Jan. 26, 2012

Final Stats

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Hannah Stephens was 4-of-5 from three-point range, leading all scorers with 16 points, while Samantha Meggison finished with 15 points as the UC Davis women's basketball team won its fourth straight game, holding on to a 51-47 win over UC Santa Barbara on Thursday at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara.

The Aggies move into second place in the Big West with a 5-2 league record and are 13-6 overall. The Gauchos drop to 8-10 on the year and 3-4 in league play.

In addition to her 15 points, Meggison grabbed seven rebounds while Cortney French tied a career-high with five rebounds for UC Davis.

Emilie Johnson led UC Santa Barbara with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting while Nicole Nesbit added 11 points. Sweets Underwood finished with nine points and nine rebounds while Kirsten Tilleman also grabbed nine boards for the Gauchos.

UC Davis controlled every aspect of the game throughout the first half, largely in part to hot shooting from Stephens. The Aggie junior was 4-of-4 from three-point range, scoring 14 points in the first period alone.

The Aggies opened up an 11-0 lead until Emilie Johnson sank a trey at the 14:09 mark for the first UC Santa Barbara basket of the game. Nicole Nesbit put together three straight baskets for the Gauchos, bringing the score to 13-7, but Hannah Stephens knocked down a three to put the Aggies back in control of the game.

Later in the first half UC Davis put together a 12-4 run, capping it off with another trey from Stephens for a 28-11 Aggie lead with just over four minutes to play, forcing a UCSB timeout.

Immediately out of the time out, Stephens continued her hot shooting, throwing up a three-point attempt and sinking it just as the shot clock was about to expire. Brianna Salvatore added in a layup and UC Davis was up by 20 with 2:13 left in the first half. The Aggies took a 33-15 lead into halftime.

In the first half, UC Davis shot 57 percent from the floor and hit 6-of-11 from three-point range while holding UCSB to just 31 percent shooting from the field.

UC Santa Barbara started the second half on an 8-0 run, getting to within 10 points before Samantha Meggison hit two free throws to stop the Gaucho burst. The Aggies maintained their double-digit lead with jumpers from Riecks and Meggison who put UC Davis up 44-28 with 9:39 to play with a three pointer.

With just over eight minutes to play, the Gauchos began chipping away at the Aggie lead when Johnson was fouled while attempting a three-point shot and made the ensuing three free throws. Stephens cut in with a layup at the 7:50 mark, but UCSB scored seven straight points to get to within eight points.

UC Davis maintained a 47-38 lead thanks in large part to the defensive efforts of Courtney French. She grabbed an offensive board off of Hana Asano's missed three-point attempt, then was fouled and made one of her free throws. After missing the second free throw, French grabbed her own rebound, then dove to the floor to grab a loose ball.

Down the stretch, UC Santa Barbara pushed the tempo and found a way to make key shots. Johnson cut the Aggie lead to 48-41 with 1:31 remaining, then Underwood scored two straight baskets to bring the Gauchos to within just three points with only 21 seconds left.

The Aggies would close out the game on strong free throw shooting from Meggison, who made 3-of-4 to help UC Davis to the 51-47 victory.

UC Davis returns to action on Saturday, taking on Cal Poly at 4 p.m. at Mott Gymnasium.