Post Lisa Peterson scored 10 points to pace UC Davis which trailed 35-29 at halftime but forged a pair of ties in the second half, the last one coming at 49-49 at the 3:29 mark. Denver's Brianna Culberson, however, hit a layup to start a 7-1 run that made it 56-50 with just under two minutes to play and the Pioneers converted all eight of their free throw attempts in the final 71 seconds to pull away for the win.

UC Davis trailed by as many as eight points on three different occassions in the first half after taking an early 8-2 lead. They held their final advantage at 14-12 with 14:38 to go but Ashly Robinson converted a layup and Celena Otera made a three to five the Pioneers the lead for good. Denver led by six points at halftime after shooting 60 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, a mark mostly answered by the Aggies who made 50 percent (12 of 24) of their tries.

The Aggies turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, however, holding the Pioneers scoreless over the first five minutes to climb to within 35-33 after a layup from freshman Kasey Riecks. A three-point play from Peterson with 13 minutes to play tied the game, 39-39. Keyed by five points from Mason - including a three-pointer - Denver answered though wth a 7-0 run to go up 46-39 with 8:43 left. The Aggies were still down 49-43 with 4:34 remaining before Peterson's jumper, two free throws from Juric and a pair of free throws from Riecks, who was fouled after a strong offensive rebound, evened the count one final time.

UC Davis had a chance to take the lead after Culberson's layup put the Pioneers up 51-49 but Cortney French's three-point try was off the mark and Britteni Rice added a pair of free throws after a subsequent for a four-point lead. It was still just 53-50 with 2:06 left before Otero hit a big trey from the corner to give the Pioneers a cushion they would not relinquish.

Haylee Donaghe scored nine points and had two steals before leaving the game late with an injury. Riecks, Genevieve Costello and Juric each had seven while Paige Mintun and Juric led the team with five rebounds. Mason was 3 of 8 from three-point for her 11 points while Otero and Culberson each had 10 points. Culberson added team-highs with six rebounds and six assists.

UC Davis had 11 steals in the game including four from Costello. The Aggies shot 40.5 percent from the field for the game but were just 5 of 18 (27.5 percent) in the second half. After making 60 percent of their attempts before halftime, Denver cooled off to 48.8 percent for the game. UC Davis also played the final several minutes without head coach Sandy Simpson who received two technical fouls.

UC Davis will return to action on Tuesday when it hosts San Francisco in the home-opener. Tipoff at The Pavilion is 7 p.m.