Tournament Champs! UCR Defeats UC Davis In Championship Game

Saturday, March 13

Anaheim, CA

1:00 PM

UC Riverside

UC Davis (Championship)

Tournament Champs! UCR Defeats UC Davis In Championship Game

3/13/2010 11:47:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score - UC Riverside 71, UC Davis 67

Watch the team's celebration after the game

Relive the final moments of play

Anaheim, CA - The No. 3 seeded UC Riverside women's basketball team won its third Big West Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon with a 71-67 defeat of No. 1 seeded UC Davis at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The Highlanders (17-15) used impressive shooting from the field and from the free throw line to seal the win, upseting a No. 1 seed for just the second time in conference history since 1996. In 2006, UCR was a four seed when they upset No. 1 seeded UC Santa Barbara to claim their first-ever championship win. A year later, the team was seeded first and repeated as tournament champions, heading to their second-straight NCAA Tournament.

With the win against the Aggies (21-10) in the championship game, the Highlanders are guaranteed the conference's automatic NCAA birth, marking the fourth postseason appearance for UCR in five years. Last season, the team earned the conference's women's NIT bid.

The Highlanders shot 58.1 percent from the field for the game, including 68.4 percent in the second half. UCR also hit 11 three-pointers, eight of them coming in the second half, while being perfect from the charity stripe (10-of-10).

The team's field goal percentage sets the record for best percentage in postseason play, while their three-point field goal percentage is second, and their free-throw percentage ties for the top spot.

Senior Amber Cox was named Big West Tournament MVP after scoring a career-high and game-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting, 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Junior Alyssa Morris joined Cox on the All-Tournament team as she scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting including 5-of-7 from three-point range.

"It was a great tournament," Head Coach John Margaritis stated. "All my years in the Big West, this was the most parity. I'm very pleased and happy for our team ... It's the quality of people that we have."

The first 11 minutes of the opening half was very much of a defensive game as both teams had just 10 points apiece at the 8:41 mark. UC Davis opened the game with four quick points through two minutes of play, while holding the Highlanders scoreless until the 14:50 mark.

Once UCR got on board, however, they scored six straight to take a 6-4 advantage with 13:11 remaining in the half. After trading buckets over the next few possessions, the Aggies turned a 14-14 tie into a 22-14 advantage by scoring eight unanswered points over a 1:46 span.

The Highlanders countered by outscoring UCD 15-6 to close out the half. UCR hit three consecutive three-pointers, two from Cox and one from Morris, to get within three, 28-25, at the 1:06 mark.

A Tre'Shonti Nottingham steal on the ensuing Aggie inbound resulted in a layup for the freshman, and with three seconds remaining, a Cox jumper in the paint lifted the Highlanders to a 29-28 halftime lead.

After a slow start, UCR ended up hitting half their field goals in the first half (12-of-24), while Davis shot 41.2 percent (7-of-17).

Through four minutes of play in the second half, UCR was 4-of-5 from the field including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, taking a 40-37 lead. UCR then opened its largest margin of the game thus far at 52-42, at the 10:52 mark capped off by a long ball from Cox.

Five minutes later, UCR led 67-55 and looked very much in control to win the game. The Aggies had other plans, however, as they put on a run and scored 11 straight to make it a one point game, 67-66, with less than a minute remaining. During that span, both Cox and Morris picked up their fifth fouls and were forced to watch the last few minutes from the bench.

UC Davis had an opportunity to take the lead, but Haylee Donaghe missed a layup in transition with 0:48 remaining. The Highlanders came down with the rebound and dribbled down court looking to get a bucket. Brittany Waddell missed a three-point opportunity, but Nottingham grabbed a huge offensive rebound for UCR, and was fouled by Aggies, sending her to the line with 15 seconds remaining.

"I definitely was nervous ... it was overwhelming," Nottingham said afterwards. "I've never been in a position like that."

Nerves aside, Nottingham hit both clutch free throws to give UCR a 69-66 lead.

Down to their last possession, UCD's Paige Mintun was fouled by Nottingham with four seconds to go. She made the first and intentionally missed the second to try and get the rebound. However, UCR got to the ball first, and the Aggies were forced to foul Nottingham with one second to go. The freshman made both free throws, effectively sealing the win for the Highlanders as the last second shot by the Aggies was off its mark.

"Our goal is to get better every week and play our best basketball at the end of the year," Margaritis explained.

UC Riverside overcame an array of injuries and setbacks at the beginning of the year, including an 0-2 start in Big West play. Even after being down by 12 points in the first half to Cal Poly in the tournament semifinals on Friday, the team rallied. They used that momentum to rally back from an eight-point deficit against UC Davis in the championship game.

"It's a 40-minute game," Morris stated. "We had to keep it in range in the first half ... And it's all about confidence."

The Highlanders await word from the NCAA selection committee as to who they will play in the first round of the tournament. Gohighlanders.com will have the latest announcements on Monday evening once the brackets are released.