7-13 (3-5BWC)
UC Davis
16-6 (7-2BWC)
Cal Poly Women's Basketball Edged at Home by UC Davis, 61-53
2/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Mustang senior forward Hannah Gilbert had 13 boards to move up to No. 7 in school history in all-time rebounding on Thursday night, but UC Davis stayed in second place in the Big West Conference standings by holding on late for a 61-53 win over the Cal Poly women's basketball team at Mott Athletics Center.
Junior forward Emily Anderson went 3-for-8 from 3-point range to score a team-high nine points, leading the Mustang bench to a 28-3 advantage on the evening. Redshirt freshman guard Breezi Holt also added eight points off the bench.
The Aggies (16-6, 7-2) jumped out to a 9-2 lead just over five minutes in, on the way to a 16-11 lead after the first quarter.
After beginning the second half trailing 32-24, the Mustangs cut the deficit to three on two third-quarter occasions: to 34-31 on a 3-pointer from junior forward Mary Kate Evans at the 8:02 mark and 36-33 on a jumper by sophomore point guard Dye Stahley with 6:31 left in the period.
UC Davis, though, would open the fourth ahead 46-37 and went on to lead by as many as 11 (at 52-41 with 5:43 remaining).
A jump shot by Holt brought the Mustangs to within 55-50 with 1:59 left, before she made it 57-53 on a 3-pointer with 22 seconds to play.
Aggies forward Morgan Bertsch, however, made four free throws in the final 20 seconds (finishing with a game-high 20 points) to help UC Davis hang on.
Gilbert, who on Jan. 28 became the 13th player in school history to score 1,000 career points, now has 610 rebounds in her career, moving past Russia Madden, who had 605 from 1986-90.
Cal Poly (7-13, 3-5) will continue its Big West home stand by hosting UC Riverside at 4 p.m. Saturday. The matchup with the Highlanders (11-10, 5-3) is also Poly Play Day, as kids are invited to a carnival in the Stampede Club tent before the game, followed by free admission for youth in eighth grade and under.
Saturday will also feature a doubleheader at Mott, as the Mustang men's basketball squad will also face UCR, at 7 p.m.
Photo © 2017 Matt Aguirre / Cal Poly Athletics
