DAVIS, Calif. — 27 points from
Nya Epps gave UC Davis women's basketball a home victory over the CSUN Matadors on Thursday, Jan. 29. The Aggies finish the first half of the Big West Conference season with an 8-2 record.
Score: UC Davis 68, CSUN 51
Location: Davis, Calif. (University Credit Union Center)
Records: UC Davis 15-6 (8-2), CSUN 6-13 (2-8)
OPENING TIP
- Epps' 27 points marked the fourth time this season the senior has gone for 20+.
- She also came just one point short of tying her career-high of 28.
- Megan Norris went for a double-double for the fifth straight contest. She is now up to 14 double-doubles on the season.
- Ryann Bennett rounded out the Aggie double-digit scorers with 10 points, also swiping a team-high four steals.
- The Aggies outworked the Matadors on the offensive glass, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds throughout the night.
- Defensively, Davis was effective in both the second and third quarters, holding CSUN to single-digits in both periods with six and nine points respectively.
WHAT HEAD COACH JENNIFER GROSS HAD TO SAY
"At the start we really talked about moving the ball and creating great shots for each other. I thought we did a really nice job of that early on. Nya got us going early and she continued to keep the pedal down throughout the game, but I'm really happy with contributions from everybody today."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After seeing the Matadors begin the night on a 7-2 run, Epps cashed in the first Aggie field goal on a layup to spark a 16-0 run.
- The run was punctuated by six straight points from Epps, giving her team an 18-7 advantage.
- CSUN would cash a couple more shots at the end of the period to make it 20-12 in favor of the Aggies.
- Period two saw Epps continue to dominate, pouring in eight points on an 11-2 run for her team.
- Late in the quarter, Victoria Baker came off the bench to put up five straight Aggie points, giving them a 38-18 lead at half.
- Coming out of the locker room, Epps cashed in a three halfway through the third to put her over 20 points on the night.
- Theoni Tsami earned her first point on the foul line in the final seconds of the period to put her team up 52-27.
- On the first possession of the fourth, Sophie Lentfer drove in for a layup for her first points of the game.
- A pair of layups from Norris put her at 10 points, securing her double-double.
- The Aggies also got field goals from Carrington Davis and Tsami late in the period, as the team would cruise to a 68-51 victory over the Matadors.
- UP NEXT: UC Davis begins the second half of conference play with a rematch of Cal State Bakersfield in the University Credit Union Center on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. PT and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and KDVS 90.3.
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS:
UC Davis, the No. 2 ranked public university by the Wall Street Journal, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked No. 1 in Agriculture and Forestry as well as No. 1 in Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27.
For more information, visit
https://ucdavisaggies.com/.
