Nov. 25, 2008

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Freshman Kasey Riecks scored 12 points while Lauren Juric added 11 points and seven rebounds as the UC Davis women's basketball team opened the home portion of its season with a 56-49 win over visiting San Francisco on Tuesday night at The Pavilion.

UC Davis improved to 2-1 with the win while the Dons, who erased a 29-20 halftime lead to take a brief advantage in the second half, fell to 1-3. Guards Danesha Wright and Shay Rollins each canned five three-pointers for San Francisco, finishing with 19 and 15 points, respectively.

The Aggies, who played without senior Haylee Donaghe and freshman Vicki Deely who both missed the game with injuries, shot well from the field, converting 55.3 percent of their shots (21 of 38) while holding a 30-23 rebounding advantage.

"I thought this was more like a veteran win," said Aggie coach Sandy Simpson. "We weathered a couple of runs by USF and made plays on both sides of the court."

UC Davis led throughout the first half, buidling a trio of seven-point leads before a three-pointer by Rollins made it 21-20 with 9 minutes, 39 seconds left in the first half. But those were the final points of the first half for the Dons who were held to just six shots the rest of the way. The Aggies, meanwhile scored nine points to take a 29-20 lead at halftime.

Rollins ended the drought with a three-pointer to start the final 20 minutes and then Rheina Ale made one two minutes later as San Francisco climbed back to within 31-29. Layups by Hana Asano, Paige Mintun and Kasey Riecks re-opened the Aggies' lead to 37-29 before a 10-0 run by the Dons gave them a 39-37 lead with 13:36 to go.

The teams were tied twice before Juric made a free throw to help a 7-0 surge for UC Davis which led 48-41 with 5:04 remaining. A long trey from Wright with 1:14 to play brought USF to within 52-49 but Juric made a crucial reverse layup off a nice move along baseline for a five-point lead and Costello converted a couple of late free throws for the final margin.

UC Davis played tough defense as it tried to stop the three-point shooting of USF which finished with 11, just one shy of its school record. The Aggies also benefitted from 24 turnovers.

"Defensively, we do mostly one thing and that's trap," said Simpson. "We will adjust what we do but we won't stop."

UC Davis had a season-high 27 turnovers but posted 14 assists on its 21 baskets. Mintun had four to lead the Aggies. Juric added seven rebounds and Mintun had six while Asano, making her first collegiate start, had six steals. Riecks was 4 of 5 from the field to help withher 12 points.

Wright was 5 of 10 from three-point for the Dons while Rollins was 5 of 12. Wright committed 11 turnovers but had a team-high six rebounds.

The Aggies will take a break for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action on Monday against Santa Clara. Tipoff is 7 p.m.