Aggie women step into Big 12 basketball competition and take down Arizona State
Sabel, Epps, Norris, Burns, Bennett pace UC Davis to impressive 57-50 non-conference win
"Our defense stepped up when we really needed it," said UC Davis head coach Jennifer Gross after the Aggies stunned Arizona State, 57-50, Sunday afternoon in a non-conference women's basketball game at the University Credit Union Center.
"I really believe this team has a chance to be great. Today they believed they could win and then they showed it. I'm extremely proud of their effort."
This could be called a "statement" win, given that ASU competes in the highly regarded Big 12, but the Aggies haven't been afraid to take on all comers over the years, coming away with victories over the likes of Oregon, Kansas State and Gonzaga, among others.
"We really do take on some of the bigger names, but it takes a full team belief that we can win these kinds of games," Gross added.
The win gives the Aggies a 6-4 mark, while Arizona State slips to 5-5.
Shots weren't falling with regularity for either team early on, but the visitors from Tempe did manage a 10-4 lead before UCD went on an 8-0 run, keyed by a Ryann Bennett trey, to take their first lead of the game at 12-10 on a 3-pointer from Sydney Burns.
The quarter ended in a 12-12 deadlock.
The lead changed hands four times in the second quarter before UCD took a 22-20 lead into the intermission.
Mazatlan Harris got the Aggies off to a great start in the third quarter with a trey, then a late basket by Burns gave UCD a 42-34 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The Aggies never trailed in the final 10 minutes, but the Sun Devils did cut the deficit to 47-44 and had the ball with a chance to tie, but failed to convert from long range.
That's when UCD's Tova Sabel stepped up with 2:59 remaining and buried a long-range jumper from out front and the Aggies cruised home from there.
"We knew defense was going to win this game and we just stuck to our game plan," said Sabel, a senior from Stockholm.
"It was a hard game, but I found myself open and it went down."
Noted Gross, "Tova's shot was huge. It gave us some breathing room."
The suffocating Aggie defense held the Sun Devils to 28.2-percent accuracy from the floor, while the Aggies shot at a 37.0 clip.
Sabel had 13 points and nine rebounds to lead the Aggies, while Nya Epps had 11 points and Megan Norris 10.
UCD will be at Idaho for an 11 a.m. game Wednesday, then returns home Dec. 28 for a 1 p.m. matchup with Cal Maritime.
The Aggies will resume Big West action, where they are 2-0, with home dates against Cal State Bakersfield Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. and CSUN Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
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ASU came in here with a huge height advantage—6-7, 6-5, 6-4, and a bunch of 6-3 players, not to mention some really quick guards. The Ags responded with clamp-down defense and some clutch buckets. There’s no quit in these women.