Nov. 7, 2014 Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis junior
Celia Marfone finished with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-9 from the floor to lead three teammates in double figures while the host Aggies shot a blistering 59 percent in the second half on Friday night, lifting them to an 85-57 exhibition victory over Sonoma State at The Pavilion.
The contest served as UC Davis' only tune-up prior to their regular season opener next Friday night (Nov. 14), welcoming in nine-time defending NCAA champion and preseason No. 1 Connecticut to The Pavilion for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
"I think we were a little jittery in the first half, but that's why we play these games," Head Coach Jennifer Gross said. "We have a veteran group, but we also have a lot of younger players out there, and this is the first time under the big lights, putting the uniforms on for the first time... once we got into our flow in the second half, I was pleased with a lot of things. A lot of people stepped up and did nice things."
Marfone added a trio of three-pointers, four rebounds, and three assists, to her stat line to lead the Aggies, who also got double figures from seniors Kelsey Harris (13) and Sydnee Fipps (12), along with freshman Pele Gianotti, who came off the bench to hit 4-of-7 from the field and finish with 12 points. Fipps led all players with six rebounds on the night.
Hannah Sourek led the Seawolves with 15 points on 5-of-9 from the floor -- 10 of those coming in the second half -- finishing as the lone player in double figures for Sonoma State, which was haunted by 27 turnovers that led to 35 points for UC Davis.
The Aggies shot as high as 77 percent in the second half, hitting 10 of their first 13 attempts in the period to break the game open. With Sonoma State within four points just three minutes into the period, UC Davis used a 12-4 burst over the next three minutes to go up 12 and the advantage grew from there. Following a Sourek lay-up, the Aggies pulled away by scoring 17 of the next 22 points to build a 22-point lead and they never looked back.
UC Davis, which assisted on 21 of their 29 made baskets for the contest, closed out the game on an 11-0 run for the final score -- five of those from Gianotti -- as the Aggies won their 11th consecutive exhibition game.
The night did not start well for the home team, as the offense scuffled a bit in the first half, trailing by as many as many as six points on a pair of occasions. UC Davis chipped away, as Harris drained a three to jumpstart an 8-0 run that gave the Aggies their first lead since the opening seconds of the contest. After again falling behind by four points with just over four minutes remaining in the period, junior Lauren Beyer scored inside to spark a 12-3 run to close the half, capped by three free throws from Fipps with one-tenth of a second left on the clock to carry a 36-32 advantage into the locker room.
"I give Sonoma State a lot of credit," Gross said. "They played really hard and they're going to be a very good team this year. They just kept making shot after shot and they just played us tough."
All five UC Davis freshman saw significant action as Rachel Nagel added eight points in 15 minutes, Lauren Seyranian added four points in nine minutes of play, and Morgan Bertsch had a balanced four-point, five-rebound night to go with a block.
"I thought they did great," Gross said. "Rachel came in and did what she does, she hit some shots for us and that gave us a little boost of energy. Lauren came in and had a bucket, Dani finished with four assists without a turnover -- that's a great line for a point guard, I'm happy with that all the time, I don't care if she scores a point.
Dani Nafekh rounded out the group of newcomers, finishing with four assists without a turnover, while sophomore Brianne Yasukochi added six points, a pair of assists, and three steals in the win.
"I thought Morgan at the end of the first half came in, grabbed a couple boards and got a block which gave us another little boost there and, then, Pele got in and all her minutes were just really consistent," Gross said. "She hit a couple buckets, she defended, she rebounded well. Even Brianne got in there and really sped the pace up, which we needed."
UC DAVIS 85, SONOMA STATE 57
SONOMA STATE (Exh.)
SOUREK, Hannah 5-9 4-5 15; ACOSTA, Taylor 3-6 3-4 9; DONOVAN, Molly 3-6 2-3 8; ADAMS, Tanner 2-6 0-0 6; BADE, Leeana 1-8 3-4 6; GILL, Carly 0-2 4-4 4; ROBLEDO, Kelsey 1-2 2-2 4; BURROUGHS, Madison 0-0 2-2 2; MITZ, Jessica 1-2 0-1 2; GONZALEZ, JoNae 0-1 1-2 1; KOMMER, Molly 0-0 0-0 0; VELA, Karen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-42 21-27 57.
UC DAVIS (Exh.)
Marfone, Celia 7-9 0-0 17; Harris, Kelsey 5-9 0-0 13; Fipps, Sydnee 2-12 8-8 12; Gianotti, Pele 4-7 3-4 12; Nagel, Rachel 2-5 2-2 8; Yasukochi, Brianne 3-3 0-1 6; Beyer, Lauren 2-2 1-3 5; Seyranian, Lauren 1-1 2-2 4; Bertsch, Morgan 2-5 0-1 4; Johnson, Heidi 1-6 0-0 3; Salvatore, Brianna 0-3 1-3 1; Nafekh, Dani 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 17-24 85.
Sonoma State.................. 32 25 - 57
UC Davis...................... 36 49 - 85
3-point goals--Sonoma State 4-14 (ADAMS, Tanner 2-5; BADE, Leeana 1-5; SOUREK, Hannah 1-1; GILL, Carly 0-1; MITZ, Jessica 0-1; GONZALEZ, JoNae 0-1), UC Davis 10-24 (Marfone, Celia 3-4; Harris, Kelsey 3-6; Nagel, Rachel 2-3; Johnson, Heidi 1-3; Gianotti, Pele 1-3; Salvatore, Brianna 0-1; Fipps, Sydnee 0-4). Fouled out--Sonoma State-ACOSTA, Taylor, UC Davis-None. Rebounds--Sonoma State 33 (DONOVAN, Molly 4; SOUREK, Hannah 4; ACOSTA, Taylor 4; BADE, Leeana 4), UC Davis 32 (Fipps, Sydnee 6). Assists--Sonoma State 5 (ACOSTA, Taylor 2), UC Davis 21 (Nafekh, Dani 4; Fipps, Sydnee 4). Total fouls--Sonoma State 22, UC Davis 25. Technical fouls--Sonoma State-None, UC Davis-None.
