Women's Hoops Upends UC Davis 57-53 To Move Into First Place

Saturday, February 27

Student Recreation Center

5:00 PM

UC Riverside

UC Davis

Women's Hoops Upends UC Davis 57-53 To Move Into First Place

2/27/2010 6:23:03 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score - UC Riverside 57, UC Davis 53

Riverside, CA - The UC Riverside women's basketball program upended UC Davis 57-53 on Saturday evening at the Student Rec Center to move into first place in the Big West standings with one week remaining in the regular season. UCR head coach John Margaritis also earned his 100th victory at the helm of the Highlanders program.

UC Riverside reaches .500 for the just the second time of the year as they improve to 14-14 overall and 11-4 in Big West play. The Highlanders take sole possession of first place while the Aggies (18-9, 10-4) drop to second place, just a half a game behind UCR.

The Highlanders used a balanced scoring attack and hot shooting in the second period to secure their win over UCD. Alyssa Morris led all scorers with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Amber Cox (pictured) added 12 points and the Neabors twins, Rheya and Rhaya, had eight points apiece.

UCR opened the game by scoring seven straight points while holding the Aggies scoreless until the 16:00 minute mark. The Highlanders extended their lead to 14 after a three-pointer by Jessie Schmuckal with 11:39 to go in the period, but UC Davis intensified their defense and UCR went cold from the field as the Aggies outscored the Highlanders 25-5 over the last 11 minutes of the half.

The Aggies took a 30-24 lead into the break and scored the first bucket after the half to take a 32-24 lead with 18:28 remaining. Both teams then went scoreless over the next five minutes until the Highlanders rallied for seven straight to get within one, 32-31, at the 11:36 juncture.

After an Aggie jumper and a long ball from UCR that notched the game at 34 all, UC Davis scored five straight to take a 39-34 advantage. The Highlanders rallied and tied the game at 41 apiece, and after three more tie scores, UCR took their first lead of the second half, 51-48, off a Brittany Waddell three-pointer with 1:39 to go.

UC Davis cut the lead to one, 51-50, with 1:18 remaining, but Cox hit four straight free throws to give the Highlanders a 55-50 advantage. With four seconds to, the Aggies hit a three-pointer to close the gap to two, 55-53, but two free throws from Waddell secured the 57-53 win.

The Highlanders shot 32.0 percent from the field in the first half but 52.6 percent in the second half while limiting UCD to just 33.3 percent overall.

The Aggies defense forced 23 UCR turnovers, the second most of the season, and collected 15 steals compared to 10 for the Highlanders.

UC Riverside has one regular season game remaining on their 2009-10 docket, a 5:00 pm contest against Long Beach State on Saturday, Mar. 6 at the Student Recreation Center.