Irvine defense rules the day as Anteaters stop Aggie women in Big West basketball finale
70-58 loss leaves the Aggies as No. 3 seed in next week's conference tournament
UC Irvine used a stifling defense to pull away in the second half for a convincing 70-58 win over UC Davis Saturday afternoon in the final Big West women’s basketball game of the regular season before a Senior Day crowd of 977 at the University Credit Union Center.
The loss ended any hope the Aggies had to tie for the regular-season title and earn a double bye in the Big West tournament that runs March 11-14 in Henderson, Nevada.
With its 15-5 conference mark, UCD finished third and will be the No. 3 seed in Henderson with a first-round bye into the quarterfinal round.
The Aggies will open tournament play Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 6 UC Santa Barbara and No. 7 UC Riverside.
Irvine finished 17-3 to share the regular season title with UC San Diego.
“We really wanted to get a win for our seniors, but credit Irvine,” said Aggie head coach Jen Gross. “They made the shots when they needed them.”
The Aggies jumped to a quick 14-7 advantage and led 20-19 at the quarter before Irvine responded in a big way.
The Anteaters scored the final five points of the second quarter to take a 40-31 lead into the half, then went on a 10-0 run early in the third quarter to push the count to 50-33 and cruised home from there.
“We had so many great opportunities to get back into it, but we just couldn’t get our shots to fall,” added Gross.
“It’s disappointing, but we’re not done. We still have a lot of basketball to play. We’ll go into the tournament confident with how we’ve played all season, so we’re looking to go down there and win a championship.”
Irvine head coach Tamara Inoue was thrilled with the win.
“This is one of the toughest places in the conference to play,” Inoue noted.
“And Jen has created such a legacy here. This means the world to our team. We’ll celebrate today and start worrying about the tournament tomorrow.”
The difference in the game was UCD’s inability to hit from long range. The Aggies were just 3 of 23 from 3-point land while Irvine was 11 of 22.
Incredibly, the two teams combined to hit 30 of 30 from the foul line - 15 each - tying the all-time NCAA record for free throw accuracy that will never be broken.
Nya Epps finished with 21 points for the Aggies, while Avery Sussex had 15 and Megan Norris 13. Ryan Bennett led the Aggies with five assists.
In an emotional pregame ceremony featuring players’ families and multiple bouquets of flowers, Aggie seniors Megan Norris, Nya Epps, Ally Fitzgerald, Helen Matthews and Victoria Baker all received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com