DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis extended its win streak to five games after grinding out a tough 60-55 win over Cal State Fullerton on Thursday night inside the University Credit Union Center. This marks the team's longest win streak since the 2019-20 season.
The Aggies (9-8, 5-2 Big West) delivered another dominant defensive performance by holding the Titans (6-10, 2-4 Big West) to just 37.3% from the floor. UC Davis enjoyed an efficient shooting night (45.3%) while three Aggies finished in double figures.
Tova Sabel made it 10 straight games in double digits, dropping a team-high 16 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Sydney Burns matched her season-high with 14 points on the night, going 5-of-10 from the field.
Evanne Turner notched 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Megan Norris was just one point shy of a double-double, pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds and chipping in with nine points.
How It Happened
Sabel beat her defender off the dribble for the team's first points of the game but Cal State Fullerton raced to a 5-2 advantage in the early minutes. The Aggies stormed back when Burns poured in four straight points to give them their first lead of the contest. However, the Titans replied by closing the quarter on a 12-2 run to regain their momentum and finish the first 10 minutes with a 17-10 lead.
The Swedish guard continued to light it up in the second period when she nailed a three before hitting a fade away jumper with the shot clock running down for her stretch of five consecutive points, cutting the deficit to three. Despite that productive sequence, Cal State Fullerton delivered another strong performance near the end of the period to come away with a 34-28 lead at the break.
The visiting side found their shooting touch in the first half, going 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. Gabi Vidmar made four of the team's six triples in first half action, accumulating 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Turner started to fill up the scoresheet and led the Aggies' charge into the lead. The defense stiffened and held Cal State Fullerton scoreless for over two minutes while UC Davis' leading scorer dropped five straight points, including a corner three, to give her team the lead.
The Titans did not go away after surrendering their advantage, using some solid defense of their own to hold the Aggies without a bucket for over three minutes. This allowed the visitors to pull ahead, but Burns continued her excellent night by finding the bottom of the net from three-point range to knot things up at 42-42.
The two teams would head into the final period all tied up at 44-44 and it would be
Nya Epps to break the deadlock with a nice pump fake to get her defender off her feet before driving to the basket to finish the layup. The back-and-forth battle persisted when both sides traded three-pointers but Sabel's driving layup capped off a 7-0 run for the hosts, giving the Aggies a two-point edge with five minutes left to play.
Epps' jumper allowed the Aggies to seize a 57-51 lead with 3:06 to go in the contest. Some solid free throw shooting and a couple big defensive stops lifted UC Davis to the 60-55 win, the team's fifth consecutive victory.
Game Notes
» The Aggies outscored Cal State Fullerton 16-11 in the fourth quarter to break a 44-44 third quarter tie.
» The Aggies held the Titans to only 37.3 percent shooting from the field.
» UC Davis tallied 15 total assists in the game.
» Tova Sabel led the Aggies with 16 points.
» UC Davis got a game-high 10 rebounds from Megan Norris.
UP NEXT
The Ags head to UC Irvine on Jan. 20 for the return fixture against the Anteaters. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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