Aggies rally late but fall short in Big West women's basketball loss at Hawaii
UCD suffers 56-46 defeat after Hawaii finishes on an 8-0 burst
HONOLULU - UC Davis went cold down the stretch as Hawaii pulled away to take a 56-46 Big West women's basketball win Thursday night before a crowd of 1,652 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The loss, UCD's second in a row, drops the Aggies to 6-3 in Big West play and 12-7 overall. Hawaii moves to 6-2 and 12-6.
The Aggies led briefly in the early going, but Hawaii quickly built a 26-12 lead midway though the second quarter and appeared ready to chase the Aggies back to the mainland.
UCD rallied, however, going on a 9-0 run and ending the half with a buzzer-beating layup by Victoria Baker to cut the deficit to 26-21 at the break.
Hawaii took a 48-42 lead in the final quarter, only to have the Aggies answer with back-to-back buckets from Ryann Bennett and Baker to trim the margin to 48-46 with 2:45 remaining.
But that was it for the Aggies, who were held scoreless the rest of the way as Hawaii went on an 8-0 run to win going away.
The Aggies struggled mightily from long range, hitting just 1 of 21 3-point attempts.
Tova Sabel led UCD with 11 points, while Bennett had 10.
UCD now looks forward to a four-game homestand, beginning Thursday, Jan. 30 with a 6 p.m. contest against UC Riverside.
Also coming to town will be UC Irvine on Feb. 1, Long Beach State Feb. 6 and Cal State Fullerton Feb. 8.
In other Big West action Thursday night, Irvine slipped past Riverside, 56-53, Long Beach topped Northridge, 88-75, Fullerton dumped Bakersfield, 63-58, and San Diego routed Santa Barbara, 62-43.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
Thank you for the posts, especially for the photos.