Box Score

LOS ANGELES -- Freshman Morgan Bertsch led three Aggies in double figures with 18 points on 9-of-11 from the field, but it wasn't enough to offset a 41-point night by Albany's Shereesha Richards, as the Great Danes pulled away late for an 80-70 win over UC Davis on Friday night in the second game of the Women of Troy Classic at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

The loss dropped the Aggies to 6-4 overall, moving them into the tournament's consolation game on Sunday (Dec. 20) at 1 p.m., against Florida A&M, which lost to host USC, 88-45, in the opening game earlier in the day. Albany, receiving a vote in the latest USA Today poll and ranked No. 15 in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major top 25, improved to 8-2 overall, winning its third straight.

Working off a pair of 20-point performance in her last two games, Bertsch nearly made it three straight, playing carefully with four fouls in the second half. Sophomore Pele Gianotti finished with 15 points on five three-pointers, part of an Aggie barrage that saw them hit 11-of-21 (.524) from long distance, while senior Celia Marfone added 12 points, five rebounds, and six assists.

Richards added 14 rebounds -- including seven offensive -- to her 41 points, hitting 19-of-29 from the floor, while Zakiya Saunders joined her with a double-double of 17 points and 11 assists. Imani Tate added 16 points in the win, one of four starters to play all 40 minutes.

In a contest that featured nine tie scores and 17 lead changes, the Aggies trailed by as many as eight points midway through the second quarter, but a basket inside by Bertsch and back-to-back three-pointers by Marfone brought UC Davis all the way back, tying the score at 26 and the two teams traded punches all the way up to halftime, with the Great Danes grabbing a two-point, 37-35, advantage on a jumper right before the break.

A basket by Bertsch out of halftime retied the score and another two minutes later followed a three by Gianotti to give the Aggies their first lead, 42-41, since the four-minute mark of the second quarter. UC Davis could not shake Albany, grabbing one-point leads on baskets by Kourtney Eaton (a three-pointer), Heidi Johnson, and Doherty, late in the third quarter, the last coming at 51-50 with 1:24 remaining in the period, but a 6-0 spurt by the Great Danes grew into a 10-2 run to start the fourth quarter as they went up, 60-53, less than a minute into the final period.

Gianotti's three-pointer with 6:27 left made it a four-point game and back-to-back baskets by Bertsch -- part of a run of three straight field goals by the freshman -- again whittled an eight-point deficit down to just 68-64 with 4:20 to play.

However, that would be as close as the Aggies would get as Albany exploded for a 12-3 run to build a double-digit lead, holding UC Davis without a field goal for more than three minutes until Dani Nafekh, who finished with seven points and six assists, hit a three-pointer with five second left in regulation to cap the scoring.

The Aggies shot better than 50 percent from the field for the third straight game -- and the fourth time in their last five -- hitting on just over 52 percent for the contest. The Great Danes shot 53 percent for the game and out-rebounded UC Davis, 35-22, including a 15-6 advantage on the offensive glass that led to 18 second-chance points.

With their six assists each, Nafekh and Marfone helped the Aggies collect 24 assists on their 25 makes, logging their second highest assist total of the season behind only the 26 assists against Saint Mary's on Dec. 3. Marfone tied her career high in the category, while Nafekh logged her third straight game with at least six assists and her sixth in 10 games overall this season.

ALBANY 80, UC DAVIS 70
UC DAVIS (6-4)
Bertsch, Morgan 9-11 0-2 18; Gianotti, Pele 5-12 0-0 15; Marfone, Celia 3-7 3-6 12; Doherty, Alyson 3-6 2-2 8; Nafekh, Dani 2-6 1-2 7; Johnson, Heidi 2-4 2-2 6; Eaton, Kourtney 1-2 0-0 3; Eaton, Karley 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 25-48 9-16 70.

ALBANY (8-2)
RICHARDS,Shereesha 19-29 3-4 41; SAUNDERS,Zakiya 8-16 1-2 17; TATE,Imani 6-14 4-5 16; CARTER,Tiana-Jo 2-2 0-0 4; COUGHLIN,Erin 0-4 2-2 2; LAVERGNE,Veronika 0-1 0-0 0; FORSTER,Heather 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-66 10-13 80.

UC Davis...................... 15 20 18 17 - 70
Albany........................ 20 17 19 24 - 80

3-point goals--UC Davis 11-21 (Gianotti, Pele 5-11; Marfone, Celia 3-5; Nafekh, Dani 2-3; Eaton, Kourtney 1-2), Albany 0-4 (; COUGHLIN,Erin 0-4). Fouled out--UC Davis-None, Albany-CARTER,Tiana-Jo. Rebounds--UC Davis 22 (Doherty, Alyson 6), Albany 35 (RICHARDS,Shereesha 14). Assists--UC Davis 24 (Marfone, Celia 6; Nafekh, Dani 6), Albany 26 (SAUNDERS,Zakiya 11). Total fouls--UC Davis 17, Albany 18. Technical fouls--UC Davis-None, Albany-None. A-425