DAVIS, Calif. —
Nya Epps led UC Davis women's basketball with 21 points in a loss against UC Irvine on Saturday, Mar. 7. The Aggies finish the regular season as the third seed in the Big West and secure a first round bye in next week's postseason tournament.
Score: UC Davis 70, UC Irvine 58
Location: Davis, Calif. (University Credit Union Center)
Records: UC Davis 22-9 (15-5), UC Irvine 26-5 (17-3)
OPENING TIP
- Epps' 21 points marks the sixth time this season she's gone for 20 or more in a game.
- She also led the defense with four steals.
- Avery Sussex and Megan Norris also recorded double-digit points with 15 and 13 respectively.
- Norris also led with seven rebounds.
- The Aggies were a perfect 15-for-15 (100%) from the free throw line, the first time they've done so this season.
- The contest was close early on, featuring nine lead changes and four ties throughout the first half.
WHAT HEAD COACH JENNIFER GROSS HAD TO SAY
"I'm disappointed for our seniors. They've poured so much into this program, and we always hope that we can get the win on Senior Day for them. But as I told the team, the season's not over. We still have basketball left to play and we just have to put ourselves in the right frame of mind to bounce back from this one and go into next week with a lot of confidence."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Aggies got a balanced scoring effort in the first period, with four players getting on the board.
- A layup from Epps halfway through the quarter put the Aggies up by as much as seven, but a free throw barrage from the Anteaters evened things up at 19 apiece.
- Three straight points from Norris put her team up 20-19 entering period number two.
- Both teams continued battling back-and-forth, with Sophie Lentfer getting the first Davis bucket of the quarter to keep her team within one possession.
- A 5-0 run from Sussex tied the game at 27, but four made triples from Irvine made the difference as they entered halftime up 40-31.
- Made threes from Epps and Sussex led the Aggies as they opened the second half of play.
- But a 20 point quarter from the Anteaters encapsulated by a 10-0 run put them up 60-43 after three.\
- A 9-1 scoring run from the home team put them as close as 11 to begin the fourth quarter.
- However, three pointers from Irvine's seniors put them up as much as 18 with just a minute to go.
- UC Davis would score the final six points, but ultimately fell 58-70 in their final regular season Big West contest.
UP NEXT: With the regular season in the rearview mirror, the Aggies will now prepare for their final Big West Championship from Mar. 12-14. UC Davis will play the winner of UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside on Thursday, Mar. 12 in the Big West Semifinals. Tipoff will be at 2:30 p.m. PT and the game will be streamed live from Henderson 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/.
