March 5, 2011
Fullerton, Calif. -
Kasey Riecks and Paige Mintum each scored 18 points and UC Davis rode a 22-0 run over the final 10 minutes of the first half to a 73-58 Big West Conference women's basketball victory over Cal State Fullerton Saturday afternoon in the final game of the regular season.
The Aggies improved to 21-8 overall and 10-6 in the Big West and will be the No. 4 seed in the post-season tournament, hosting No. 5-seeded UC Irvine on Tuesday. Fullerton fell to 9-20, 5-11 and as the No. 8 seed will play at top-seeded Cal Poly SLO.
Seniors Lyndsey Grove (14 points) and Ashley Richie (13) led Fullerton's offense in their final home games.
The Titans had a 21-17 lead after Grove hit a trey with 10:14 to go in the first half but they didn't score again in the period. Missed shots and turnovers against the Aggies' trapping zone defense allowed Davis to lead at the half, 39-21. Fullerton hit only 27 percent from the floor and had 8 turnovers.
Fullerton finally scored in the first minute of the second half on Jenna Breite's layup and a 7-2 CSF run forced a Davis timeout. The Aggies got the lead back up to 16 points before Fullerton made another run behind Richie and cut the margin to as little as 7 points at 55-48 with 8:25 to play on Lauren Chow's 3-pointer. But the Aggies scored 10 of the next 12 points to re-establish control at 65-50 with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The four winners at home campuses on Tuesday night will meet in the tourney semifinals Friday at the Honda Center in Anaheim.