Despite a furious fourth quarter rally, Utah Tech women's basketball dropped its third-straight during its current homestand in a hard-fought 68-65 loss to visiting UC Santa Barbara on Saturday afternoon inside the Burns Arena.

How it happened 
The Trailblazers and Gauchos were locked in an early back-and-forth battle, thanks in large part to 3-pointers from Maddie Warren, Kaylee Borden and Rose Boisnel, the latter of which knotted the score at 15-15 with 2:50 to play in the first quarter.
 
However UCSB (9-1) would close the opening stanza with a 7-0 spurt on its way to a 22-15 advantage after 10 minutes complete.
 
Paige Cofer stopped the Gaucho rally with a pair of free throws to begin the second quarter scoring. Brie Crittendon and Borden then followed perimeter jumpers, while Crittendon would make it a one-point game at 27-26 after a conventional three-point play, which led to a Gaucho timeout with 5:59 on the clock.
 
UCSB's timeout managed to quell the Blazer rally, while the Gauchos went on to rattle off nine-straight points to open up their biggest lead of the day at 36-26 with 2:30 to go until halftime.
 
Utah Tech (4-5/0-0 WAC) withstood the run and answered with six-straight points of its own to close the half and retreated to the locker room trailing by a 36-32 count.
 
However the Trailblazers lost that late second-quarter momentum during the intermission as UCSB scored the first six points of the second half to again lead by 10 at 42-32 at the 6:24 mark of the third quarter.
 
Rose Boisnel finally ended the drought with a cross-over drive and lay-in nearly two minutes later. Cofer followed suit on the Blazers' next possession as again Utah Tech made it a two-possession game at 42-36.
 
Trailing by 10 at 55-45 with 7:34 remaining in the fourth, Utah Tech started heating up for the perimeter. 
 
Crittendon, who scored nine of her season-high 17 points in the final period, knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game. Maddie Warren then drained a transition trifecta of her own after a Blazer defensive stop that pulled Utah Tech to within four at 58-54 with six minutes to go.
 
After Warren and Gaucho guard Jessica Grant exchanged 3-pointers, Crittendon scored the game's next four points to trim the UCSB lead down to three at 61-58 with just under four minutes left in regulation.
 
Utah Tech's defense forced a UCSB turnover on the Gauchos' ensuing possession, and the Blazers cashed in the miscue with a Warren lob to Cofer, who banked home a lay-in and drew a foul.
 
Cofer converted the "and one" free throw to pull the Blazers even at 61-61 with 3:14 remaining.
 
Unfortunately Utah Tech could not overtake the Gauchos as UCSB countered with six unanswered points, and held on from there to spoil the Trailblazers' comeback hopes. 
 
Numbers to know
Crittendon knocked down seven of her 14 shot attempts and just missed her second double-double of the season as she finished with a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Meanwhile Cofer poured in a season-high 13 points, seven of which came after halftime. The sophomore went 5-of-7 from the floor and pulled down seven rebounds.
 
Boisnel added 10 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting with a career high five rebounds, while Warren finished with nine points, five caroms, three assists, one steal and one block. 
 
Utah Tech shot 41.8 percent from the floor (23-of-55), which included an 8-of-27 result (.296) from the perimeter. The Trailblazers also shot a season-high 91.7 percent (11-of-12) at the foul line, and recorded 15 assists on their 23 made shot attempts.
 
Grant paced four Gauchos in double figures with 16 points off the bench. UCSB hit on 35.3 percent of its field goal attempts (24-of-68), including a 10-of-35 clip (.286) from beyond the arc, and outrebounded Utah Tech by a 40-36 count. 
 
Up Next
Utah Tech will put a bow on its five-game holiday homestand, and its 2025-26 non-conference slate, this upcoming Wednesday, Dec. 17, with a rare mid-week matinee vs. Chicago State. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is set for 2 p.m. (MT).