MISSOULA, Mont. — Senior biomedical engineering major Morgan Bertsch became the all-time leading scorer in UC Davis men's and women's basketball history, finishing with a team-high 21 points to lead five Aggies in double figures and help pace her team to an 84-68 win over Nevada in the opener of the 2018 Lady Griz Classic on Saturday afternoon in Missoula, Mont.

UC Davis improved to 3-4 overall on the year and will face either Northern Illinois or Montana on Sunday at a time to be determined based on the outcome of the Huskies-Lady Griz battle. The Wolf Pack fall to 1-5 overall, led by a game-high 22 points from Terae Briggs.

Bertsch scored the Aggies' first six points of the game and had 10 points at the end of the first quarter. Needing just two more to push past Audwin Thomas (1975-79), she did so with her fifth field goal of the day at the 7:31 mark of the second quarter, giving her 1,822 points for her career. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native finished 9-of-15 from the field, adding two blocks in 24 minutes while standing with 1,831 career points after the contest.

Redshirt freshman biological sciences major Kayla Konrad added her first career double-double in the winning effort, tying her career high with 12 points to go with a career high 10 rebounds, hitting 5-of-9 from the floor. Senior psychology major Kourtney Eaton added 14 points — just one shy of her career high — on five makes and four three-pointers, while junior biological sciences major Sophia Song and sophomore cell biology major Cierra Hall added 11 and 10 points respectively.

The Aggies, who shot a season-high 58 percent from the floor, last had five players finish in double figures on Nov. 30 of last season against Sacramento State, as Bertsch finished with 29 in that game while Pele Gianotti (15), Rachel Nagel (12), Kourtney Eaton (10), and Dani Nafekh (10), joined her.

UC Davis fell behind by five points early before smoothing out the bumps, getting back-to-back buckets inside by Bertsch to power a 13-2 run, taking the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Konrad to break a 9-9 tie with 5:08 to play in the first. Nevada never let the Aggies get further that seven points away the remainder of the quarter, but UC Davis offense wasn't done.

Leading by five, Bertsch again sparked another lengthy run — this one a 15-0 burst that featured three straight three-pointers from junior human development major Cierra McKeown — to build a 20-point, 45-25, advantage with 2:59 to play in the half and the Aggies never looked back. UC Davis led by 19 at the break and by as many as 23 points on three occasions in the third quarter — the last coming at the 3:47 mark of the period.

A 12-4 run to close the third by Nevada made it a 15-point game as the Wolf Pack were within 13 points at one juncture in the period, but they never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way after a pair of free throws by Jade Redmon with 2:43 remaining in regulation.

Blistering on offense, the Aggies were also effective on defense, limiting leading scorer Redmon to just 11 points on 2-of-12 from the floor and holding Nevada to just 39 percent shooting from the field. UC Davis also out-scored the Wolf Pack, 52-32, in the paint.

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.

####