Senior Courtney Mathewson and junior Tanya Gandy each scored three goals to lead No. 1-ranked and top-seeded UCLA to an 11-4 win over UC Davis in the first of two semifinal games of the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship, held at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center.

The eighth-ranked and fifth-seeded Aggies end their school-record 14-game winning streak, falling to 27-9. The Bruins, who qualified for an unprecedented eighth title game, improve to 32-0.

Sophomore goalie Casey Hines enjoyed another solid day for the Aggies, recording 10 saves in net. Seniors Laura Uribe and Mary Lowe, and juniors Lindsay Kiyama and Emily Kitchens each had one goal for UC Davis, which trailed just 3-2 at the halftime break.

"I'm really proud of how well our team responded to the challenge of playing a team that started the day at 31-0," said UC Davis head coach Jamey Wright. "That can be daunting and potentially intimidating. I thought our group did a good job absorbing UCLA's onslaught in the first half. We gave up one goal in the first quarter on a bad pass, and they got a counter out of that. But otherwise, I thought we played good defense and enough offense to keep them out of a full counter mode."

The Aggies drew first blood in the contest when Kiyama assisted Uribe on a 6-on-5 goal during the opening minutes. Christi Raycraft drew two more exclusions in the period but the Aggies were unable to capitalize. After seven missed shots -- three saved by UC Davis goalkeeper Casey Hines -- UCLA finally registered on the scoreboard when Mathewson completed a 6-on-5 counterattack with 17 seconds remaining, tying the score at 1-1.

The Bruins slipped on a chance to take the lead early in the second half when they held a rare 6-on-3 advantage, but earned redemption when Annie Belden scored the go-ahead in transition on her team's next possession. Belden later hit a short lob to the left side of the UC Davis cage at 3:20 to claim a 3-1 lead, while the Aggies were unable to attempt a shot for the first five minutes of the second period. UC Davis finally put up a second-quarter goal on Lowe's 6-on-4 conversion in the final minute before the break, cutting the Bruin lead to 3-2.

"It's kind of fun being the underdog," said Kiyama. "We were seeded first in the WWPA, so we knew the pressure UCLA was feeling. We were excited [at halftime] because we didn't roll over like they probably thought we would. I thought we put up a good fight and we kept putting up a good fight in the second half, but they started hitting their shots."

UCLA broke open the contest in the third quarter as Gandy scored three goals in a span of less than three minutes after the halftime break. Kiyama briefly ended the onslaught when she hit her 6-on-5 chance at the 3:56 mark, then Mathewson hit back-to-back scores to extend the Bruin edge to 8-3. Junior Katie Rulon tacked on another goal in the final seconds of the third to push the UCLA lead to 9-3.

"It's part of everybody's game plan that you don't give up goals at two meters," said Wright. "You try to field-block shots and you make people score from the outside. That's been our game plan all year long, but it was an adjustment we didn't make in that short little span of the third quarter. Tanya [Gandy] was on fire, and by the time you figure it out, it's over."

The Bruins protected their advantage through the fourth, allowing only a goal by reserve defender Emily Kitchens with 1:17 remaining in the contest.

The Aggies will face the loser of the USC-Stanford game in the national tournament's third-place contest on Sunday at 4 p.m.

GOALS - UC Davis: Laura Uribe 1, Mary Lowe 1, Lindsay Kiyama 1, Emily Kitchens 1. UCLA: Courtney Mathewson 3, Tanya Gandy 3, Anne Belden 2, Katie Rulon 1, Gabrielle Domanic 1, Kelsey McGinley 1.

GOALIE SAVES - UC Davis: Casey Hines 10 (30:00), Diana Pivacek 1 (2:00). UCLA: Brittany Fullen 6.