Feb. 25, 2010

Final Stats

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Vicky Deely scored a game-high 13 points and UC Davis opened a big first-half lead against Long Beach State for the second straight game as the Aggies beat the 49ers 70-46 on Thursday night at Walter Pyramid, taking over sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference women's basketball standings.

UC Davis won its third straight game, moving to 18-8 overall and 10-3 in the Big West, a half-game in front of Cal Poly which lost at Cal State Fullerton 70-63 on Thursday to fall into second place.. Long Beach State, which was paced by 11 points from leading scorer Karina Figueroa and 10 from Ally Wade, dropped to 12-15 overall and 8-6 in the league.

The Aggies played back-to-back games against the 49ers, beating them 80-68 a week ago on Hamilton Court at The Pavilion. UC Davis led 48-19 at halftime of that game and eventually opened a 39-point lead in the second half before Long Beach State closed the gap down the stretch.

Thursday's game followed much of the same pattern except this time UC Davis was able to keep the big lead after working hard early to get it. Four quick points helped staked the Aggies to a 7-0 lead after two minutes while Deely's three-pointer just over a minute later made it 14-0. Figueroa's bucket inside with four minutes gone marked Long Beach State's first points.

UC Davis led 22-5 after eight minutes and built the lead to 31-8 after a three-pointer from Blair Shinoda with 5:42 left in the half. It led by as much as 35-10 before going into halftime with a 38-17 advantage.

The Aggiess made 6 of 9 three-pointers in the first half, held a 19-17 rebounding advantage and benefitted from 15 turnovers b the 49ers who - while facing strong defensive pressure - shot just 23.1 percent (6 of 26) from the field, including just 20 percent (3 of 15) from beyond the arc.

"It was interesting how the first half played out very similarily to the game up in Davis," said UC Davis head coach Sandy Simpson. "The difference was tonight we were able to keep our poise in the second half against their pressure. And Long Beach again didn't have the shooting night that they are accustomed to having."

The Aggies kept up the pressure in the second half, not allowing Long Beach State to get closer than 19 points. UC Davis enjoyed its biggest lead at 57-27 with 9:42 left. The 49ers were held to less than 50 points for the first time this season and below 60 for just the third time.

Offensively, UC Davis used balanced scoring to build its big lead with Deely not reaching into double figures until late in the game. All 11 Aggies in uniform scored. Paige Mintun - who made a rare four-point play in the first half after being fouled on a three-point shot - had nine points as did Samantha Meggison who made two treys. Heidi Heintz added six points.

"I was really pleased with our defensive intensity and our poise in the second half," Simpson said.

Guard Hana Asano had three steals, Mintun had seven rebounds and she and Lauren Juric each had three assists.

UC Davis cooled off considerably from three-point in the second half, making just 3 of 16 while shooting 42.9 percent from the floor overall. It also had just six turnovers after halftime.

The Aggies will play their final regular-season road game on Saturday when they face second-place UC Riverside in another crucial game. The Highlanders moved into a second-place tie with Cal Poly at 10-4 after beating visiting Pacific on Thursday, 50-41.