Box Score

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- UC Davis freshman Morgan Bertsch and Alyson Doherty each earned a spot on the all-tournament team, each finishing in double figures to lead the fourth-seeded Aggies in a 78-59 defeat to No. 2 seeded Hawai'i in the championship game of the Big West Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

After defeating UC Santa Barbara in the quarterfinals, and upsetting top seeded regular-season champion UC Riverside in the semifinals, UC Davis fell to 19-13 overall and must await the decision of selection committees to see if its season is to continue.

The Rainbow Wahine, who defeated third-seeded Long Beach State in the semifinals, earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament and improved to 21-10 on the year.

Bertsch reached double figures for the eighth consecutive game, and continued her mastery over the Hawai'i defense, scoring a game-high 19 points on 7-of-12 from the floor and adding three rebounds and three blocked shots. The freshman entered Saturday's tournament finale have averaged 21.5 ppg and shooting 75 percent (18-for-24) from the floor in two previous meetings with the Rainbow Wahine this season.

Doherty added 12 points on 5-of-11 from the field and three rebounds to earn a spot on the all-tournament team for the second consecutive season, helping usher the Aggies from a first-round loss as a freshman, to a quarterfinal berth as a sophomore, a semifinal appearance as a junior, and this year's championship game showing in her final collegiate season.

Fresh off a career-high nine-assist game against UC Riverside, freshman Kourtney Eaton added six more against no turnovers on the day, while Celia Marfone added six points, five rebounds, and five more assists, sharing team-high honors on the glass with teammate Pele Gianotti, who finished with nine points.

Hawai'i, paced by 17 points from tournament Most Valuable Player Ashleigh Karaitiana, shot 50 percent from the field for the game, including an 11-for-14 clip (.786) in the second quarter that fueled the Rainbow Wahine as they turned a three-point game after one into a 40-25 halftime lead.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the opening 10 minutes, with Hawai'i building a five-point lead that they were never able to stretch out as the Aggies found a way to answer every run and held the Rainbow Wahine to just 32 percent from the field in the first period.

In the second quarter, Hawai'i was able to figure out the UC Davis defense and opened the period with eight straight points -- part of a larger 10-2 burst in the first three minutes -- to build a 12-point advantage with 7:18 to play in the half.

The Aggies were able to cut the deficit to 10 points just over a minute later, continuing to keep the Rainbow Wahine close, before Karaitiana found her stroke and pushed her team out ahead to stay. She hit a three-pointer to rebuild the lead back to 13 and then struck gold in the third quarter, burying three more from behind the arc in the third quarter to help Hawai'i out to a 21-point lead.

UC Davis would come no closer than 15 points on a Bertsch basket inside with 2:40 to play.

The Rainbow Wahine, the top rebounding team in the league entering the tournament, finished with a 47-29 advantage on the glass on Saturday afternoon, including 17 offensive rebounds that they turned into 18 second-chance points.

The Aggies committed a season-low eight turnovers on the day, while forcing Hawai'i into 13 of their own, turning those into 14 points toward the cause.

HAWAII 78, UC DAVIS 59

UC DAVIS (19-13)
Bertsch, Morgan 7-12 5-9 19; Doherty, Alyson 5-11 2-4 12; Gianotti, Pele 3-11 3-5 9; Nagel, Rachel 3-10 0-0 7; Marfone, Celia 2-3 2-4 6; Eaton, Karley 1-2 1-2 3; Eaton, Kourtney 1-5 0-0 3; Greubel, Molly 0-1 0-0 0; McGuire, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0; Nafekh, Dani 0-2 0-0 0; Beyer, Lauren 0-0 0-0 0; Johnson, Heidi 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 13-24 59.

HAWAII (21-10)
Karaitiana, Ashleigh 6-13 0-0 17; Harris, Briana 5-10 3-6 13; Huff, Megan 5-6 0-0 10; Adolpho, Kalei 4-10 1-1 9; King, Destiny 4-14 0-0 8; Crawford, Olivia 3-5 0-0 7; Morris, Connie 2-4 0-0 4; Toeaina, Sarah 2-3 0-0 4; Kennedy, Brianna 1-1 0-0 2; Wimbley, Marissa 1-1 0-0 2; Sampton, Dalayna 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 34-68 4-7 78.

UC Davis...................... 12 13 15 19 - 59
Hawaii........................ 15 25 22 16 - 78

3-point goals--UC Davis 2-16 (Nagel, Rachel 1-5; Eaton, Kourtney 1-3; Gianotti, Pele 0-3; Eaton, Karley 0-1; McGuire, Taylor 0-1; Nafekh, Dani 0-2; Johnson, Heidi 0-1), Hawaii 6-16 (Karaitiana, Ashleigh 5-9; Crawford, Olivia 1-3; King, Destiny 0-1; Harris, Briana 0-3). Fouled out--UC Davis None, Hawaii-None. Rebounds--UC Davis 29 (Marfone, Celia 5; Gianotti, Pele 5), Hawaii 47 (Adolpho, Kalei 9). Assists--UC Davis 15 (Eaton, Kourtney 6), Hawaii 21 (King, Destiny 7). Total fouls--UC Davis 12, Hawaii 19. Technical fouls--UC Davis-None, Hawaii-None. A-1523