March 15, 2008

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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Jessica Wilson scored 16 points and the top-seeded UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team capitalized on a 14-0 run in the first half to erase an early 10-point deficit to second-seeded UC Davis as the Gauchos beat the Aggies 74-59 to claim the Big West Tournament Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Jessica Campbell scored a game-high 25 points and was namd to the all-tournament team for the Aggies who are 19-11. The Gauchos, who had three players in double figures besides Wilson, are 23-7 and advance to the NCAA Division I Championships. Wilson was named the tournament MVP. A 17-2 run in the second half by the Gauchos helped them pull away for the win.

UC Davis' season will continue in the postseason as well after automatically qualifying for the Women's National Invitational Tournament which begins next week. Pairings for the 48-team tournament will be announced on Monday night. First-round games will be played Wednesday through Friday.

"I salute them," said Aggie coach Sandy Simpson of UCSB. "They had a great game plan and great excution and they hit big, big shots when they needed to... I thought they played outstanding basketball."

UC Davis was hoping to make the NCAA Tournament in just its first official season of Division I status. The Aggies got off to a good start on Saturday against the Gauchos who were playing in the tournament final for the 12th straight year but looking to qualify for the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2005.

Four early points by Campbell staked the Aggies to an early 4-0 lead. They continued to lead, using an 8-0 run to turn a 10-9 advantage into an 18-9 lead at the 10:41 mark after a driving layup from Kirsten Commins. The lead swelled to 21-11 after the first of two straight three-pointers from Heather Bates, the second which helped UC Davis counter Jordan Franey's trey for UCSB and keep the lead at 10 points, 24-14.

Leading 26-23, the Aggies scored five of the game's next six points to lead 31-24 with 4:40 remaining. But a layup from Whitney Warren started a 14-0 run over the final three-and-a-half minutes that was stopped by Genevieve Costello's three-pointer from the corner with just two seconds left before half. UCSB led 38-34 at the break.

Wilson had five points - including a three-point play - during the Gauchos' rally while Warren had four points and Meghan Williams hit a three-pointer. UC Davis, which shot 44.4 percent in the first half, missed six straight shots during the span before Costello ended the drought.

UC Davis came out strong in the second half, outscoring UCSB 8-4 to tie the game 42-42 just under three minutes in, but the Gauchos responded with eight straight points for a 50-42 which then grew to 54-44 midway through the half. The Aggies trailed by 15 points before getting to within 61-52 on a three-pointer from Campbell with 6:38 remaining but UCSB reopened the lead to double digits on their way to the tournament title.

The Gauchos benefitted from an attack that had just six turnovers, the fewest by six for an Aggie opponent this season.

Bates hit a trio of three-pointers and scored 11 points for UC Davis. Costello had six points while Commins finished with five points and a game-high tying five assists. Campbell hit 9 of 15 shots, including tying a career-high with three treys, to help with her 25 points while adding three assists and two rebounds. Bates had five rebounds for the Aggies who outrebounded the Gauchos 32-28.

Wilson made 7 of 15 shots and had five assists, a block and a steal for the Gauchos who also got double-figure scoring from Sha'Rae Gibbons (13 points), Warren (12) and Kat Suderman (11). The Gauchos made 49.1 percent from the field, including going 6 of 11 from three-point.

"I'd like to start off by congradulating Davis on a great season," said UCSB coach Mark French. "I really felt like this championship had the best two teams in it, and it was a well-contested game."

The Aggies were just the second team in Big West Conference history to play for the tournament title in just their first year in the league, joining Long Beach State which accomplished was runner-up in 1986.