LAS VEGAS — The Aggies are going dancing again!
Powered by 23 points from tournament Most Valuable Player
Cierra Hall and a career-high 22 more from all-tournament selection
Evanne Turner, the UC Davis women's basketball team claimed its third Big West Conference Tournament title, using a huge second half to defeat UC Irvine, 61-42, on Saturday evening at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Aggies improved to 13-2 overall, successfully defending its Big West Tournament title from 2019 and winning the program's third league tournament crown overall along with the 2011 squad. UC Davis clinches the league's automatic NCAA berth, and will find out its opening round postseason foe with the bracket announced on Monday (March 15) at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN.
Becoming the first repeat champion in the conference since CSUN accomplished the feat in 2014-15, the five-time defending regular season champions turned up the heat on both ends of the court after Hall's bucket at the buzzer set the Aggies and Anteaters into the locker room tied at 26 at the break.
The senior then sank a pair of free throws to open the third quarter scoring and fellow all-tournament team selection
Sage Stobbart scored in the paint to open a four-point lead and the race was on. UC Davis, which shot 56 percent in the second half alone, and UC Irvine traded blows and stood tied at 32 before the Aggies score eight of the final 10 points in the quarter to hold a six-point lead with 10 minutes to play.
That's when Turner took over, scoring 11 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, opening the period with a three-point play and draining two more from deep as part of a 12-0 run over a four-minute span as UC Davis led by as many as 20 points in the quarter with 1:25 to play.
Defensively, the Aggies continued to be stingy, limiting UC Irvine to just 16 second-half points and 23 percent shooting from the field in the final 20 minutes — and 29 percent overall for the game — including an 0-for-7 showing by the Anteaters from beyond the arc after halftime. Allowing only eight points in the third and fourth quarters on Saturday, UC Davis surrendered single-digit points in five of their 12 postseason quarters.
The 42 points surrendered by the Aggie defense are the fewest allowed in a championship game in the 38-year history of the tournament, and the fewest by any team in any round since UC Santa Barbara defeated CSUN, 45-31, in the 2013 quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, UC Davis shot just over 45 percent from the floor for the contest, breaking the 40 percent plateau for the third-straight tournament game and the 12th time overall this year, and held a 40-31 advantage on the glass. Twelve of those rebounds came via Stobbart, who tied the school's Big West Tournament single-game record set by Paige Mintun against CSUN in 2009 and matched by Celia Marfone against UC Riverside in 2016.
Playing nearly all 40 minutes, Hall finishing 9-of-15 from the field en route to her fifth 20-point game of the season, draining three, three-pointers, grabbing five rebounds, and collecting three steals to go with three assists.
Turner, meanwhile, finished 9-of-13 from the field with three of those makes coming from beyond the arc, adding five rebounds in 38 minutes. The sophomore's previous career high was a 21-point outburst at CSUN last season.
OTHER NOTABLES: UC Davis became the sixth school in Big West history to win at least three tournament titles along with CSUN, Long Beach State, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and former member UNLV... UC Davis is the first school to make three straight tournament title game appearances since the Gauchos made 13 consecutive appearances from 1997-2009... The Aggies' seven Big West Tournament championship game appearances since joining the league in 2007-08 already rank fourth all time in Big West history and third among active members behind UC Santa Barbara (17) and Long Beach State (12).
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.
