Dec. 3, 2008

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Guard Briann January made a season-high seven three-pointers and scored 22 points whileGuard Briann January made a season-high seven three-pointers and scored 25 points while guard Dymond Simon added 20 points as No. 25 Arizona Sate held off an upset bid by UC Davis for a 73-59 nonconference women's basketball win at The Pavilion on Wednesday night.

The Aggies, who battled back from double-digit deficits to single digits on four occassions, fell to 3-2 on the season. Arizona State, which led 14-0 early and led by as many as 17 in the second half, improved to 4-2. Paige Mintun scored a career-high 18 points and had eight rebounds for UC Davis while wing Samantha Meggison had 12 points.

Behind January, who was 7 of 9 from long range, the Sun Devils made 14 of 23 three-point attempts including an impressive 8 of 12 in the second half. January was the catalyst for that performance, draining all five of her tries from beyond the arc after halftime.

The Sun Devils featured four players at least 6-feet-3 inches tall, including a pair in the starting lineup and a strong lineup throughout.

"When you have what is essentially a mismatch that we had tonight, you've got to choose," said Aggie coach Sandy Simpson. "We watched them on film and they're very patient trying to get everything into the post.

"If it gets to under 10 seconds on the shot clock, then they'll start to look for their perimter stuff," he added. "We felt we needed to shut down the inside game first... We did what we needed to do there to there but Briann was just brilliant. I mean, she was just awesome."

UC Davis did a solid job against the starting posts for Arizona State, holding them to a combined two points.

Arizona State is the first nationally ranked opponent to visit UC Davis during the Aggies' new NCAA Division I era and the Sun Devils came out looking every bit as formidable as their ranking. They scored the game's first 14 points in just over three minutes, capitalizing on four UC Davis turnovers.

However, the Aggies settled in and fought back to within 19-14 when Haylee Donaghe canned a three-pointer with 7minutes, 47 seconds to go. But a 7-0 run by Arizona State - keyed by a three-pointer and a layup from Simon - re-opened the lead to 26-14 two minutes later.

UC Davis responded again, though, and clawed back to 27-23 after a layup from Mintun with 2:51 remaining. Back-to-back treys from guard Danielle Orsillo made it a 10-point game before the Sun Devils went into halftime with a 37-25 advantage.

The Aggies came out strong in the second half, scoring the first eight points to make it 37-33 but January hit four three-pointers over a span of 2:30 to help push the lead to 49-36. The lead grew to 54-37 before UC Davis rallied again to 54-46 midway through the half. Arizona State, though, turned back the Aggies once again and rebuilt the lead to double-digits which it maintained the rest of the way.

Despite giving away size to the Sun Devils, the Aggies held a 28-23 rebounding advantage, including an 18-9 lead in the second half. Included in that latter total were eight offensive rebounds. UC Davis also committed just nine turnovers in the second half after tallyng 17 in the first.

Arizona State had 21 assists on their 25 baskets, led by five from January. Orsillo finished with 10 points and three steals, making a trio of three-pointers herself.

Meggison made both of her three-point tries, helping UC Davis convert 7 of 13 for the game. Lauren Juric had eight rebounds and contributed a career-best four blocks and three assists.

UC Davis returns to t