Sabel's double-double leads Aggie women to 63-51 Big West basketball win over Cal Poly
Aggies now 6-1 as UC Santa Barbara comes to town Saturday afternoon
Tova Sabel had her fifth career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead UC Davis to a 63-51 win over Cal Poly SLO Thursday night in Big West women's basketball action before a crowd of 692 in the University Credit Union Center.
The win moves the Aggies to 6-1 in the Big West and 12-5 overall, while Poly falls to 3-4 and 8-9.
"I thought we were really poised down the stretch and did a good job attacking the basket," said Aggie head coach Jen Gross afterward.
"They are a solid, scrappy team, but we adjusted well in the second half and had some great passing to set up shots in the paint."
Megan Norris had seven points and Sabel four as the Aggies opened a quick 15-5 lead and looked as if they might run away and hide, but Cal Poly had other ideas.
Hitting from long range, the Mustangs battled back to take a 32-30 lead on a trey from Annika Shah, but a driving layup by Nya Epps gave UCD a 33-32 lead at the break.
UCD opened the third quarter with a 12-4 run ignited by a 3-pointer from Ryan Bennett and led by at least six points the rest of the way.
"You have to protect your home floor and we did that tonight," Gross added.
"But now we have to get ready for a tough Santa Barbara team coming in here Saturday."
Game time Saturday is 2 p.m.
In other Big West action Thursday night, UC Riverside downed UC Santa Barbara, 62-52, Hawaii dumped Cal State Northridge, 75-47, UC San Diego stopped Long Beach State, 79-68, and UC Irvine beat Cal State Fullerton, 79-63.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
Back in first place, at least for now. Mark my words: Ryann Bennett is a player to watch.