BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - UC Davis used a dominant second-half performance to defeat CSU Bakersfield 60-43 and earn its first Big West Conference victory of the season, Saturday afternoon at the Icardo Center.
The Aggies (5-8, 1-2) received a big performance from their leading scorer,
Evanne Turner, who poured in a team-high 21 points while knocking down five three-pointers.
Tess Sussman enjoyed a fantastic day with 11 points and eight boards.
UC Davis made its presence felt on the defensive end by holding CSU Bakersfield (4-8, 1-3) to just 31.8% shooting while forcing 16 turnovers. The Aggies exploded down the stretch and out-scored the Roadrunners 37-15 in the final two periods earn the road win.
How It Happened
It was a slow start to the contest as both teams went scoreless for the opening three minutes.
Tova Sabel finally tallied the Aggies' first field goal at the 4:53 mark in the first quarter, which sparked a quick 6-0 run that gave her team an early advantage. The hosts replied with a run of their own to close the first period and held a narrow 10-9 lead after one.
Evanne Turner and
Megan Jones buried a pair of three-pointers to start the second quarter to thrust the Aggies back out in front. However, CSUB answered yet again by drilling back-to-back threes to restore their lead. Turner netted five consecutive points to reach double-digits but UC Davis would have to endure a scoring drought of nearly five minutes, allowing the Roadrunners to take a 28-23 lead into the locker room.
The Aggies started firing on all cylinders in the third quarter as
Mazatlan Harris and Turner each found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc just before
Campbell Gray got in on the action with four straight points. UC Davis clamped down on the defensive end and held CSU Bakersfield to just three points in the quarter and 1-of-11 from the floor to open a 40-31 lead heading in to the final 10 minutes.
The visitors carried this momentum in the fourth quarter as
Tess Sussman found the shooting stroke, nailing back-to-back triples, including a four-point play, to push the lead to 13 points. The Aggies continued to feed the hot hand and Sussman banked in another layup to make it nine straight points for the Needham, Mass. native. Turner knocked down one more three-pointer for good measure and UC Davis would cruise to the 60-43 victory, earning its first conference win.
Game Notes
»
Tess Sussman matched her season-high with 11 points.
» UC Davis recorded 14 total assists in the game.
» Gray handed out five assists to lead the team.
» The Aggies out-rebounded their opponent 38-35.
» Showing their ability to shoot from range, the Aggies scored just 14 points in the paint.
» UC Davis received 25 bench points on the afternoon.
» This is the third time this season the Aggies have tallied double-digit three-pointers (11).
Â
