CHENEY, Wash. — UC Davis (1-1) led in the final minute before Eastern Washington (1-1) scored seven of the game's final nine points all on free throws in a 76-72 nonconference victory over the Aggies on Friday at Reece Court. Avery Sussex led UC Davis with 24 points and made six of the Aggies' school-record-tying 17 three-pointers, including one with 0:59 to go that gave UC Davis its final lead at 70-69. Marta Forsline added 22 points and connected on a career-high five three-pointers.
Elyn Bowers was fouled on the Eagles' next possession after Sussex's three with 0:45 remaining and made both of her free throws to put Eastern Washington back in front, 71-70. The Aggies got up three shots on their next possession but missed all of them. Alyse Abu rebounded the third miss and was fouled with 0:16 remaining then made both of her free throws to extend the Eagles' lead to 73-70.
Rebecca Donnelly's subsequent three-pointer with 0:09 seconds remaining on the next UC Davis possession was off the mark but Sussex got the offensive rebound and put it back in to cut the Eagles' margin to one at 73-72 with seven ticks left.
Bowers was fouled with 0:06 remaining after receiving the inbound pass then again made both of her free throws to put the Eagles ahead, 75-72.
UC Davis had one final chance but Tegan Young's three-point attempt to tie the game with three seconds left was blocked by Jaecy Eggers. Aby rebounded the ball and was subsequently fouled before making her first of two free throws for the final score.
"It is always disappointing when you can't finish it out," head coach Jennifer Gross said. "We still have to work on finding a way in those close games to come out on top, but I'm really proud of our team's effort. We got down at the half and to see the resilience that our team showed to come back and compete at a high level to make plays both on offense and defense showed a lot of promise for our group. We're young, but we're growing, and it's exciting."
Bowers scored a game-high 30 points to lead Eastern Washington, while Eggers (18), Abu (14) and Kourtney Grossman (10) were also in double-figure scoring for the Eagles. Grossman and Eggers both posted double-doubles, adding 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively.
Eastern Washington made 29-of-38 free throws, while UC Davis was just 3-of-8 from the charity stripe.
UC Davis trailed 41-31 at halftime and led just once in the opening half at 19-18 after Forsline started the second period by making back-to-back three-pointers on the Aggies' first two possessions. After a pair of Eastern Washington buckets, Forsline scored again on a layup to get UC Davis back within a point at 22-21 before the Eagles went on a 7-0 run to take a 29-21 advantage with 4:00 to go in the opening half.
Forsline made a three-pointer just 10 seconds into the second half before the Eagles scored the next four points to take an 11-point advantage at 45-34 that was the largest lead for either team. The Aggies managed to cut the lead by more than half by the end of the period to trail 52-47 going into the final 10 minutes.
Anna Bassett hit a three-pointer on the Aggies' second possession of the fourth period to pull UC Davis within 52-50 at the 9:10 mark and the Aggies took their first lead of the second half at 64-63 when Donnelly knocked down a three with 3:54 remaining. A three-pointer by Forsline with 2:38 to go gave UC Davis a 67-64 lead that was its biggest but the only Aggie points after that were the five scored by Sussex in the game's final minute.
UC Davis next plays at Stanford on Sunday (2 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+).
"We've had a long history with Stanford and have a ton of respect for their program, coach [Kate] Paye and their staff," Gross said. "We know them well, and we always look forward to this matchup. It's a good chance for us to compete against a really high-quality program. We're looking forward to the opportunity."
The Aggies next return home for their annual Field Trip Day game next Thursday, Nov. 12 against Cal State Fullerton (11 a.m., MW+). Last year's Field Trip Day contest drew a school-record 5,567 fans that watched the Aggies defeat Idaho, 89-76.
Both upcoming games and all UC Davis contests can also be heard live on The Varsity Network and UC Davis student radio station KDVS (90.3 FM).
GAME NOTES
- The Aggies' school-record-tying 17 three-pointers marked the seventh time UC Davis has posted 17 three-pointers in a contest with the most recent against Cal Maritime on Dec. 28, 2024
- UC Davis's 42 three-point attempts were a school record, surpassing the previous mark of 40 at Montana on Dec. 2, 2018
- Friday's game was the first ever played between UC Davis and Eastern Washington
- Taylor Hicks made her collegiate debut for the Aggies
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis Athletics represents one of the nation's premier public universities on the NCAA Division I stage, with more than 650 student-athletes competing across 25 sports, including 16 programs in the Mountain West Conference. Located in California's quintessential college town, UC Davis combines championship-level athletics with the academic excellence of the nation's No. 8 public research university and is home to the nation's No. 1 programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine and sustainability. With a growing national media presence, bold investments in facilities and the student-athlete experience, and a tradition of developing champions in competition, in the classroom and beyond, the Aggies are elevating UC Davis on a national stage.
