Following a victory at home, the UC Davis women’s basketball team continued its great stretch of performances and finished its final road trip of this season by winning both the road games.
The Aggies first matched up with a tough opponent, the Cal Poly Mustangs, who are currently ranked second in the conference standing. In their first meeting in January, UC Davis lost to Cal Poly by the score of 81-72.
Unlike the first meeting, Cal Poly came out strong as the Aggies struggled early in the first half. Cal Poly’s Ariana Elegado held the hot hand as she made four consecutive three-pointers to give Cal Poly a 19-6 advantage only seven minutes into the first half.
But soon, the Aggies used a 15-4 run to cut the lead to two, 23-21, with 7:04 left in the half. Junior forward Sydnee Fipps made a pair of free throws and a three-pointer which helped UC Davis take its first lead of the game, 28-26.
The Mustangs again tied the game on a jumper by Jonae Ervin and retook the lead with a 6-1 run. Cal Poly settled for a 34-29 lead at the end of the first half.
Sophomore forward Alyson Doherty came out strong in the second half and made back-to-back baskets, scoring 10 consecutive points for the Aggies. The Aggies cut the lead to two, 38-40, with 15:55 to play.
But again the Mustangs came fighting back with a three-pointer by Elegado. Cal Poly extended its lead to as many as eight points, 39-47, with 12:42 left in the game.
The Aggies were still down by two with 3:09 to play, with the two teams trading misses for a minute and half. With 1:24 left in the game, sophomore Celia Marfone made a key three-pointer from the left corner to help the Aggies earn back the lead, 68-67.
Followed Marfone’s three-pointer, UC Davis sparked a 9-2 burst in the last minute and took charge of the game by the final score of 77-69.
UC Davis shot 44 percent from the field and made 10 of 27 from beyond the arc in the game. The Aggies went to the line 22 times and converted 19 free throws.
Fipps finished with 23 points while Doherty added 22 points. Marfone scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
UC Davis closed out their final game on the road trip at UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos, which currently have an 8-19 overall record and are 3-11 in the conference, fell to the Aggies by the score of 82-70 in their first meeting in February. They once again fell to the Aggies on March 1.
UC Davis started the game with a 15-2 run only five minutes into the first half. The Gauchos cut the lead to seven points, 17-10, with 12:46 left to play in the half.
However, UC Davis exploded for another 9-0 burst and kept the lead in double digits for the rest of the first half, 39-25.
Doherty again came out strong for the second half, by scoring the first five points of the half and extending the lead to as many as 19 points, 44-25.
The Gauchos finally answered with a 9-2 run of their own and cut the lead to 11 points, 52-41, with 6:15 left in the game. Nonetheless, they were unable to go further since the Aggies sealed the victory off with a 10-0 run that pushed the lead to as many as 22 points.
Eventually, UC Davis completed their season sweep of UC Santa Barbara by the score of 65-47, and improved the Aggies record to 13-14 overall and 8-6 in conference play.
Fipps scored a game-high 18 points, while Doherty and sophomore guard Molly Greubel added 15 and 14 points, respectively.
The Aggies are going to close out the season at home, facing UC Riverside on March 6, and hosting UC Irvine on March 8.
