Nov. 24, 2006

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. - Senior guard Heather Arns scored 20 points on four three-pointers while sophomore Jenni Ritter added 14 in the second half to lead Portland State to a 73-63 win over UC Davis in non-conference women's basketball action at the Peter Stott Center Friday.

Senior guard Laura Thomas tallied 17 points for the Aggies, while Haylee Donaghe and Heather Bates each chipped in 15. Bates shot 6-for-7 from the floor, including a perfect 6-for-6 after the halftime break.

UC Davis drops to 1-4 for the season. The Vikings, members of the Big Sky Conference, jump to 2-3.

The Aggies overcame a slow start, falling behind by a 15-7 deficit while managing just one field goal during the first 10 minutes of play. However, Thomas helped her team scramble back, first scoring a layup to cut the deficit to 20-18, then sending an assist to Anna Harp to the tie the contest at 20-20 at the 5:34 mark. The Vikings took a 28-23 lead into the halftime break, as Arns hit a three-pointer with 2:38 remaining, then Katia Hadj-Hamou drained a 26-footer at the buzzer.

Bates scored five points out of the second-half gates to help UC Davis close the gap to 30-28, then Thomas later scored five straight to tie the contest at 33-33. The Aggies took their first second-half lead on a trey by Donaghe, then climbed ahead to 40-35 on a Thomas jumper. In all, the Aggies outscored their hosts by a 17-7 edge in the first 7:30 after the intermission.

"I felt we played tremendous defense for the latter part of the first half and the early part of the second half," said UC Davis head coach Sandy Simpson. "We didn't take advantage in the first half offensively, but we stayed in the game because of our defense."

"I thought we came out very well in the second half. We forced some turnovers and got a couple of shots. Then fatigue set in a little bit and we were a little slow in our shfits. And they started to make their shots."

Portland State whittled away at the Aggie lead, then Delaney Conway and Ritter connected on back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 47-47. Ritter later drew a three-shot foul against Aggie freshman Ashley Curry and converted all three throws to give PSU a 58-57 edge at 4:31.

Ritter helped the Vikings pull away, first hitting a three-pointer at the 3:09 to extend the advantage to 64-57, then hitting another from beyond the arc at the 1:52 mark to keep PSU up by two possessions. Arns sealed the win for PSU, hitting 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute.

"Portland State started moving the ball better, but one of the reasons was that we were not getting to the lanes quite as crisply as we were earlier," added Simpson. "All of a sudden, they're getting open looks with a little more time to measure it. But I certainly give Portland State credit. They started knocking them down and put on an offensive clinic in the last five minutes of the game, and they deserve to win because of it."

Portland State shot 16 of 18 from the stripe in the second half, after missing its lone attempt in the first half. In contrast, UC Davis went 11-for-16 in the opener, then shot just 2-for-2 from the line after halftime.

Brosterhous scored 15 points and match Aggie guard Kirsten Commins' game-high total of eight rebounds. She was 4-for-4 during the Vikings early fireworks to start the contest.

The Aggies head south for their first-ever matchup with Pac-10 Conference member Oregon State on Sunday.

UC DAVIS (1-4)
Laura Thomas 5-10 5-6 17, Haylee Donaghe 5-13 2-2 15, Heather Bates 6-7 2-2 15, Genevieve Costello 3-8 0-0 6, Kirsten Commins 1-5 2-4 4, Lindsey Jones 0-4 0-0 0, Anna Harp 1-7, 2-2 4, Ashley Curry 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 22-55 13-18 63.

PORTLAND STATE (2-3)
Kelsey Kahle 3-6 4-4 10, Kerstin Brosterhous 7-12 1-2 15, Jenni Ritter 3-11 5-7 14, Heather Arns 5-11 6-6 20, Emily Boscacci 0-2 0-0 0, Katie Hadj-Hamou 1-2 0-03, Kailey Bostwick 0-3 0-0 0, Delaney Conway 3-10 0-0 7, Janie Bos 0-3 0-0 0, Brianna Thompson 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 24-65 16-19 73.

Halftime - PSU, 28-23. Three-point goals - UC Davis 6-16 (Donaghe 3-6, Thomas 2-6, Bates 1-1, Jones 0-2, Costello 0-1), PSU 9-24 (Heather Arns 4-8, Jenni Ritter 3-10, Delaney Conway 1-3, Katia Hadj-Hamou 1-2, Emily Boscacci 0-1. Rebounds - UC Davis 35 (Commins 8), PSU 44 (Brosterhous 8). Fouled out - UC Davis: Bates, PSU: none. Technical fouls - UC Davis: bench, PSU: Kelsey Kahle. Attendance: 347.