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LAS VEGAS —  Tied at 24 apiece at halftime of Friday's semifinal at the Air Force Reserve Women's Basketball Championship, presented by the Hawaiian Islands, UC Davis scored 22 of the first 30 points in the third quarter to take the lead for good as top-seeded UC Davis will battle for the league's NCAA Tournament automatic bid in Saturday's 5 p.m. championship game by defeating No. 5 seed Hawai'i, 64-52, in Las Vegas.

The five-time Big West champions will face either No. 2 UC Irvine or No. 6 Cal Poly tomorrow afternoon since the Anteaters and Mustangs were in action at the time of this release.

By defeating the Rainbow Wahine in the third head-to-head game within a week — these teams ended the regular season with a two-game series in Honolulu — the Aggies will enter that battle for a Big West Championship crown with a 12-2 overall record. UC Davis basketball fans can watch tomorrow's contest on ESPN3, by listening to Greg Wong's call on KDVS 90.3 FM, or following the action through live stats or in-game Twitter updates.

Hawai'i ends it season at 9-8.

Not including last season's league tournament, which was canceled due to COVID, UC Davis has now advanced to the league's championship game in four of the last five postseason tournaments (2021, 2019, 2018, 2016), and will make its seventh appearance in the Big West's championship game in program history when it returns to the Michelob ULTRA Arena for the final time this week.

The Aggies won the league's tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament 2011 and 2019.

Mackenzie Trpcic led the Aggies's balanced attack — eight of 10 players who competed against UH scored at least three points — by finishing with 13 in addition to four rebounds. Sage Stobbart recorded a double-double that included 12 points and 11 rebounds, and as a team, UC Davis shot 45 percent overall (22 of 49) and 88 percent at the line (15 of 17) where it scored the final eight points of the game.

Once action resumed after halftime, UC Davis quickly turned a low-scoring matchup into a double-digit lead, thanks to its 10-0 run, combined with a four-minute scoring drought and 1 of 13 shooting from the floor by Hawai'i.

Leading by as many as 15 in the fourth quarter, the Rainbow Wahine made things interesting by scoring 10 unanswered points, on a pair of desperation threes and four free throws, but quickly saw their four-point deficit triple in size when Trpcic and Bria Shine each hit four free throws over the final 55 seconds of the game.

UC Davis' defense also shut down the Rainbow Wahine in the final minutes by forcing them to end Friday's semifinal with two field goals in their last 11 attempts.



ABOUT UC DAVIS
Over 700 student-athletes across 25 intercollegiate athletics teams, following the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation.

Centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and the Napa Valley, UC Davis is known nationwide as a leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, ranks annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.

UC Davis is uncommonly committed to preparing student-athletes for life after graduation with Aggie EVO — an innovative student-athlete outcomes program that helps young women and men develop passions, gain real-world experience, and enjoy a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school. Through Aggie EVO, Intercollegiate Athletics provides unmatched resources and a vast network of working professionals to ensure post-graduation success for its student-athletes.