Burns leads the way as Aggie women shut down UC Riverside in Big West women's basketball
Aggie defense shines in the second half for an impressive 52-41 win
Basketball coaches are fond of saying that defense wins games and offense simply determines the margin of victory.
The UC Davis women proved the truth of that statement with a strong defensive performance in a 52-41 Big West Conference win over UC Riverside before a crowd of 515 Thursday night at the University Credit Union Center.
UCD advances to 12-7 overall and 7-3 in the Big West, while UCR falls to 9-11 and 5-5.
"Every game is so crucial and you have to bring your best every night in this league," said Aggie head coach Jen Gross.
"Down the stretch we really played well, handling their defensive pressure and being composed."
For three quarters the game was much closer than the final score might indicate.
The Aggies trailed 27-25 at half, but scored the final five points of the third quarter to take a 38-35 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Riverside used a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 44-41 with 5:11 remaining, but the Aggie defense held the Highlanders scoreless the rest of the way.
A layup and free throw from Sydney Burns and a pair from the line by Tova Sabel gave UCD its biggest lead of the night at the end.
"The difference-maker for us was Sydney Burns," said Gross of her 5-9 point guard from Wilsonville, Oregon.
"She was all over the place tonight. Her defense was aggressive and she really set the tone for us."
Burns had 10 points and 10 rebounds, plus two assists and a steal.
"My focus was to just be joyful and have fun out there," said Burns.
"We always emphasize defense, and it was so helpful to play in front of our home crowd. This gives us some momentum."
Megan Norris added 10 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for the Aggies.
UCD held the Highlanders to just 25.8 percent shooting from the field, while the Aggies converted 38.8 percent of their field goal attempts.
The Aggies host league-leading UC Irvine Saturday at 2 p.m.
In other Big West action Thursday, UC Santa Barbara dropped Cal State Northridge, 68-53, Irvine drilled Long Beach State, 61-47, Cal Poly beat Cal State Bakersfield, 51-42, and Hawaii overcame UC San Diego, 65-63 in overtime.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com