March 4, 2009

Final Stats

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Lauren Juric made two free throws with 19 seconds remaining on Wednesday night and the UC Davis women's basketball team survived two three-point attempts from host Cal State Northridge in the final moments as the Aggies won 53-50 to secure fifth place in the Big West Conference regular-season.

UC Davis also clinched the No. 5 seed for the upcoming Big West Tournament and will play the No. 8 seed in the opening round at noon on Wednesday at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Aggies' opponent will be determined after conference play finishes on Saturday. UC Davis, which was led by 18 points from sophomore Paige Mintun, improved to 11-17 overall and 7-9 in the Big West.

The victory also gave head coach Sandy Simpson the 206th of his career, the most in program history, as he surpassed former coach Jorja Hoehn for the top spot. Simpson is 206-132.

Cal State Northridge, which needs to beat Pacific on Saturday and hope for a loss from UC Irvine in order to earn a berth to the conference tournament, dropped to 6-22 overall and 3-11 in the Big West. Ashley Blake had four three-pointers and scored 14 points for the Matadors while guard Whitney Ligon had 12 points, benefitting from a trio of three-pointers.

UC Davis led 43-33 in the second half before the Matadors gradually cut into the lead, eventually getting to within 51-50 after a shot inside from Analee Viena-Lota with 52 seconds to go. Mintun was fouled with 20 seconds left but missed the front end of a one-and-one. However, Juric got the rebound and was fouled, making both tries from the line.

Neeta Sreekanth missed a trey with two seconds left for Cal State Northridge but the ball found its way to Blake who was off the mark with her three-point attempt as time expired, delivering UC Davis the key win.

"Northridge really applied some great pressure to get back into the game and they certainly showed fight to the end," Simpson said. "But to our credit we made a couple of big plays at the end when we had to, especially Lauren's offensive rebound off the missed free throw."

Both teams struggled with the ball throughout the game. UC Davis had a season-high 29 turnovers while the Matadors finished with 23, with the teams combining for 30 in the first half. The Aggies led for much of the opening 20 minutes, going up by seven before settling for a 23-19 halftime lead.

Mintun's three-pointer with 11 minutes, 5 seconds to play in the game gave UC Davis its biggest lead at 43-33 before Blake answered with a layup as the Matadors scored seven of the next eight points to get within 44-40. Trailing 51-42 with 3:25 to go, Cal State Northridge rallied with its full-court pressure to get turnovers and get closer. Three free throws and a three-pointer from Ligon made it 51-48, setting up the exciting finish.

Mintun scored 14 of her points in the second half, also finishing with five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Juric grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for UC Davis which out-boarded the Matadors 40-27.

UC Davis is off until opening up play in the Big West Tournament.