Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -- Sophomore Pele Gianotti finished with a team-high 18 points to lead a balanced scoring effort, and visiting UC Davis rode an 11-0 run to start the game to a wire-to-wire, 75-52, victory over CSUN on Thursday night at The Matadome in Northridge, Calif.

Coupled with their four-point win at Utah Valley last week, the Aggies posted back-to-back wins for the first time since their season-best six-game winning streak, improving to 8-6 overall and 1-0 in the Big West Conference, while winning their league opener for the second straight season.

The Matadors, led by Tessa Boagni's game-high 20 points, lost their fifth straight, falling to 2-13 overall and 0-1 in conference play despite three players in double figures.

Gianotti finished 7-of-13 from the field, adding a team-high five rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes, pacing a pack that saw nine of the 10 Aggies who entered the game score at least two points. Senior Alyson Doherty was also in double figures, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-7 from the floor to go with three rebounds in just 23 minutes.

The performance gave Doherty 1,094 points for her career, moving her past both Des Abeyta (1996-00) and Sarah Allen (1998-03) into 13th place on the all-time scoring list.

UC Davis' defense forced 15 turnovers and made CSUN pay at the other end, turning those into 20 points on the night, while holding the Matador shooters to just over 39 percent for the game -- including a 28 percent clip in the first half.

Meanwhile, the Aggies shot better than 54 percent from the field for the game en route to their fifth wire-to-wire victory of the season and their fourth win of 20-or-more points. UC Davis wasted no time in applying pressure, scoring the first 11 points of the contest over the first four-plus minutes, leading by as many as 18 points just a minute into the second quarter.

The Matadors proved to be game, using a short 9-1 burst over the next three minutes to cut the deficit to 10 at 27-17 with 5:47 to play, but the Aggies had an answer, scoring the next eight points -- and 10 of the final 12 in the half -- sparked by a basket inside by Doherty to post a 37-19 advantage at the break and never look back.

A see-saw third quarter had the teams traded baskets with the Matadors coming as close as 15 points with just under three minutes left in the period, but an 11-3 run to close out the quarter eventually led to a 26-point advantage with just over six minutes to play in the fourth as UC Davis was never threatened.

The Aggies out-rebounded CSUN, 31-30, and finished with 23 assists on its 30 makes led by sophomore Dani Nafekh's six. Seven players finished with multiple assists for UC Davis, which finished with its highest assist total since dishing out 24 against Albany on Dec. 18, and posted its sixth game with at least 20 helpers this season.

Thursday's .545 field goal percentage marked the fifth time this season that the Aggies shot 50 percent or better from the floor, and was the second-best shooting performance of the year, trailing only the 56 percent shot against Sacramento State on Dec. 13.

UC Davis returns to The Pavilion on Saturday (Jan. 9) at 2 p.m., welcoming last year's conference regular season champion Hawai'i to Northern California. The Rainbow Wahine upset league leading Long Beach State, 67-55, on Thursday at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach.

UC DAVIS 75, CSUN 52

UC DAVIS (8-6, 1-0 BWC)
Gianotti, Pele 7-13 2-2 18; Doherty, Alyson 6-7 5-7 17; Marfone, Celia 3-4 0-0 9; Bertsch, Morgan 4-8 0-0 8; Eaton, Kourtney 3-6 0-0 7; McGuire, Taylor 2-6 1-1 5; Eaton, Karley 2-2 0-0 5; Nafekh, Dani 2-6 0-0 4; Beyer, Lauren 1-1 0-0 2; Johnson, Heidi 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-55 8-10 75.

CSUN (2-13, 0-1 BWC)
Boagni, Tessa 8-13 2-4 20; Fluker, Channon 4-12 4-6 12; Allen, Cheyenne 4-7 2-4 10; King, Katelin 2-6 1-2 6; Maulupe, Serafina 1-5 0-0 2; Morrow, Nautica 1-2 0-0 2; Gilling, Caroline 0-1 0-0 0; Johnson, Jasmine 0-1 0-0 0; Smith, Jordan 0-1 0-0 0; Neuner, Lindsay 0-0 0-0 0; Ramos, Claudia 0-2 0-0 0; Cole, Emily 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 9-16 52.

UC Davis...................... 24 13 24 14 - 75
CSUN.......................... 8 11 19 14 - 52

3-point goals--UC Davis 7-18 (Marfone, Celia 3-4; Gianotti, Pele 2-4; Eaton, Karley 1-1; Eaton, Kourtney 1-3; Nafekh, Dani 0-3; Johnson, Heidi 0-1; McGuire, Taylor 0-2), CSUN 3-13 (Boagni, Tessa 2-3; King, Katelin 1-4; Morrow, Nautica 0-1; Johnson, Jasmine 0-1; Smith, Jordan 0-1; Ramos, Claudia 0-2; Cole, Emily 0-1). Fouled out--UC Davis-Bertsch, Morgan, CSUN-None. Rebounds--UC Davis 31 (Gianotti, Pele 5; Eaton, Kourtney 5), CSUN 30 (Fluker, Channon 8). Assists--UC Davis 23 (Nafekh, Dani 6), CSUN 10 (Maulupe, Serafina 4). Total fouls--UC Davis 17, CSUN 10. Technical fouls--UC Davis-None, CSUN-None. A-211