DAVIS, Calif. — Senior biomedical engineering major Morgan Bertsch finished with a game-high 25 points to lead two teammates in double figures, as the UC Davis women's basketball team bounced back from its first conference loss of the year with a resounding 75-51 victory over visiting Cal State Fullerton on Thursday evening at The Pavilion.

The Aggies improved to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in Big West Conference play, forcing the Titans into 17 turnovers and holding them to just 35 percent from the field. UC Davis won its 15th consecutive league home game in the process dating back to 2017, shooting just over 46 percent from the field and scoring 24 points off those Fullerton miscues.

Led by 18 points off the bench from Amiee Book, the Titans fell to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in league play as co-leading scorer Daeja Smith (13.8 ppg entering the night) was held scoreless until the final five minutes of the contest. Raina Perez added 15 points to join Book in double figures.

Bertsch finished 9-of-13 from the floor, adding a team-high seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and four steals, in 23 minutes. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native posted her fifth-straight 20-point performance, her 11th game with 20-or-more points this year, and the 49th such performance of her career.

Saturday night's performance also moved the senior to within seven points of UC Riverside's Kemie Nkele for seventh on the Big West's all-time scoring list with 2,055 career points.

Junior human development major Cierra McKeown added 13 points in 14 minutes off the bench, hitting three of her four baskets from beyond the arc, while senior psychology major Kourtney Eaton added 11 points, also draining a trio of three-pointers.

UC Davis led wire-to-wire for the third time in its last four contests and the sixth time overall this season, opening the game on a 7-0 run — five of those from Bertsch, who finished with 13 of the team's 16 points in the period en route to a five-point lead after the first 10 minutes. It marked the 12th time this season that an Aggie has finished with double digits in a quarter, eight of those from Bertsch.

An 8-0 run ballooned a three-point game into an 11-point lead for UC Davis early in the second quarter, but Fullerton responded, using a 7-0 run of its own to turn what was a 12-point deficit into a five-point advantage with 1:40 remaining in the half. The two teams traded field goals and McKeown drained a three-pointer just before the end of the quarter, giving the Aggies a 32-24 lead at the break.

However, a 12-2 burst over a two-plus minute span early in the third staked UC Davis to its largest lead of the night to that point, and the Aggies closed the quarter on another lengthy run — this one a 10-0 spurt over the final four minutes — to go up by 19 heading into the final period.

Cal State Fullerton got no closer than 17 points the rest of the way as UC Davis posted its seventh double-digit victory of the season and its largest against a league opponent since a 30-point win over Long Beach State on Feb. 15 of last season.

The win sets up a clash against league-leading UC Irvine, which faced UC Riverside later Thursday night, on Saturday (Jan. 19) at 2:30 p.m., tipping off a second straight doubleheader 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.