PULLMAN, Wash. — Senior biomedical engineering major Morgan Bertsch tied a career high with 34 points and jumped three spots on the Big West Conference career scoring list in the process, while the Aggies' defense limited Washington State to just 27 percent in the fourth quarter, pulling away for a 75-62 win over the Cougars on Sunday afternoon at Beasley Coliseum.

UC Davis improved to 1-3 overall on the year, winning for the first time in Pullman in the history of the series, shooting just under 48 percent for the game and a 59 percent (17-for-29) clip in the second half.

Coming off its first win of the season, Washington State fell to 1-4 overall, led by 25 points from Borislava Hristova.

Bertsch hit 14-of-23 from the floor in just 31 minutes, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and blocked three shots to fill up a stat line, falling just two points shy of the school single-game record set by Aimee Conner at Chico State in 1993.

In the process, the Santa Rosa, Calif., native moved into 13th on the Big West all-time scoring list, passing Cal State Fullerton's Megan Richardson, CSUN's Ashlee Guay, and UC Santa Barbara's Lindsay Taylor, with 1,768 points. Next on the list is Fresno State's Yvette Roberts, who had 1,778 in her career for the Bulldogs.

Junior communication major Nina Bessolo added 14 points on 5-of-10 from the floor, redshirt freshman biological sciences major Kayla Konrad finished with 12 points in her first career start, and senior psychology major Kourtney Eaton finished with five points and a season-high eight assists.

A back-and-forth first half saw the Aggies twice rally to tie things up, weathering a 7-0 run by the Cougars out of the first quarter media timeout by hitting back-to-back three's off the hands of junior biological sciences major Sophia Song and Konrad to tie the game at 15-all.

UC Davis then scored seven of the first nine points to open the second quarter, but watched a five-point advantage disappear before senior psychology major Karley Eaton banked in a three-pointer from just inside mid-court at the horn to bring the Aggies even at 31 apiece heading into the locker room.

From that point on, it was all UC Davis. The Aggies opened a huge third quarter with an 11-4 run, outscoring their hosts 27-20 in the period behind 16 points from Bertsch in the quarter, and put the game away with a 21-5 run that spanned the final two minutes of the third and the first six minutes of the fourth.

UC Davis, which led by as many as 17 points with 1:16 remaining in the game, was then lights out on defense holding the Cougars to just 4-of-15 from the field and 11 points in the final period.

The Aggies return home on Friday (Nov. 23) at 5 p.m., hosting Southern Utah at The Pavilion.

ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.

AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.