DAVIS, Calif. – It was an offensive explosion in UC Davis' season-opening win over Academy of Art, reaching the century mark in its 102-52 victory on Monday morning in the University Credit Union Center.
The Aggies improve to 30-21 all-time in season openers dating back to the 1977-78 season. It was an extremely efficient day shooting the basketball for UC Davis, posting a team field goal percentage of 50% with 29 assists, just one assist shy of the program record. UC Davis' 102 points in the most points it has scored in a game since 2019, when the Aggies dropped 109 points on Sacramento State.
Tova Sabel paced the offensive attack with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting with three triples. Her partner-in-crime,
Evanne Turner, also nailed three shots from beyond the arc in her 18-point display. The Fontana native delivered an all-around performance with five rebounds and five assists.
Coming up with a huge double-double performance was
Megan Norris win 17 points and 12 boards, making seven of her 10 attempts from the floor.
Lena Svanholm was fantastic in her first action in over a year, dropping 14 points in just 17 minutes, going 6-of-7 with one shot from deep.
Scoring eight points in her return from injury was
Bria Shine, registering a career-high eight points while grabbing seven rebounds.
Victoria Baker had a nice cameo in the second half to finish in double figures, pouring in 11 points and pulling down six boards.
How It Happened
Both teams showed some first-game jitters going a combined 0-for-7 to start the contest until Sabel finally poured in the UC Davis' first two buckets of the 2023-24 season. It was a strong start on the defensive end for
Jennifer Gross' team as the Aggies held Academy of Art scoreless for the opening six minutes of the contest. This opened the floodgates and Turner would find some space to knock down her first triple of the year before Sabel's third field goal of the opening 10 minutes forced a timeout from the visitors.
Svanholm enjoyed some early success in her first game back from injury, netting eight early points, before Sabel capped off her excellent first quarter performance with a three-pointer in transition to finish with nine points to power UC Davis to the 22-7 lead.
The Aggies went nearly three minutes without scoring to start the second period, but Turner got the offense back on track with her second three-ball of the day. After back-to-back layups from reigning Big West Freshman of the Year
Megan Norris, Svanholm reached double-digits after converting a layup from a well-orchestrated out-of-bounds play and Sabel would continue her great first half by burying a three from the corner.
Shine, also making her return after missing last season due to injury, scored eight straight points to extend the advantage in an exciting moment for the junior from Sacramento. This was all part of an 21-2 scoring run that gave the Aggies a 27-point lead (52-25) at the break. UC Davis scored 30 points in the second quarter, their third-best scoring performance of all time, and the most the team has scored in a period since 2019.
Mazatlan Harris opened the second-half scoring by nailing a wide-open triple to spark a 9-0 run. The Aggies started to find the shooting touch from beyond the arc when Norris and
Nya Epps stepped out to the perimeter to net a couple three-pointers. It didn't take long for the Ags to make it a 40-point advantage, closing the third period up 77-36.
The fourth quarter was broken open by Baker's five straight points. Sabel continued her brilliance by going 3-for-3 in the last period, helping UC Davis put the finishing touches on its season-opening 102-52 victory.
UP NEXT
The Ags will remain in Davis to host Portland State on Nov. 9 at the University Credit Union Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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