IRVINE, Calif. -- Senior Cierra Hall posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, leading two other teammates in double figures, but UC Davis could not overcome a pair of hot-shooting quarters from host UC Irvine, which posted a 76-59 victory over the Aggies in the Big West Conference opener for both teams on Thursday night at the Bren Events Center.

Playing in its first game in nearly three weeks since a win over Gonzaga back on Dec. 19, UC Davis fell to 6-5 overall and 0-1 in league play, getting 13 points from junior Lena Svanholm and 10 more from sophomore Evanne Turner.

Led by 16 points from Chloe Webb, the Anteaters improved to 6-6 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

Hall hit 5-of-9 from the floor overall and added six assists to go with a pair of blocks to finish out her stat line. She recorded her third double-double of the season and her fourth double-digit rebound game of the year, while reaching double figures for the eighth time in 11 contests.

Svanholm, meanwhile reached double figures for the third time this season, hitting 6-of-12 from the field, while Turner drained a pair of three-pointers en route to her seventh double-digit scoring performance of the year.

UC Davis scored seven of the first nine points of the game, but trailed by three points, 14-11, after one and fell behind by as many as 19 points in the second quarter, heading into the locker room down 41-25 at the break.

UC Irvine continued to roll, scoring 11 of the first 12 points to build a 52-26 advantage midway through the third quarter before the Aggies began to chip away. After trading three-pointers, UC Davis closed the third on a 9-0 run and continued the burst with the first basket of the fourth.

Later in the quarter, a 9-2 run by the Aggies -- thanks to three-pointers by Bria Shine, Mazatlan Harris, and Turner -- brought UC Davis to within 11 points, but that would be as close as the Aggies would come the rest of the way.

UC Davis shot 43 percent from the field, including a 64 percent clip in the fourth quarter, while holding UC Irvine to just .397 from the floor for the game. The Anteaters, however, hit 11-of-23 (.478) during their second quarter explosion and hit 54 percent from the field in the fourth to hold off any hopes of an Aggie comeback.

The Aggies return to the court on Saturday (Jan. 8) at 4 p.m., taking on UC San Diego in La Jolla, Calif.
 

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