March 8, 2011

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Paige Mintun and Vicky Deely each scored 14 points on Tuesday as the UC Davis women's basketball team advanced to the ampm Big West Tournament semifinals for the second straight year with a 72-45 win over UC Irvine at The Pavilion.

Fourth-seeded UC Davis (22-8) will face third-seeded UC Riverside (19-11) at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Friday at the Honda Center. The Highlanders, who swept the season series from the Aggies, beat Long Beach State 83-65 in another quarterfinal.

Friday's winner will face the survivor of the other semifinal between top-seeded Cal Poly (17-11) and seventh-seeded Pacific (9-21). The Tigers upset second-seeded UC Santa Barbara 49-45 to earn their ticket to Anaheim.

Fifth-seeded UC Irvine, paced by 13 points and 10 rebounds from Tayler Champion, finished its season 15-15 after losing to the Aggies for the third time this year and the second straight game on Hamilton Court.

UC Davis is looking for its first-ever tournament championship and accompanying berth to the NCAA Tournament. It went to the final twice in its first three years in the Big West, including last year when UC Riverside claimed the title with a 71-67 win.

Playing in front of a crowd of 889, UC Davis held the Anteaters to 33.3 percent from the field in the first half.

The Aggies trailed UC Irvine 9-7 in the opening minutes but rattled off 10 straight points to lead 17-9 near the midway point. Champion's three-pointer with 7 minutes, 33 seconds left brought the Anteaters to within 23-20 but UC Davis eventually built the lead to 38-26 at halftime.

But an 8-0 run early in the second half, keyed by four points from Mintun, pushed UC Davis' lead to 46-28 and UC Irvine wouldn't get closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

Defense helped highlight the Aggies' effort on Tuesday night, especially in the first half from guard Hannah Stephens who had four of UC Davis' nine steals. Juric added eight boards in the first 20 minutes, six of them on the offensive end, as the Aggies took a 20-16 rebounding advantage into the break,

UC Davis shot 48.3 percent from the field in the second half, had nine three-pointers overall and dished 20 assists on 26 total baskets. It also held a decisive 34-16 advantage in the paint and outscored UC Irvine 32-13 off of turnovers.

The Aggies also displayed their depth, holding a 37-11 lead in bench scoring.

Mintun made 7 of 14 shots and had four blocks while Deely was 5 of 11 including making a trio of three-pointers. Heidi Heintz scored 10 points and had six boards. Juric's rebounds were just one off her career best.

Cal Poly advanced to its semifinal game with a 73-70 win over eighth-seeded Cal State Fullerton. The Mustangs and Tigers will tip off at noon in Anaheim.