Box Score Jan. 7, 2010
Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. - Paige Mintun scored 13 points, Haylee Donaghe added 11 and the host Aggies won their second straight game as the UC Davis women's basketball team beat defending Big West Conference champion UC Santa Barbara 54-49 at The Pavilion on Thursday night.
The Aggies, who ended a three-game losing streak to the Gauchos, won their second straight game, moving to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the Big West. UCSB, which picked up 12 points from guard Meagan Williams and 11 from forward Jordan Franey, fell to 4-10 overall while evening their league mark at 1-1.
The Gauchos entered the season as the preseason pick to win the Big West Conference for the 12th time since 1997 while UC Davis - which lost to UCSB in the conference championship in 2008 - was the media's pick to finish second.
UC Davis won the game despite being outrebounded by 27 while grabbing a season-low 19. However, it benefitted from 27 turnovers by UCSB which the Aggies turned into 14 points.
Aggie coach Sandy Simpson said both teams battled hard the entire way.
"From a fan's standpoint and watching, in terms of beauty, maybe (it wasn't the prettiest)," he said. "But in terms of just a lot of heart being shown by both teams, I thought it was a pretty fun game. I'm pleased we could win a game where obviously we weren't clicking tonight."
UC Davis led 5-0 in the early going and went up 12-6 after a layup from Vicky Deely six minutes into the game but the Gauchos scored six straight to tie the game for the only time of the first half. A pair of free throws from Lauren Juric with 4:45 left in the half staked the Aggies to their largest lead of the game, 27-19. The Gauchos, though, rallied to get within 29-26 at halftime.
Center Mekia Valentine, who is third in the country in blocked shots, made a layup while Williams followed with a jumper as UCSB scored the first four points of the second half for a 30-29 lead. The teams exchanged the lead three times before Kasey Riecks' layup near the midway point of the half gave UC Davis the lead for good, 40-39.
The Aggies weren't able to pull away, going up by as many as six points but also seeing the advantage whittled to as little as two. But a 5-0 run afer UCSB got to within 47-45 with 2:48 to go put UC Davis up by seven and it was able to hold off the Gauchos the rest of the way.
UCSB missed 29 shots in the game but grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, holding UC Davis to its fewest overall boards this season. But those totals were balanced by 27 Gaucho turnovers, 13 which came on steals by the Aggies, including three from Hana Asano.
Mintun made 5 of 8 shots - one of them a three-pointer - while Donaghe was 5 of 8 from the line. Nine of the 11 Aggies in uniform scored points. Asana and Samantha Meggison pitched in with four assists each.
Franey was 5 of 9 from the field for her 11 points while also tying Valentine - who went down with injury late in the game - with nine rebounds.
UC Davis held an opponent below 50 points for the third time this season.
The Aggies will return to Hamilton Court on Saturday when they host Cal Poly at 7 p.m. The Mustangs, who beat Pacific 63-53 in Stockon on Thursday, are the only other Big West team with a winning record. Cal Poly is 9-4 overall and 2-0 in the Big West.
