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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Visiting its fifth state in the last four days and playing in front of its largest crowd of the season, the UC Davis women's basketball team came out firing to grab an early lead, and used a hot-shooting third quarter to cut into a huge halftime deficit, but the Aggies came up just short in the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, falling to host Indiana, 81-66, on Sunday afternoon at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.

UC Davis finished a record-setting 2017-18 season with a 28-7 overall record, claiming its second consecutive Big West Conference title and advancing further into the postseason than any Aggie squad in the program's Division I history. UC Davis finished the year winning 18 of its final 22 games and wrapped up a postseason that saw the Aggies travel more than 7,500 miles round trip.

Buoyed by a raucous season-best crowd of 6,001 fans, Indiana improved to 21-14 overall and will face either South Dakota or TCU in the WNIT semifinals. Tyra Buss led all scorers with 30 points while Amanda Cahill finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way for the Hoosiers.

Senior psychology major Rachel Nagel wrapped up her collegiate career with a team-high 14 points to pace three teammates in double figures, hitting four of her five baskets from beyond the arc and adding six rebounds. Junior biomedical engineering major Morgan Bertsch finished with 13 points and five rebounds while blocking a shot, moving into sole possession of second place for the latter in a career with 148.

Senior managerial economics major Dani Nafekh added 12 first-half points on a quartet of three-pointers, dishing out five assists, while senior political science major Pele Gianotti finished with 11 points and three rebounds.

UC Davis came out firing to start the game, scoring seven of the first nine points and leading by as many as five points on two occasions - the last on a three-pointer by Nafekh with 6:42 to play in the first. Indiana answered with a 10-0 run to regain the lead for good, not letting the Aggies come closer than three points and holding an eight-point, 23-15, advantage at the end of one.

The Hoosiers then used a big second quarter to carry a 20-point lead into the locker room at the break, outscoring UC Davis, 24-12, in the period, but the Aggies did not shrink away from the challenge. Just as it did to start the game, UC Davis came out on fire to start the third as a drive to the basket fell in for Gianotti, sparking a run of seven straight for the Aggies.

Later, back-to-back three-pointers from Nagel, who scored nine points in the third quarter alone, and a free throw by Bertsch cut the deficit back to single digits at, 55-46, with 3:05 to play. However, Indiana scored seven of the final 10 points in the quarter to lead, 62-49, after three, and the Aggies, who shot nearly 62 percent in the third period, never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

UC Davis shot 43 percent from the field for the game and blocked five shots - two of those by senior Marly Anderson, who led the way on the glass for the Aggies with seven rebounds. Conversely, the Hoosiers shot just under 47 percent for the game from the field and out-rebounded UC Davis, 44-28.

INDIANA 81, UC DAVIS 66

UC DAVIS (28-7)
Nagel, Rachel 5-9 0-0 14; Bertsch, Morgan 5-13 3-6 13; Nafekh, Dani 4-7 0-0 12; Gianotti, Pele 5-13 0-0 11; Eaton, Kourtney 3-5 0-0 8; Hall, Cierra 1-2 1-2 3; Bessolo, Nina 1-5 0-0 3; Anderson, Marly 0-2 2-2 2; Song, Sophia 0-0 0-0 0; Eaton, Karley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 6-10 66.

INDIANA (21-14)
Buss, Tyra 10-20 8-12 30; Cahill, Amanda 7-12 8-8 24; Yeaney, Bendu 5-12 1-2 12; Warthen, Keyanna 2-3 0-0 5; Royster, Kym 2-5 0-0 4; Penn, Jaelynn 1-6 0-0 3; Marchese, Linsey 1-2 0-0 2; Wickware, Bre 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 28-60 18-24 81.

UC Davis...................... 15 12 22 17 - 66
Indiana....................... 23 24 15 19 - 81

3-point goals--UC Davis 12-30 (Nagel, Rachel 4-6; Nafekh, Dani 4-7; Eaton, Kourtney 2-3; Gianotti, Pele 1-7; Bessolo, Nina 1-5; Anderson, Marly 0-1; Hall, Cierra 0-1), Indiana 7-17 (Buss, Tyra 2-6; Cahill, Amanda 2-6; Warthen, Keyanna 1-1; Penn, Jaelynn 1-3; Yeaney, Bendu 1-1). Fouled out--UC Davis-None, Indiana-None. Rebounds--UC Davis 28 (Anderson, Marly 7), Indiana 44 (Cahill, Amanda 10). Assists--UC Davis 14 (Nafekh, Dani 5), Indiana 11 (Buss, Tyra 5). Total fouls--UC Davis 18, Indiana 14. Technical fouls--UC Davis-None, Indiana-None. A-6001
Women's National Invitation Tournament - Quarterfinals

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. 6-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, 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.