Jan. 10, 2009

Final Stats

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Freshman Kasey Riecks made two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining as UC Davis fought back from a late seven-point deficit to beat Long Beach State 55-54 in a Big West Conference women's basketball game at The Pyramid on Saturday afternoon.

The Aggies improved to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in the Big West after picking up their first road win since Dec. 6. Paige Mintun hit a trio of three-pointers and had 17 points for UC Davis while Riecks finished with 15. Redshirt freshman Lauren Juric, whose basket in the low post with 1 minute, 50 seconds to go tied it after the Aggies trailed 51-44 three minutes earlier, had 12 points.

Long Beach State, which lost its fifth straight, dropped to 3-12 overall and 0-4 in the league. Guard Lauren Sims canned five three-pointers on her way to a game-high 19 points for the 49ers while Courtney Jacob had two treys and finished with 11 points.

Riecks got to the free throw line with only a couple of ticks remaining after Brett Timmons made a pair to give Long Beach State a 54-53 led with nine seconds to go. The Aggies raced up the court and Mintun found Riecks cutting to the basket where she was fouled in the key by Jacob. Riecks made the pair and the 49ers were unable to get a good shot off before the buzzer.

"Following a good effort the other night we needed to reward ourselves with a win," said Aggie coach Sandy Simpson. "Kasey showed the presence to attack the hoop, drew the foul and then calmly stepped up - after a timeout, no less - and didn't even touch the rim."

UC Davis put itself in a position to win after battling back from a 51-44 deficit with 4:38 remaining. Hana Asano's trey helped kickstart a 9-0 run that featured Juric's tying basket through a double-team with less than two minutes to go. Mintun then gave the Aggies 53-51 lead with 28 seconds left after her short put-back off Genevieve Costello's miss rolled around the rim a couple of times before falling through.

Long Beach State worked the clock before sending Whitney Fields to the line with nine seconds left after she was fouled by Mintun. Field made one of two but Brett Timmons scooped up a loose ball after the miss and was fouled. She made a pair, setting up the exciting finish.

The Aggies, who were missing three players due to injuries including freshman Vicky Deely who played on Th ursday night in a 56-52 loss at UC Riverside, didn't lead by more than two points in the first half and trailed by five on two occasions before going down by six at 26-20 after a three-pointer from Melanie Lisnock. However, Costello made two free throws with 32 seconds left and then banked in a running three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 26-25 at the break.

The game was tied five times in the second half before three-pointers from Jacob and Adelle Walton helped Long Beach State go up 49-43. Fields' jumper with 4:38 staked the 49ers to their biggest lead at 51-44.

Mintun's three treys established a career-high while Recks also hit three. Costello had a team-high six rebounds and four assists. UC Davis was 13 of 15 from the line and shot 53 percent from the field in the second half.

Jacon contribued a game-best nine rebounds for Long Beach State while Fields had eight. The 49ers made 10 of 33 three-point attempts.

UC Davis will return to