Dec. 1, 2008

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Haylee Donaghe scored a game-high 19 points and Paige Mintun added 15 points and nine rebounds as the UC Davis women's basketball team won for the second straight time with a 62-54 nonconference victory over Santa Clara on Monday night at The Pavilion.

UC Davis improved to 3-1, winning the second contest of a current three-game homestand. Santa Clara, on the road for the past eight days and returning from three games over the holiday weekend in Florida, dropped to 1-7. Forward Elizabeth Doran led the Broncos with 15 points.

The Aggies hadn't played since beating San Francisco last Tuesday and got off to a slow start on Monday night. Santa Clara held UC Davis to just two points over the first nine minutes and to only four points for the first 10 before Donaghe made a three-pointer to get the Aggies to within 9-7.

UC Davis outscored the Broncos 24-11 after trailng 9-4, taking a 28-20 halftime lead. A three-pointer from Donaghe and a jumper from Samantha Meggison to start the second half gave the Aggies a 33-20 lead. Mintun's jumper midway through the half gave the Aggies a 47-29 advantage while a free throw from Donaghe later made it 55-36, their biggest lead of the game.

Santa Clara gradually cut into the lead down the stretch, making a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.

"We didn't play at an optimum level for 40 minutes but again it's rare when you have that many young players on the floor this early in the season that you're going to do that," said head coach Sandy Simpson who picked up his 198th career win. "We did enough to win."

Donaghe, who missed UC Davis' win over San Francisco due to injury, was 7 of 10 from the field on Monday night while adding five rebounds and three steals. Mintun was 5 of 10 from the floor, adding five assists, two blocks and three steals to her effort.

UC Davis also did a nice job protecting the ball after halftime, committing just eight turnovers after having 14 in the first 20 minutes. The Aggies also benefitted from 31 Santa Clara turnovers, 15 which came off of steals.

The Aggies will continue a busy week of action with a 7 p.m. matchup on Wednesday at The Pavilion against No. 25 Arizona State. The Sun Devils are the first of two Pac-10 opponents for UC Davis which willt travel to play highly ranked Stanford on Dec. 28.