Box Score Dec. 27, 2010
Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. - A 12-0 first-half surge on Monday night pushed UC Davis into a double-digit lead it would not relinquish as the Aggie women's basketball team won its 13th straight home game with a 70-54 nonconference victory over Santa Clara at The Pavilion.
UC Davis, whose home winning streak entered last week ranked among the top 15 in the country, won its fourth straight game overall and is 10-2. The Aggies won their final eight home games last year and are 5-0 so far this season.
Blair Shinoda went 6 for 6 from the field, including making a pair of three-pointers, while scoring a career-high 14 points. Paige Mintun added 13 points and Kasey Riecks had 11.
Santa Clara, which was led by 14 points and 13 points from Arteivia Lilomaiava and 13 points from Rick Radanovich, dropped to 2-10. The Broncos were victimized by 34 turnovers, 20 of them on steals by UC Davis.
The game was the Aggies' last before opening Big West Conference play on Friday against Cal State Fullerton. UC Davis, ranked No. 8 in the current CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, was selected by the media as the preseason favorite to capture this year's conference title.
The Aggies, who have also won 10 straight games over West Coast Conference opponents, used a big run in the first half to gain separation from the Broncos. They led just 8-7 after Lena Gipson's layup with 14 minutes, 2 seconds left in the half but then scored the next 12 to take a 20-7 less than six minutes later.
Mintun had seven points during the run, including a three-pointer that came right on the heels of one from guard Hana Asano. The Broncos had seven turnovers and took just two shots during the span. UC Davis maintained at least a 10-point lead the rest of the half, building it to 40-21 at the break after baseline jumpers from both Vicky Deely and Mintun in the final eight seconds.
UC Davis had just three turnovers in the first 20 minutes while picking up 11 steals. It also held the Broncos to just 1 of 13 (7.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Aggies built the lead to 30 points at 53-23 just over six minutes into the second half and got it as large as 64-32 with 8:16 to go. The Broncos rallied to close the gap down the stretch.
Shinoda, whose previous career-best was eight points at Cal Poly last year, scored seven straight points for UC Davis in the first half, helping it turn a 21-11 lead into a 28-13 advantage.
Santa Clara outrebounded UC Davis 47-29. No Aggie had more than three boards. Samantha Meggison had five steals and Mintun had four for the Aggies, whose 20 swipes were just one off their season-high.
UC Davis will tip off against Cal State Fullerton at 2 p.m. on Friday before hosting Cal State Northridge at 2 p.m. on Sunday to complete its current three-game homestand.
