March 20, 2008

SPOKANE, Wash. - Michelle Elliott scored 19 points, Heather Bowman had 12 points and Gonzaga took a 14-point halftime lead, as the host Bulldogs beat UC Davis 81-60 on Thursday night in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Basketball Tournament at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The loss brings to a close the Aggies' highly successful debut as a member of theNCAA Division I, one which featured a second-place finish in the Big West Conference and its most wins since the 2001-02 season with a 19-12 overall record. Gonzaga, which won the West Coast Conference regular-season title, improved to 25-8 heading into its second-round WNIT matchup at Colorado on Monday.

Jessica Campbell ended her outstanding Aggie career by scoring a game-high 23 points while guard Anna Harp had 11. Senior Heather Bates - who along with Campbell, Ellen Porshneva and Tatiana Armstrong - played her final game as an Aggie, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and sixth of her career .

The game was the second matchup of the year between the programs and the third in the last two seasons with Gonzaga winning the previous two including a 71-58 matchup at The Pavilion last December. The Bulldogs, after winning the WCC with a 13-1 record, were upset by San Diego in their conference tournament, losing the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga was hopeful to win an at-large berth to the tournament but was bypassed.

UC Davis scored six straight points in the early going to take a 6-2 lead but a 9-0 run by the Bulldogs put them in front 11-6 with 13 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first half and they led the rest of the way. The Aggies later trailed just 13-10 but another Gonzaga run - this one 8-0 and keyed by four points from Vivian Frieson - made it 21-10 with 7:51 to go. Elliott scored nine points in the first half and the Bulldogs had just six turnovers as Gonzaga took a 33-19 lead into the break.

"They played terrific tonight on both sides of the ball," said head coach Sandy Simpson. "We struggled to shoot the ball early. The few good open looks we got in the first half we didn't knock down. And when you're playing a team that's playing as well defensively as that team is, you have to take advantage of the openings when you get them and we really didn't in the first half."

The Bulldogs extended the lead to 48-26 less than five minutes into the second half and UC Davis would get no closer than 19 points the rest of the way. The Aggies finished strong, though, outscoring Gonzaga 22-7 over the final 5:38.

The Aggies finished with an uncharacteristic 26 turnovers which led to 33 points by the Bulldogs. UC Davis, which leads the Big West in steals, finished with 13 including four by Haylee Donaghe and three each for Bates and Harp. UC Davis also nearly outrebounded its fourth opponent in the row, only trailing 36-32 on the boards.

UC Davis enjoyed many memorable moments in its first year of Div. I, including a 12-4 mark during the Big West Conference season and a No. 2 seed at the league tournament last week in Anaheim. Along the way, the Aggies enjoyed a championship at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic in November, matchups against highly ranked Stanford and Arizona State, and an upset at Big West champion UC Santa Barbara in February, the Gauchos' only conference loss of the season.

UC Davis also had three players honored by the Big West with Campbell earning first-team honors, Haylee Donaghe garnering second-team accolades and Bates being named honorable mention. The also became just the second team in Big West history to advance to the conference tournament championship in its first year in the league and just the second to earn a postseason bid.

"I'm very proud of this team and they need to remember tonight was a historic night for Aggie Athletics," said Simpson. "I told them before the game they didn't 'luck' into this. They earned their way here.

"With time they're going to understand what a special season this was."

Campbell ended her career among the program's all-team leaders in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots while Porshneva - like Campbell - surpassed 1,000 career points and is also on the all-time blocked shots list. Bates established herself as one of the most potent long-range threats in school history with 117 career three-pointers while Armstrong capped her brief two-year career by making a nice reverse layup just before the buzzer.