Cal Poly Women’s Basketball fell in an away match against UC Davis 63-47 on Friday, Feb. 26 inside the Pavilion.
The Mustangs (11-8, 7-6 Big West) looked to build on their dramatic last-minute winner against Long Beach State last week, taking on the Aggies who improved to 8-1 on the season with the win.
The Aggies opened the scoring with an open three from guard Evanne Turner. The Mustangs responded immediately with a three from sophomore point guard Abbey Ellis. Ellis then hit a floater to take Cal Poly’s first lead of the game.
Senior forward Sierra Campisano extended the lead to 7-3, beating two defenders to put up a contested layup. Senior guard Malia Holt turned the corner and scored to continue the Mustangs’ scoring run.
The Aggies finally broke their scoreless streak five minutes in with a layup. Ellis hit another three-pointer before an Aggies layup and three-pointer cut the Mustangs’ lead to two points at 12-10.
The two teams exchanged attacks with neither taking control, putting the score at 16-14 with a minute and a half left in the quarter. Davis guard Mackenzie Trpcic found Turner who cut underneath the basket for an easy layup. UC Davis ended the first quarter strongly, going on an 8-0 scoring run to put the score at 20-16 going into the next period.
The Aggies extended their lead to six after a misplaced Campisano pass that led to a breakaway layup. Cal Poly finally got back on the scoresheet four minutes into the quarter with a jumper from senior forward Kirsty Brown.
With roughly three minutes left in the half, the Aggies began to pull away leading the Mustangs by 11 points. A Trpcic jumper through a crowd of Mustangs extended their lead to 13 points with less than two minutes to play. A steal from Ellis and a layup from Campisano got the Mustangs’ momentum back, as sophomore guard Maddie Willet hit a last second jumper to cut the Aggies’ lead down to nine points, going into the second half at 33-24.
The Mustangs scored the first points of the second half two minutes in through a Campisano layup. UC Davis responded quickly, scoring a layup and a three within the next minute. An Ellis layup on a fast break then brought the score to 40-28.
Aggies forward Sage Stobbart scored her ninth point of the quarter, giving them a 12-point lead with less than five minutes to play in the period. Stobbart had scored all of the Aggies’ third quarter points to that point. An offensive rebound and finish from Brown helped the Mustangs cut the deficit to nine going into the fourth quarter.
UC Davis continued to dominate opening the final period, going on a 11-0 run. Brown stopped the bleeding for the Mustangs, bringing the score to 57-40. Cal Poly could not get their shots to fall in the fourth quarter, shooting 5-18 from the field. The Aggies closed out the game to win 63-47.
The Mustangs will play UC Davis once more on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. inside the Pavilion.