DAVIS — UC Santa Barbara, one of the nation’s top teams in shooting three-pointers, found other ways to knock UC Davis out of first place in Big West Conference women’s basketball on Thursday.
The Gauchos out-rebounded the bigger Aggies and held them to just 29.2% shooting in a 55-47 victory at Davis’ University Credit Union Center.
“Davis is always a tough place to win, they are a good team and well coached,” UCSB coach Renee Jimenez said. “We knew this was going to be a grind-it-out type game.
“I’m proud of our guys for how they responded, especially on the glass and on the defensive end.”
The victory was the 300th of Jimenez’s college coaching career. She’s won 29 games since taking over at UCSB last season.
The Gauchos (12-2, 4-1 Big West) knocked the Aggies (10-5, 3-1) out of the league’s unbeaten ranks while staying on the heels of UC Irvine (14-2, 5-0) and UC San Diego (9-5, 4-0) in the conference race.
UCSB, which came into the game ranked fourth in three-point percentage (39.5%) and fifth in three-pointers per game (10.0), made only 3-of-22 of the long shots on Thursday.
But the Gauchos did live up to their No. 2 rating in three-point defense (22.4%), holding the Aggies to just 4-of-27 (14.8%) on Thursday.
“It was a tough night for us on offense,” Davis coach Jennifer Gross said.
“I was really proud of our defensive effort,” she added. “Sometimes, teams can let their offensive struggles affect their defensive energy, but I thought we really stayed focused on doing what was in our control.”
UCSB out-rebounded Davis 35-31. Both Julia Puente-Valverde, who made her first start as a Gaucho, and Olivia Bradley finished with nine rebounds and 10 points.
Zoe Borter led UCSB with 17 points while adding five rebounds. Skylar Burke contributed eight rebounds from her guard position.
“We talked all week about rebounding, finishing possessions and playing with physicality, and the players took that personally,” Jimenez said. “They were communicating and trusting each other.
“When we defend and rebound like that, it gives us a chance to be really good and win a lot of games.”
Bradley’s layup gave the Gauchos the lead for good at 15-13 with 8:18 left in the second quarter.
Borter’s three — the only one UCSB made in 10 first-half attempts — edged the margin up to 22-18 with 4:30 left in the period.
The Gauchos led by as many as nine points before a 3½-minute scoreless drought allowed the Aggies to get within 46-41 with 2:14 remaining.
But Jessica Grant, the nation’s No. 2 three-point shooter at 51.4%, took a pass from Zoe Shaw and sank her only triple of the game to give UCSB an eight-point lead just 13 seconds later.
“We stayed together, trusted the game plan, and made plays when it mattered,” Jimenez said.
The Gauchos will return home on Thursday for their next game against Cal State Bakersfield.