Avery Sussex dominates fourth quarter as Aggie women claim crucial Big West basketball win over UC Riverside
Aggies move into second place with 65-56 decision to keep title hopes alive
Avery Sussex hit a pair of critical 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to break up a close game and lead UC Davis to an important 65-56 Big West basketball win before a crowd of 678 Saturday afternoon at the University Credit Union Center.
The win moves the Aggies into sole possession of second place in the Big West with a 14-3 league mark and 21-7 overall. Riverside is now 7-10 and 9-18.
In a battle of league leaders, UC Irvine took over sole possession of first place with a 70-68 win over UC San Diego, moving the Anteaters to 14-2 and dropping UCSD to 13-3, one half-game behind the Aggies.
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Aggie women have their sights set not only on the Big West’s regular-season title, but also the top seed in the conference tournament March 11-14 in Henderson, Nevada.
The top two teams from the regular season will receive a double bye into the semifinals in Henderson. The tournament winner will represent the Big West in the NCAA tournament.
UCD plays at Hawaii on Thursday, then finishes at home March 5 against Long Beach State (7 p.m.) and March 7 against UC Irvine (2 p.m.).
In their first meeting in early December, the Aggies trailed Hawaii, 63-50, with 4:41 remaining, then went on an incredible 18-0 run for a stunning 68-63 win.
The first time around, UCD defeated Long Beach State 77-66, but was crushed by UC Irvine, 73-42.
On Saturday afternoon against Riverside, a 3-pointer from Sussex gave the Aggies a 21-11 lead and it looked as if a rout might be in progress.
Riverside rallied, however, with a pair of treys of its own to tie things, 25-25, at the half.
“It seemed like every time we would get eight or nine points ahead, they would come back,” said Aggie head coach Jen Gross.
“It just shows how tough this league is and how everyone is fighting for position.”
UCD turned up its defensive pressure to start the second half, holding the Highlanders scoreless for over five minutes.
Ryann Bennett had 11 points in the third quarter, matching Riverside’s output, but again the Highlanders rallied to cut the deficit to 43-40 early in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Sussex took over, scoring 10 points in just over three minutes to finallly end the threat.
Sussex, a sophomore out of Coquitlam, British Columbia, admitted with a smile that the 3-pointer is her favorite shot, but Gross, while taking note of Sussex’s 20 points, praised Sussex for her work on defense.
“She has learned over the course of the season and stepped up her defense, making her a force on both ends of the floor,” said the Aggie coach.
Added Gross, “I’m really proud of our team for putting us in the situation where we’re in the hunt for a double-bye in the tournament. We understand that every single day matters. We’re a team that’s still trying to get better and we haven’t played our best basketball yet. So we’re just focused on improving every day and continuing to build so that when we face another opponent we’re trying to put the best version of ourselves on the court.”
Bennett finished with 19 points, while senior Megan Norris had 16 rebounds to move within six of UCD’s all-time career rebounding record.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com