Feb. 18, 2010

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Paige Mintun's season-high 22 points paced four Aggies in double figures on Thursday night as UC Davis took a 29-point halftime lead on its way to an 80-68 win over visiting Long Beach State, pushing the Aggies into a first-place tie with Cal Poly in the Big West Conference women's basketball standings.

The Aggies improved to 17-8 overall and 9-3 in the league while Long Beach State, which was able to reduce a 39-point deficit to just 10 points late in the game, had its three-game winning streak snapped. The 49ers are 11-14 overall and 7-5 in the Big West.

Vicky Deely, who was 3 for 3 from three-point, scored a career-high 15 points for the Aggies while Lauren Juric also had a trio of three-pointers and had 11 points. Sophomore Kasey Riecks added 10 points.

Ally Wade had six treys and finished with 21 points, tying guard Karina Figueroa for Long Beach State scoring honors. Figueroa picked up most of her points at the free throw line where she was 12 of 12. Guard Melanie Lisnock made four three-pointers and had 13 points for the 49ers.

UC Davis built its big halftime lead thanks to a strong start in which it jumped to a 22-2 lead less than eight minutes into the game. An 18-0 run fueled that fast start with Kasey Riecks and Juric hitting three-pointers and Vicky Deely making back-to-back treys. The 49ers were just 1 of 6 from the field during that same span.

Sparked by 53.3-percent shooting from the field, the Aggies continued to build the lead the remainder of the half, going up by as many as 30 points before taking a 48-19 halftime lead. UC Davis had 13 steals in the first half, converting 18 turnovers into 26 points.

"I was really pleased how aggressive we were," said Aggie coach Sandy Simpson. "We haven't played that well defensively for some time."

UC Davis continued to expand their lead in the second half, getting a three-pointer from Riecks with just under 13 minutes left to make it 68-29, its largest lead of the game.

Long Beach State, though, pressured UC Davis and started to cut into the lead scoring 35 of the next 41 points to make it 74-64 with 2:17 to go. Figueroa and Wade helped propel the rally, scoring 18 and 15 points, respectively, in the second half.

UC Davis, though, was able to keep the 49ers at length the rest of the way to earn its second straight victory.

"The last 12 minutes to (Long Beach State's) credit, showed they're resilience," said Simpson.

The Aggies made 10 of 22 three-pointers, posted 18 assists and tied a season-high with 19 points.

UC Davis is off until facing Long Beach State again next week. Tipoff at Walter Pyramid is 7 p.m. on Thursday.