Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis senior Sydnee Fipps finished with a team-high 20 points, including six three-pointers, to lead a trio of Aggies in double figures, and the home withstood a late CSUN run en route to a 73-67 Big West Conference women's basketball victory on Thursday night at The Pavilion.

The Aggies, who swept the regular season series with the Matadors, evened their record at 10-10 overall and improved to 5-3 in conference play. Led by Ashlee Guay's game-high 21 points, CSUN fell to 14-9 overall and 4-5 in Big West play.

"When our team is playing well, we are tough... we are really tough," Head Coach Jennifer Gross. "I thought, tonight, we had stretches where we were brilliant. That's an excellent team we just beat. We went on a big run, you know they're going to come fighting back. I was really proud of our team in the way we stood up to every run and we matched it."

Fipps finished 6-of-10 from the field in 25 minutes -- all coming from beyond the arc -- as she fell just one shy of the school single-game record accomplished five times, the last by Lindsey Jones against Cal Poly in 2007. Junior Alyson Doherty added 12 points and fell one rebound shy of her sixth double-double, but added three assists and three blocks.

Senior Kelsey Harris finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists, helping UC Davis collect 21 helpers on the night on 25 made shots.

Janae Sharpe added a double-double of 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss for CSUN, which shot just 36 percent from the floor for the night, but hit 47 percent in the second half, as they whittled an 18-point deficit down to just five with 4:29 to play.

The Aggies, who closed out the first meeting with the Matadors with a 20-2 run back on Jan. 8, seemed to pick up right where they left off in that contest, opening Thursday's game on a 14-2 run over the first 3:22, then had to answer a counter by CSUN, which came out of a timeout with an 12-3 burst of its own to make it a three-point game just four minutes later. A 9-0 spurt near the end of the half pushed UC Davis' lead back to double digits, and the Aggies carried a 32-21 advantage into the locker room at the break.

Both teams traded baskets to start the second half, but a three-point play by Dani Nafekh and a three-pointer from Harris gave UC Davis its largest lead of the game, 47-29, with 13:56 to play. That's when the Matadors made their move, as a 16-6 run over a five-minute span midway through the period almost brought them all the way back, hitting seven consecutive field goals at one point to close to within 62-57.

Celia Marfone, who added seven points, seven rebounds, and four assists, on the night, stopped the bleeding, scoring inside and Harris followed with four straight points to push the lead back to double digits and the Aggies never looked back. A pair of three-point plays by Sharpe and Guay kept the deficit manageable, but Harris and Fipps hit free throws down the stretch to hold off any further rally.

The Aggies shot 53 percent from the floor for the game -- including a 62 percent clip in the second half to hold off CSUN's charge. The Matadors edged UC Davis on the glass, 38-36, but the Aggies took advantage of nine CSUN turnovers, converting those into 16 points.

A brief homestand comes to a close on Saturday (Feb. 7) at 2 p.m., as UC Davis welcomes UC Irvine to The Pavilion. The Anteaters fell to Long Beach State, 62-46, on Thursday.

UC DAVIS 73, CSUN 67

CSUN (14-9, 4-5 BWC)
Guay, Ashlee 9-16 3-4 21; Sharpe, Janae 6-16 1-1 16; Cole, Emily 3-7 0-0 9; Gilling, Caroline 2-6 0-0 6; Lister, Cinnamon 2-7 0-0 6; Friess, Randi 1-5 0-0 3; Boagni, Tessa 1-4 0-0 2; Johnson, Jasmine 1-4 0-2 2; King, Katelin 1-5 0-0 2; Fong, Bernadette 0-1 0-2 0; Mahlknecht, Camille 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-72 4-9 67.

UC DAVIS (10-10, 5-3 BWC)
Fipps, Sydnee 6-10 2-2 20; Harris, Kelsey 4-8 4-4 15; Doherty, Alyson 5-8 2-4 12; Marfone, Celia 3-5 0-1 7; Nagel, Rachel 3-3 0-0 7; Salvatore, Brianna 2-4 2-2 6; Nafekh, Dani 1-2 1-2 3; Gianotti, Pele 1-2 0-0 2; Beyer, Lauren 0-0 1-2 1; McGuire, Taylor 0-3 0-0 0; Johnson, Heidi 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-47 12-17 73.

CSUN.......................... 21 46 - 67
UC Davis...................... 32 41 - 73

3-point goals--CSUN 11-30 (Sharpe, Janae 3-6; Cole, Emily 3-5; Gilling, Caroline 2-6; Lister, Cinnamon 2-5; Friess, Randi 1-4; King, Katelin 0-3; Guay, Ashlee 0-1), UC Davis 11-19 (Fipps, Sydnee 6-8; Harris, Kelsey 3-7; Marfone, Celia 1-1; Nagel, Rachel 1-1; McGuire, Taylor 0-1; Salvatore, Brianna 0-1). Fouled out--CSUN-None, UC Davis-None. Rebounds--CSUN 38 (Sharpe, Janae 10), UC Davis 36 (Doherty, Alyson 9). Assists--CSUN 13 (Guay, Ashlee 6), UC Davis 21 (Salvatore, Brianna 4; Marfone, Celia 4). Total fouls--CSUN 17, UC Davis 15. Technical fouls--CSUN-None, UC Davis-None. A-357