Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif.-- Senior Alyson Doherty picked up her 11th career double-double, Rachel Nagel led the UC Davis with 18 points, and the Aggies battled No. 16 Stanford during a tight first half before the Cardinal used a strong third quarter to pull away and post a 74-45 season-opening women's basketball win at the Pavilion on Friday night.

Doherty had 10 points and 11 rebounds -- one board shy of her career high -- for the Aggies (0-1), who faced Stanford for the ninth time since moving to Div. I in 2007. Guard Briana Roberson scored 15 points for Stanford (1-0) which used balanced scoring to help key the win. Alanna Smith had 13 points, Lili Thompson had 10 and Erica McCall posted 10 points and 11 rebounds.

"I was so, so proud of our effort in the first half," Head Coach Jennifer Gross said. "We were playing with passion and urgency, and we were battling. We've been talking since day one about our defense, and the first half we got a glimpse of how well we can play."

UC Davis stayed with Stanford for the entire first half, trailing just 18-15 after one quarter and 29-24 at the break. But a huge third quarter that saw the Cardinal outscore UC Davis 31-8 proved to be the difference.

Nagel hit four 3-pointers for the Aggies while adding five rebounds, falling just two points shy of her career high set against UC Irvine in the first round of last year's Big West Tournament. Doherty, like Nagel, was a perfect 4 for 4 from the line to help with her double-double. Morgan Bertsch had six points and five rebounds while Pele Gianotti doubled her previous career high with 10 rebounds -- her first career double-digit rebounding performance.

The game was tied three times in the first quarter before Taylor McGuire knocked down a three, helping UC Davis take an 11-7 lead. A pair of free throws from Bertsch gave the Aggies their final lead, 15-14, before two from the stripe by Thompson and a jumper from McCall over the final 32 ticks gave the Cardinal the lead for good, 18-15, heading into the second quarter.

Smith's layup midway through the quarter gave Stanford its second seven-point lead at 25-18 but two free throws from Nagel and a bucket from Dani Nafekh brought UC Davis within just three. The Cardinal eventually took a five-point lead into halftime.

Roberson had five points, including a trey, during Stanford's 10-0 run to open the third quarter and Thompson's 3-pointer later in the third pushed the lead to 46-26. The lead grew to as much as 66-34 in the fourth quarter.

"The third quarter, unfortunately, was another story," Gross said. "We lacked some urgency and some energy and that's where the game slipped away. I thought we played three very good quarters, but you can't win games if you don't bring it for 40 minutes."

UC Davis was held to 24% from the field and limited Stanford to 38%, including 29% (7 of 24) from 3-point. The Cardinal only outrebounded the Aggies, 47-45.

STANFORD 74, UC DAVIS 45

STANFORD (1-0)
Roberson, Briana 6-12 0-0 15; Smith, Alanna 6-11 0-0 13; Thompson, Lili 2-7 5-6 10; McCall, Erica 4-14 2-4 10; Samuelson, Karlie 3-7 1-2 9; McPhee, Brittany 2-7 3-4 7; Coffee, Shannon 2-2 1-1 5; Johnson, Kailee 1-4 1-2 3; Sniezek, Marta 1-3 0-0 2; Picknell, Tess 0-0 0-0 0; Lakhian, Kiran 0-2 0-0 0; Romano, Alexa 0-1 0-0 0; Johnson, Kaylee 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 27-71 13-21 74.

UC DAVIS (0-1)
Nagel, Rachel 5-16 4-4 18; Doherty, Alyson 3-9 4-4 10; Bertsch, Morgan 1-3 4-8 6; McGuire, Taylor 1-2 0-0 3; Nafekh, Dani 1-5 1-2 3; Gianotti, Pele 1-7 1-2 3; Eaton, Kourtney 1-4 0-0 2; Eaton, Karley 0-0 0-0 0; Johnson, Heidi 0-3 0-0 0; Marfone, Celia 0-4 0-0 0; Seyranian, Lauren 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 13-55 14-20 45.

Stanford...................... 18 11 31 14 - 74
UC Davis...................... 15 9 8 13 - 45

3-point goals--Stanford 7-24 (Roberson, Briana 3-4; Samuelson, Karlie 2-6; Smith, Alanna 1-4; Thompson, Lili 1-4; Johnson, Kailee 0-1; Sniezek, Marta 0-1; Romano, Alexa 0-1; McPhee, Brittany 0-3), UC Davis 5-21 (Nagel, Rachel 4-10; McGuire, Taylor 1-1; Nafekh, Dani 0-1; Gianotti, Pele 0-4; Eaton, Kourtney 0-3; Marfone, Celia 0-1; Doherty, Alyson 0-1). Fouled out--Stanford-McPhee, Brittany, UC Davis-None. Rebounds--Stanford 47 (McCall, Erica 11), UC Davis 45 (Doherty, Alyson 11). Assists--Stanford 16 (Sniezek, Marta 4), UC Davis 8 (Nafekh, Dani 3). Total fouls--Stanford 20, UC Davis 21. Technical fouls--Stanford-None, UC Davis-None. A-3366