Aggie women open season with runaway win over Simpson University
Tova Sabel on fire from long range as Aggies bury Red Hawks, 93-36
Leading from start to finish and substituting liberally throughout, the UC Davis women opened their 2024-25 basketball season Monday night with a convincing, if predictable, 93-36 win over Simpson University at the University Credit Union Center.
"It was great to get to play everybody and we executed well, but there are still some things we can improve on," said Aggie head coach Jennifer Gross as she begins her 14th campaign leading her alma mater.
"We wanted to be aggressive from the start and use our defense to set up opportunities on offense and I think we did that. We really want to put pressure on the ball and make people uncomfortable so they have to take tough shots."
Tova Sabel, a preseason all-Big West pick, hit a 3-pointer in a 7-0 Aggie run to open the contest, and things only got worse from there for Simpson, a small Christian school in Redding that competes in the NAIA.
Victoria Baker had a pair of treys in the opening quarter and Ryann Bennett and Bria Shine had one each as the Aggies raced away to a 26-4 advantage and never looked back.
Sabel had two more 3-pointers in the second frame and Baker one more as UCD pushed the count to 49-13 at intermission.
"They are very, very aggressive and they have a strong team," said Red Hawks first-year head coach Anthony Taylor, who was upbeat despite the loss.
"It was an honor for us to play here and I think they're going to have a great season."
During one stretch in the final quarter the Aggies hit five straight from long range, three of them by Sabel, and enjoyed their largest lead of the night at 91-32.
For the game, the Aggies shot with 44.1 percent accuracy from beyond the arc.
Sabel led 10 Aggies into the scoring column with 18 points, while Baker had 16, Mazatlan Harris 12 and Megan Norris 11.
Norris had six rebounds, while Sydney Burns had six assists and four steals.
Harris also had four steals as UCD stole the ball 20 times to just four for their visitors.
Gross knows, however, that things will get considerably tougher in a hurry when San Diego State comes to town on Friday for a 5 p.m. start.
The Aztecs were 22-13 a year ago and reached the championship game of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
They opened with a 76-48 win over Cal State San Marcos Monday night.
"We really wanted to use tonight to get ready for San Diego State," Gross added.
"They really like to pound it inside, so it will be a great challenge for us, but I think the depth we showed tonight is going to be a great strength for us this year."
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
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