seems to thrive when pushing the ball in transition. Guards Courtney Danna (16 points, eight assists) and Christina Castro (12 points) are particularly adept at shredding a defense on the break, either scoring off the dribble or dissecting it with a pass.

All of that is predicated on the Bobcat defense creating such opportunities. UCM was more than up to the task Tuesday, picking up 11 steals and forcing 25 turnovers from the Flames (3-14).

“Coming out with good defensive pressure is one of our driving forces,” Hopkins-Chery said. “There were times it was very good tonight, and there were times we eased up a little bit. I thought overall we were pretty active on the defensive end and did a good job of turning that into offense.

“The other thing I was happy with is the 21 assists. We’ve worked a lot on moving the ball and making the extra pass to make sure we get a good look. The girls did a good job of that today.”

UC Merced spread the scoring in the opening quarter as it built a 22-12 lead.

Belvin started taking over in the second quarter. The freshman scored 17 points in the opening half, including a personal 6-0 run to close the second quarter. Belvin drilled a 12-foot jumper off good ball movement and then made steals on back-to-back Bethesda possessions that led to two free throws and a layup. Her late surge pushed the Bobcat lead to 50-28 at intermission.

UCM expanded the lead to 30 in the fourth quarter before easing off the gas. Bethesda’s Gabby Robledo did her best to take advantage, drilling six 3s and scoring a game-high 33 points. The Flames pulled within 11 before the Bobcats finished things off.

“That’s definitely something we need to work on,” Hopkins-Chery said. “We changed up our rotations and got the rest of the bench in there and the intensity dropped. That’s something we can control, however, and will need to get worked out before we start league.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2016 at 6:46 PM with the headline "UC Merced women shine on offense behind Belvin’s career day."