Aggie women crush Hornets in Causeway Classic basketball, 76-45
Norris, Sabel, Baker lead way as UCD breaks game open in second half
Leading from start to finish and totally dominating the second half, UC Davis scored a convincing 76-45 non-conference women's basketball win over Sacramento State Wednesday night during Causeway Classic week.
The win, witnessed by 783 enthusiastic fans at the University Credit Union Center, moves the Aggies to 2-3 on the young season, while the Hornets fall to 4-2.
Noted Aggie head coach Jennifer Gross, "This is always such a fun rivalry going back to when I played here. The veterans talked about how much this game meant for the alumni and the school."
Tova Sabel hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring with the game less than a minute old and the Aggies never looked back, roaring away to a 26-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Two free throws by Sydney Burns pushed the count to 34-16, but the Hornets went on a 15-4 run to trim the deficit to 38-31 and it appeared the Aggies were in for a battle with their cross-Causeway rivals.
But Burns and Nya Epps had the final baskets of the half that allowed UCD to lead, 42-31, at the break.
A 3-pointer by Mazatlan Harris to open the second half opened the door for the Aggies to finish on a 34-14 run that featured superb defense by UCD over the final 15 minutes.
Sacramento State was held to just 5 of 32 shooting from the floor in the second half, while the Aggies were able to pull away thanks to hitting 23 of 26 free throw attempts for the game.
Megan Norris led UCD with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal, while Sabel added 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Victoria Baker had 12 points, four rebounds and five steals and was perfect on all five of her free throw attempts.
Added Gross, "Any time there's a rivalry, there's always a lot of energy going into the game. I was proud of the team competing for forty minutes. We're really happy to come away with the win."
The Aggies now hit the road for non-conference games at Santa Clara Nov. 24 and Portland State Nov. 30 before an early opening to Big West Conference play Dec. 5 at Cal Poly and Dec. 7 at UC Santa Barbara.
After a week off for final exams, UCD will entertain Arizona State Dec. 15 at 6 p.m.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com