Box Score - UC Davis 54, UC Riverside 50
Davis, CA - The UC Riverside women's basketball team looked to pick up its fifth straight win on Thursday evening at conference-leading UC Davis, but the Aggies won a nail-biter 54-50 at Hamilton Court at The Pavilion in Big West action.
The Highlanders were down one, 47-46, with four minutes to go in the game, but could never retake the lead as UCD made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
UCR drops its third straight conference road loss and falls to 4-3 in Big West play and 7-13 overall. UC Davis improves to 14-6 and 6-1 in conference play.
Senior Amber Cox (pictured) led the Highlanders with a game-high 15 points while Rhaya Neabors added 14. Marissa Rivera tied her career-high with 10 rebounds as the Highlanders out-rebounded the Aggies 39-31.
In the first half, the first three and a half minutes of play saw three ties scores as neither team led by more than two points. UCR then jumped on the gun and scored eight straight points during a four minute span to take a 16-9 lead capped off by an Alyssa Morris jumper at the 11:32 mark.
After the Aggies got within two points, 20-18, with just under five minutes remaining, UCR again opened up a seven-point lead, 25-18, after five points from Cox with 3:54 to go. UC Davis rallied for a 10-2 run to close out the half, however, taking a 28-27 lead into the break.
The Highlanders shot 54.2 percent in the period compared to 39.1 percent for the Aggies, but UCD was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe while UCR had zero free throw attempts. UCR also outscored the Aggies 14-8 in the paint, but UCD scored 12 points off nine Highlander turnovers.
UC Davis opened the second half by continuing its rally as they scored three straight, but UCR responded with an 8-0 run to take a 35-31 lead with 15:59 to go. The Aggies then countered with a 7-2 run to take a 38-37 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
From that point on, neither team lead by more than five points down the stretch as UC Davis held on for the win.
UCR went 10-of-38 for 26.3 percent in the second half while the Aggies went 8-of-25 but hit six free throws. The Highlanders hit a season-low zero free throws for the game, but also had zero attempts. UCD also relied on 19 bench points while UCR had just two.
The Highlanders return to action at Pacific on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 4:00 pm in Stockton, CA. Fans may follow the game via
live stats or
listen to the play-by-play as the Voice of the Highlanders, Ghizal Hasan, calls the game beginning at 3:55 pm right here at gohighlanders.com.