Jan. 24, 2009

Final Stats

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Lisa McBride had four three-pointers and scored 20 points and Cal Poly rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half, as the Mustangs upended UC Davis 64-60 in a Big West Conference women's basketball game played before 446 fans at Mott Gym on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Paige Mintun scored 22 points and had eight rebounds for the Aggies who lost for the second straight game, falling to 7-11 overall and 3-4 in the Big West. Lauren Juric canned a career-high four three-pointers for UC Davis and finished with 12 points. Freshman guard Hana Asano had nine points off the bench for UC Davis while guard Genevieve Costello had eight points and six assists.

Cal Poly is 11-7 overall and 4-3 in the Big West.

UC Davis, which led 21-12 in the first half before going into the break tied with the Mustangs 29-29, took a 48-38 lead with 12 minutes, 54 seconds to play when Asano nailed a long three-pointer from the corner to cap an 8-0 run. The lead was still 10 a little more than a minute later when Cal Poly scored seven straight to get within three.

The Mustangs took their first lead since early in the game when Becky Tratter scored inside to make it 56-54 with 3:29 to go. UC Davis had a chance to take a late lead but Juric - who made her first four three-point tries - was just off the mark for another, keeping it 60-58 with 47 seconds left. The Mustangs went 4 for 4 from the line down the stretch to keep the Aggies away.

UC Davis was held to just two field goals over the final 11 minutes of the game as Cal Poly outscored it 24-10 the rest of the way.

Despite the loss, Aggie head coach Sandy Simpson was encouraged by his team's efforts.

"Defensively I thought we were much more active in forcing action," he said. "We got a lot of tips and deflections. We didn't run down some of those and Cal Poly, to their credit, ran down some loose balls and converted after the ball was up for grabs and that was the difference in the second half."

The Aggies enjoyed a big lead in the first half as well, turning an early five-point deficit into a 21-12 lead midway after Mintun scored in the paint, part of her 11 points in the first 20 minutes. UC Davis, though, was limited to just four points the rest of the half as Cal Poly rallied to forge a 29-29 tie at the break.

"It was a better effort tonight. We talked a lot about being the aggressors," Simpson said. "We certainly came out the aggressors tonight and that was a big step for us."

Cal Poly finished with 25 assists on 26 baskets while the Aggies had 16 dishes on 20 buckets. Tamara Wells had seven to pace the Mustangs. Mintun was 7 of 12 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the line, surpassing 20 points for the third time this year.

Kristina Santiago scored 12 points for Cal Poly while contributing four assists and four steals.

UC Davis will be off until traveling to face Pacific next Saturday at 7 p.m.