SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A 20-4 run spanning the second and third quarters completely erased a 15-point deficit to give UC Davis its first lead since early in the first quarter, but No. 5-seeded Missouri State answered in a big way, scoring the next 17 consecutive points to take the lead for good en route to a 70-51 victory over the No. 12-seeded Aggies in an NCAA Tournament first round match-up on Monday evening at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas.
In a season that nearly wasn't, one featuring a two-month lay-off without games and limited practices, the five-time defending Big West Conference champion UC Davis squad showed the resilience that propelled it yet another league and conference tournament title, finishing a not-so-ordinary 2020-21 season with a 13-3 overall record and a 9-1 mark in conference play.
The Aggies wrapped up its third NCAA Tournament appearance overall and its eighth postseason berth in 14 years as a Division I program, earning the program's highest-ever tournament seed and the best by a Big West school since 2004.
Sophomore guard
Evanne Turner scored 13 of her team-high 16 points in the second half to lead a group of three Aggies in double figures, ending the night 6-of-15 from the field, including four of the team's 13 three-point baskets. Senior
Cierra Hall — the 2021 Big West Player of the Year — added 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while junior
Kayla Konrad finished with 13 points.
Senior guard
Mackenzie Trpcic shared team honors with eight rebounds and dished out six assists, while Big West Defensive Player of the Year
Sage Stobbart grabbed five rebounds and blocked five shots.
Stobbart's five blocks gave her 43 for the year in only 16 games (2.69 bpg), moving her in ninth on the school's all-time single-season list and into sixth on the career list with 98. For comparison, Stobbart finished with 39 swats in 29 games in 2019-20.
The Bears led by eight after one quarter and built a 15-point advantage midway through the second quarter after scoring 10 of the first 13 points in the period. That's when UC Davis flipped the switch, chipping away to make it an eight-point game at the break. Hall drew a foul and completed the rare four-point play as her three-pointer found the bottom of the net and Stobbart found room to score inside to make it a six-point game.
Missouri State scored back-to-back buckets right before the end of the half to lead it, 33-25, but the Aggies came out of the locker room firing as Turner, Hall, and Konrad, each drained three-pointers in the span of 79 seconds, turning the eight-point deficit into a one-point, 34-33, advantage with 7:42 remaining in the third.
That would be the last lead of the night for UC Davis as the Bears exploded, scoring the final 16 points of the quarter and eight of the first 11 in the fourth, allowing only a three-pointer by Konrad in that stretch, to build a 20-point lead.
A personal 8-0 run by Turner cut that advantage down to 12 points with 3:34 remaining and triples by Hall and Konrad — the latter with 1:48 to play — made it an 11-point deficit, but Missouri State hit 6-of-6 from the line and added a basket inside for the final advantage.
UC Davis shot 31 percent overall from the field for the game, but hit 42 percent from beyond the arc overall as 13 of its 18 makes in the game were from long distance — the second-highest total of the year and the most since the Aggies tied a single-game school record with 17 three-pointers against UC San Diego on Jan. 22.
The four three-pointers made by both Hall and Turner tied the school NCAA Tournament record set by Stobbart at Stanford in 2019, while the eight rebounds by both Trpcic and Hall were new school NCAA bests. Trpcic also set the Aggies' NCAA Tournament mark with her six assists as did Stobbart with her five blocked shots.
UC Davis limited the Bears to just 37 percent shooting, but Missouri State out-rebounded the Aggies, 53-32, including a 20-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
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.
