UC Davis got off to a fast start at the Thunderdome Thursday and managed to stay ahead despite a late third-quarter UCSB rally, spoiling the Gaucho women’s home season finale, 80-59, in a Big West game.
The Aggies built a 12-4 lead midway through the first quarter, before a 3-pointer by Gaucho freshman guard Skylar Burke pulled the team within five. Davis stretched it back to eight by the end of the quarter, at 20-12, and UCSB got no closer.
UC Davis continued to expand the lead, until the Gauchos put together an 11-2 run late in the third quarter, forcing turnovers and bad shots on defense and getting some shots to fall on offense.
That put UCSB within 13 points, at 54-41, with 32 seconds left in the third quarter, and looking to have momentum going into the fourth. But the Aggies made a 3-pointer to end the quarter and continuing pulling away in the fourth.
Alexis Tucker scored 13 points to lead the Gauchos, and Callie Cooper added 11 more off the bench.
The loss drops UCSB to 19-10 overall and 12-7 Big West. That puts them in tie for third place in the conference with Hawaii — who the Gauchos visit on Saturday. Due to that tie, the game has conference tournament seeding implications.
UC Davis is now 15-13 overall and 11-7 in the Big West.
Senior Ila Lane collected four rebounds, putting her into a tie for fourth place, with Sweets Underwood, in UCSB’s all-time list with 869.