Feb. 5, 2011

Final Stats | Postgame Comments

DAVIS, Calif. - Kasey Riecks' 18 points led three Aggies in double figures on Saturday afternoon as UC Davis overcame seven three-pointers from UC Santa Barbara's Emilie Johnson, winning 74-70 over the Gauchos and breaking a second-place with them in the Big West Conference women's basketball standings.

The Aggies won their third straight game, improving to 17-5 overall and 7-3 in the Big West. Paige Mintun, honored during pregame ceremonies along with teammate Heidi Heintz for each scoring 1,000 career points, added 13 points while Lauren Juric hit a trio of three-pointers and scored 11.

Johnson hit a career-high seven treys, including one that led to a rare four-point play with under a minute to go, and scored a game-high 24 points for UCSB which fell to 12-10 overall and 6-4 in the Big West. Center Mekia Valentine had 17 points and nine rebounds while guard Adrian Kelsey finished with 13 points.

UC Davis maintained a half-game lead over UC Riverside (6-3 in Big West) which beat Cal State Fullerton later on Friday.

UC Davis led 69-57 with just 1 minute, 17 seconds left in the second half but Johnson made four treys down the stretch to help bring the Gauchos to within 73-70 with just 14 seconds to go. However, Hana Asano made a free throw soon after for a four-point lead and the Aggies were able to pick up the key Big West win.

"We know (Johnson's) a great player, she's a great kid too (and) I'm really happy when she performs well against other teams, but it's a long 50 seconds when she's lighting it up like that," said Aggie coach Sandy Simpson. "We're just trying to get to the end at that point."

The close finish was in contrast to the previous five minutes when the Aggies' lead hovered around double-digits. After leading by just two points at halftime, UC Davis took its biggest lead of the game to that point when it went up 53-42 with 9:41 to go. A pair of free throws from Samantha Meggison finished a 5-0 surge as the Aggies rebuilt the lead to 61-49 with 5:49 remaining.

Asano's two free throws with 1:17 made it 69-57, setting up Johnson's prolific finish. Her four-point play with 57 seconds left came on her second trey in 12 seconds and made it 69-64. UC Davis was 5 of 8 from the line the rest of the way to help counter Johnson's shooting.

UC Davis beat UCSB for the fifth consecutive time while sweeping the regular-season series for the second straight year.

"Tonight was an important game and I thought it had great atmosphere," Simpson said.

It took the Aggies more than two minutes to get on the scoreboard in the first half but did so thanks to a three-pointer from Riecks. UC Davis led for most of the first half but couldn't pull away by more six points.

A three-pointer from Mintun just past the midway point of the half gave the Aggies a 15-10 lead, while her jumper almost a minute later pushed the advantge to 17-11. But Nicole Nesbitt scored five straight points for UCSB, including a three-pointer, as the Gauchos got to within one before taking their first lead at 19-17 lead on Johnson's trey with 5:13 on the clock.

UCSB capped its 13-2 run on another three-pointer from Johnson, giving the Gauchos their largest lead of the half at 24-19. Riecks trey punctuated five straight for the Aggies for a tie while Juric's trey with eight seconds on the game clock put UC Davis in front 29-27 at the half.

The Aggies were 12 of 28 (42.9 percent) from three-point, had 18 assists on 24 baskets and committed just nine turnovers. The Gauchos also had a dozen treys while Johnson had six assists. UCSB had 23 dishes on 25 baskets.

The Aggies, ranked No. 14 in the most recent CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, will finish its three-game homestand on Wednesday when it hosts Pacific at 7 p.m. They'll play at Long Beach State next Saturday.