STANFORD, Calif. — Senior biomedical engineering major Morgan Bertsch finished with a team-high 16 points for her 36th consecutive double-digit scoring performance, while junior communication major Nina Bessolo added 11 more thanks to a huge third quarter, pacing the Aggies in a, 71-43, defeat against No. 7 Stanford on Wednesday night in the season opener at Maples Pavilion.

UC Davis moves to 0-1 overall on the year heading into its home opener on Sunday (Nov. 11) at 2 p.m. against Pacific at The Pavilion. The Cardinal move to 1-0 on the season led by 16 points from Alanna Smith.

"I thought we competed pretty well for the first half, but we've still got a lot of growing to do with this team," Head Coach Jennifer Gross said. "Our goal was to compete for 40 minutes. I thought we competed well in stretches, but we still have some work to do. Our team knows our mission is just to get better every single day and that's what we're going to continue to do."

The performance for Bertsch moved her to within 27 points of Carol Rische's all-time scoring record with 1,684 career points and she added another career record to her name in the third quarter, collecting her second block of the night and the 150th of her career, tying Paige Mintun's mark set from 2006-11. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native added a team-high five rebounds and two steals to her stat line, draining a pair of first-half three-pointers to tie a career high set at Oregon State last season.

Bessolo scored 10 of her 11 points in the third quarter alone, hitting a pair of deep three-pointers and adding four rebounds and a pair of steals.

Smith led four Stanford players in double figures, including a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds by Lexie Hull, 14 points from Kiana Williams, and 10 more from Maya Dodson.

After the Aggies' defense forced a pair of turnovers on the Cardinal's first two possessions, Bertsch's first three-pointer of the night put UC Davis on the board first, and she answered an 8-0 burst by Stanford with another trey to make it a two-point game. After the Cardinal rebuilt their lead back to seven, senior psychology major Kourtney Eaton drained another three and Bertsch added another from the line to make it a four-point game at the end of the first quarter.

Junior human development major Cierra McKeown's first career Division I points — a three-pointer from the left corner — brought UC Davis to within two points at 19-17 with 8:53 remaining in the first half, but the Aggies could not sustain the rally. Stanford followed with an 11-0 run to break the game open as UC Davis was held without a point for five minutes until Bessolo hit 1-of-2 from the line to snap the skid.

Four straight from the line by the Aggies brought the deficit back to single digits, and they trailed, 36-24, at the break, before the Cardinal opened the second half with eight straight points to put the game out of reach.

"Stanford is really long, they're tough to score on, and they've got great length at every single position," Gross said. "I thought our offense was flowing a lot better in the first half. I thought we got pretty stagnant in the second half and were trying to take really tough shots. Part of that is Stanford's defense is really good, they were pressuring us a little bit."

Aside from McKeown, who finished with six points and three steals in her Division I debut, redshirt freshman Sage Stobbart and freshman Makaila Sanders also scored the first points of their collegiate careers in the fourth quarter, Stobbart on the fast break off a feed from redshirt freshman biological sciences major Kayla Konrad, and Sanders on a left elbow three-pointer to cap the scoring.

"Cierra (McKeown) came in and gave us a good spark," Gross said. "She's capable of really shooting the three and we felt like we needed some scoring so we went to her early. I'm pleased with how she's progressing. Kourtney (Eaton) had a lot on her shoulders tonight, playing the amount of minutes that she did and just trying to keep us together, I thought she played really well.

"Everybody was disappointed, obviously, with the result, but we have a group that's really hungry to get better and there wasn't a lot of moping. It was 'hey, let's get back to work tomorrow' and we'll continue to get better and, hopefully, we can pick up a 'W' on Sunday."

To honor veterans, active service members, and first responders, UC Davis is offering $5 tickets for Sunday's contest against Pacific. Visit the ticket page at UCDavisAggies.com and use the promo code AGGIESERVICE to take advantage of this opportunity.

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.