Feb. 3, 2011

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - - UC Davis shot 71 percent from the field in the first half, including making 7 of 9 from three-point territory en route to a 17-point halftime lead, as the Aggies rolled past first-place Cal Poly 81-61 in a Big West Conference women's basketball game at The Pavilion on Thursday night.

UC Davis avenged a nine-point loss at San Luis Obispo in January, improving to 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the Big West. Paige Mintun scored a game-high 16 points, leading four Aggies in double figures. Vicky Deely scored 15, Heidi Heintz had 11 and Samantha Meggison scored 10.

Cal Poly, paced by 15 points from guard Jonae Ervin, had its eight-game winning streak snapped, falling to 12-8 overall and 8-1 in league play. The victory kept the Aggies in a tie for second with UC Santa Barbara which visits Hamilton Court on Saturday afternoon.

UC Davis head coach Sandy Simpson credited the defensive effort for the win.

"What was nice was that the starting unit came out and set the tone defensively on how we were moving and there was no dropoff when we went to the bench," he said. "We shot the ball very well but I thought defensively our energy set the tone."

UC Davis took control of Saturday's game with a strong first half where it made 17 of 24 shots, including converting seven three-pointers, right on its season average for an entire game. But a 14-3 run over a nearly five-minute span of the first half in which six different Aggies scored, helped the Aggies break open a close game for a 28-15 lead with 8 minutes, 17 seconds left.

UC Davis scored six of the half's final eight points, building its biggest lead to that point, 43-26 at halftime. Mintun had 10 points before the break making 4 of 6 shots while Vicky Deely - who didn't miss a shot or a free throw while scoring 25 points in last Saturday's win at UC Irvine - stayed hot by making a pair of three-pointers over the first 20 minutes on Thursday.

Cal Poly trailed just 47-32 early in the second half but the Aggies scored nine of the next 13 points to open a 56-36 advantage four minutes in. Mintun's layup just past the midway point of the second half pushed the lead to 66-42 while Meggison's layup five minutes later gave UC Davis its largest lead, 71-46 with 4:03 to go.

Ervin's jumper with 56 seconds left made it a 15-point game but the Aggies added seven points the rest of the way for the final margin.

The Aggies shot a season-high 58.3 percent from the field and were 10 of 16 (62.5 percent) from three-point. Mintun had three blocks while Lauren Juric posted two. Rachel Clancy, who torched UC Davis for 31 points in their earlier meeting, was held to 12 on Thursday, all of them in the second half. Abby Bloetscher added 10.

UC Davis hosts UC Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Gauchos beat Pacific 69-62 on Thursday in Stockton.