Box Score

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Sophomore Makala Roper finished with 26 points, including six three-pointers, and host UC Santa Barbara caught fire from beyond the arc in the second half, pulling away for a 66-59 Big West Conference victory over UC Davis on Thursday night at The Thunderdome.

The loss snapped the Aggies' four-game winning streak, dropping them to 10-7 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Gauchos, who shot 59 percent from the field after the break, improved to 7-12 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

Sophomore Pele Gianotti completed her first career double-double, finishing with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbing a career high-tying 10 rebounds. The Aggies out-rebounded the Gauchos, 40-33, for the game, as Celia Marfone and Alyson Doherty each grabbed eight to go with nine points apiece.

The two teams traded baskets to start the third quarter with a free throw by Doherty at the 5:33 mark giving UC Davis a one-point, 28-27, advantage. It would be the last time the Aggies would lead as Dioseline Lopes drained a three-pointer to key a 12-3 run, boosting the Gauchos' lead to eight and they never looked back.

UC Davis cut the deficit back to five on a Rachel Nagel jumper and a free throw by Morgan Bertsch, but a jumper by Onome Jemerigbe and back-to-back three's from Roper and Jasmine Ware put UC Santa Barbara up 11 after three.

The Gauchos' lead grew to as many as 15 points midway through the fourth and remained in double digits until the Aggies' press forced UCSB into turnovers and UC Davis began to chip away. Five straight points by sophomore Rachel Nagel cut the gap back to single digits and back-to-back buckets by Gianotti with under a minute to play made it a six-point game with 13 seconds to play, but the Aggies could come no further.

After shooting just 28 percent in the first half, UC Davis hit on better than 53 percent after the break and shot just under 42 percent for the game to just 38 percent overall for the Gauchos, who also got 15 points off the bench from Ware to join Roper in double figures.

The Aggies close out their trip to the Central Coast on Saturday (Jan. 23) at 4 p.m., taking on Cal Poly at the Mott Athletic Center in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

UC SANTA BARBARA 66, UC DAVIS 59

UC DAVIS (10-7 (3-1))
Gianotti, Pele 8-12 2-4 19; Marfone, Celia 4-7 0-0 9; Doherty, Alyson 4-9 1-2 9; Nafekh, Dani 3-10 2-2 8; Nagel, Rachel 2-3 2-2 7; Bertsch, Morgan 1-7 2-6 4; Eaton, Karley 1-1 0-0 3; McGuire, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0; Eaton, Kourtney 0-5 0-2 0; Johnson, Heidi 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-55 9-18 59.

UC SANTA BARBARA (7-12 (4-1))
Roper, Makala 9-21 2-3 26; Ware, Jasmine 5-14 4-6 15; Jemerigbe, Onome 1-2 7-10 9; Miller, Coco 2-8 1-2 7; Lopez, Dioseline 2-2 0-0 5; Farris, Taylor 1-2 0-0 2; Wright, Mi'Chael 1-1 0-0 2; Durr, Chaya 0-3 0-0 0; Morrison, Kendra 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 14-21 66.

UC Davis...................... 10 10 16 23 - 59
UC Santa Barbara.............. 7 15 25 19 - 66

3-point goals--UC Davis 4-17 (Nagel, Rachel 1-1; Eaton, Karley 1-1; Gianotti, Pele 1-5; Marfone, Celia 1-4; Eaton, Kourtney 0-3; Nafekh, Dani 0-3), UC Santa Barbara 10-27 (Roper, Makala 6-13; Miller, Coco 2-7; Ware, Jasmine 1-6; Lopez, Dioseline 1-1). Fouled out--UC Davis-None, UC Santa Barbara-None. Rebounds--UC Davis 40 (Gianotti, Pele 10), UC Santa Barbara 33 (Farris, Taylor 6). Assists--UC Davis 13 (Eaton, Kourtney 5), UC Santa Barbara 16 (Jemerigbe, Onome 10). Total fouls--UC Davis 18, UC Santa Barbara 18. Technical fouls--UC Davis-None, UC Santa Barbara-None. A-319