Cal Poly Women’s Basketball was swept in their season series against UC Davis with a 62-53 loss on Saturday, Feb. 27 at The Pavilion in Davis, California.
The game began with a celebration of the seniors on the UC Davis Women’s Basketball team, as well as a congratulations to the graduating seniors of Cal Poly.
The Mustangs (11-9, 7-7 Big West) faced difficulty in their shooting throughout the game, making only 19 of their attempted 61 field goals. The Aggies (9-1, 8-0 Big West) had a much more efficient offense, making eight three-pointers throughout the game, while the Mustangs were unable to make any of nine attempts from downtown.
Davis began the game with a 10-0 run in the first four and a half minutes before senior forward Kirsty Brown hit a jump shot and then two free throws to pull the Mustangs within six. The match moved into the second quarter with the Big West first-place Aggies having a 14-8 lead over the fifth-place Mustangs.
UC Davis held Cal Poly scoreless for another four and a half minutes during the second quarter, going on a 9-0 run that was ended when junior Zoe Stachowski, despite limping during the quarter, made a contested layup in the paint.
For the remainder of the quarter, the Mustangs scored nine more points, six of them from junior forward Hannah Scanlan off the bench.
Cal Poly went into halftime down 27-19, but still having a strong defensive showing with four steals and 25 rebounds in the first half of the game.
The third quarter was back-in-forth with action, with Mustangs Abbey Ellis, Sierra Campisano, and Brown scoring throughout the quarter. The Mustangs kept the deficit within nine points throughout the quarter, until senior guard Chantel Govan pulled Cal Poly within seven with a layup at the buzzer.
The Aggies were able to hold onto their lead throughout the third quarter with three three-pointers,, allowing them to keep their lead wide despite the Mustangs’ effort.
During the final quarter of play, Cal Poly scored a game high 20 points, spreading the offense with five different Mustangs scoring, highlighted by eight points from sophomore guard Maddie Willett.
The late-game offensive efforts of Cal Poly were not enough to stop the Aggies as Davis further expanded their lead, which became as high as 15 points. A final jumper from Willett ended the game with a score of 63-52.
The game was a tale of two halves for Cal Poly, scoring only 19 in the first half but coming back stronger with 34 scored in the second, outscoring Davis in the second half.
Campisano ended up scoring a team-high 13 points with six rebounds, and Maddie Vick led in assists for the Mustangs. Davis’ win was assisted by having three players in double figures, including senior Mackenzie Trpcic.
Cal Poly will look to bounce back from the sweep with their final two games of the regular season, both against UC Santa Barbara at Mott Athletics Center on March 5-6.