Final Stats | Highlights

DAVIS, Calif. -- Sophomore Pele Gianotti drained four 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 18 points, Celia Marfone hit a pair and finished with 17 points, and UC Davis opened a 26-point halftime lead as the Aggies shot 59 percent from the field on its way to a 80-51 Big West Conference women's basketball win over UC Santa Barbara at the Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday's victory avenged a 66-59 loss to the Gauchos on Jan. 21 and improved the Aggies' overall record to 12-8 and their league mark to 5-2. The Gauchos, who were led by 15 points from Onome Jemerigbe and 10 points from Makala Roper, dropped to 7-14 and 4-3.

"I told (the players) afterwards, we've got to bottle up all the emotion, urgency, and focus, that we brought to this game and bring that every night," Head Coach Jennifer Gross said. "If we do that, we're tough to beat."

Gianotti made 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, while adding five rebounds and three assists. Marfone was 7-of-12 shooting while adding four rebounds and two assists, falling just two points shy of her career high of 19 points set at UC Riverside in 2014.

Balanced scoring was featured throughout the rest of the lineup with four players tallying either eight or nine points, including nine by freshman Karley Eaton, who tied a career high.

The Aggies never trailed in the game, hit 9-of-17 from beyond the arc and had 22 assists on 32 baskets. They used a 12-0 run in the first quarter to take a 15-3 lead, holding UC Santa Barbara to without a field goal for more than six minutes, and used an 11-2 burst later in the second to extend the advantage to 23 points -- a lead that grew to 26 at the break as UC Davis took a 46-20 advantage at the half.

The 46 first-half points are tied the second-highest scoring half of the season and its largest since scoring 50 in the first half against Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 6. The Aggies shot just over 70 percent in the opening 20 minutes -- its best shooting half of the year.

"The thing I was most impressed with in the first half was our defense," Gross said. "There are going to be games where we don't shoot 70 percent in the first half but, if we're defending the way that we did, we can still be up 10 or 12 at the half, and I'm really proud of that consistency."

Defense was a big fuel for UC Davis' effort. The Aggies held the Gauchos to 31 percent from the field and just 28% (5 of 18) from long distance, limiting UCSB to just eight points and three field goals in the opening quarter. They also scored 20 points off 17 Santa Barbara turnovers.

UC Santa Barbara began to chip away to start the second half, opening on a 14-4 run that cut into the deficit and made it a more-managable 16-point gap at 50-34 with 4:32 to play in the period. A Marfone three got the Aggies back on track and, after a UC Davis timeout, continued the run with 11 straight points, holding the Gauchos to without a point for almost three minutes to go up 64-34.

The home team led by as many as 33 points on three occasions in the fourth quarter as the Aggies did not trail in a game for the seventh time this season.

UC Davis returns to the road for a pair of games, facing unbeaten league-leader UC Riverside on Thursday (Feb. 4) at 7 p.m. and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday (Feb. 6) at 4 p.m.



UC SANTA BARBARA (7-14, 4-3)
Jemerigbe, Onome 4-8 5-8 15; Roper, Makala 4-14 0-0 10; Durr, Chaya 4-9 0-0 8; Newton, Je Zhe 3-9 1-1 7; Miller, Coco 1-5 2-2 5; Morrison, Kendra 2-3 0-0 4; Lopez, Dioseline 1-4 0-0 2; Farris, Taylor 0-6 0-0 0; Wright, Mi'Chael 0-0 0-0 0; Ware, Jasmine 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-61 8-11 51.

UC DAVIS (12-8, 5-2)
Gianotti, Pele 7-10 0-0 18; Marfone, Celia 7-12 1-1 17; Eaton, Karley 4-6 0-2 9; Nagel, Rachel 4-5 0-0 9; Bertsch, Morgan 4-6 0-0 8; Eaton, Kourtney 3-7 1-1 8; Doherty, Alyson 1-3 3-4 5; Beyer, Lauren 1-2 2-2 4; McGuire, Taylor 1-1 0-0 2; Nafekh, Dani 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-54 7-10 80.

UC Santa Barbara.............. 8 12 16 15 - 51
UC Davis...................... 22 24 18 16 - 80

3-point goals--UC Santa Barbara 5-18 (Roper, Makala 2-5; Jemerigbe, Onome 2-5; Miller, Coco 1-3; Lopez, Dioseline 0-2; Farris, Taylor 0-1; Ware, Jasmine 0-2), UC Davis 9-17 (Gianotti, Pele 4-7; Marfone, Celia 2-3; Nagel, Rachel 1-2; Eaton, Kourtney 1-3; Eaton, Karley 1-2). Fouled out--UC Santa Barbara-None, UC Davis-None. Rebounds--UC Santa Barbara 35 (Newton, Je Zhe 5; Roper, Makala 5; Farris, Taylor 5), UC Davis 31 (Gianotti, Pele 5). Assists--UC Santa Barbara 10 (Roper, Makala 5), UC Davis 22 (Nafekh, Dani 6). Total fouls--UC Santa Barbara 12, UC Davis 11. Technical fouls--UC Santa Barbara-None, UC Davis-None. Courtside technician: Ray Savorn