Nov. 22, 2009

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - All-America center Jayne Appel scored a game-high 18 points while forward Kayla Pedersen had 17 points and 11 rebounds as second-ranked Stanford remained unbeaten with a 76-51 nonconference women's basketball win over UC Davis before 1,759 fans at The Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

The loss evened the Aggies record at 2-2 while the Cardinal - which has been to the last two NCAA Final Fours including the 2008 championship game - improved to 4-0. Haylee Donaghe led the Aggies with 11 points and five rebounds while Lisa Peterson came off the bench to score nine points. UC Davis trailed by as many 27 points in the second half before using a 12-2 run to get within 68-51.

"The two things I asked from the team before the game, they gave us," said Aggie coach Sandy Simpson. "(The first was) we wanted them to play as hard as they could when they were on the floor, and the second was to stay disciplined and stick to the game plan. I thought we played with poise and discipline and played hard for virtually the entire game."

The Cardinal represented the highest-ranked NCAA Division I team to visit The Pavilion and UC Davis matched intensity with Stanford for most of the game, especially in the early going. UC Davis didn't trail until Jeanette Pohlen hit the first of her two three-pointers to put Stanford in front for good, 8-7. That was part of an 11-2 surge that also included a pair of three-pointers from JJ Hones and another from Pedersen which put Stanford in the lead, 14-7.

The Aggies did a goob job controlling Appel and Nnemkadi Ogwumike during the first half, holding them to a combined nine points and six rebounds. But the Cardinal asserted itself with its shooting, especially from beyond the arc where it made 7 of 17 before halftime while shooting 52 percent from the field overall. Peterson's points inside cut the Aggies' deficit to 25-15 while Heidi Heintz's three-point play with 7 minutes, 3 seconds made it 29-20.

Pedersen scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes as Stanford took a 42-25 at the break. The Aggies held a 16-8 advantage in points in the paint over the first 20 minutes.

UC Davis' Paige Mintun scored the first points of the second half but Stanford scored 11 of the next 14 points to get the lead to 53-30 with 15 minutes to go. Ogwumike's layup made it 62-35 midway through the half and the lead was still 27 points before UC Davis surged. Donaghe scored seven straight points for the Aggies, capping her run with a three-pointer from the corner, as UC Davis tallied 12 of the game's next 14 points to make it 68-51 with 4:02 to play.

Stanford shot 49 percent from the field for the game while UC Davis hit a respectable 44 percent. Pedersen's 11 boards led a 39-20 rebounding advantage for Stanford. Donaghe's five rebounds paced UC Davis. Ogwumike added 11 points for the Cardinal.

The game marked the third consecutive season the teams have matched up and Simpson said the opportunity to face the highly ranked Cardinal will provide great benefits to his Aggies.

"Anytime you play a team of Stanford's caliber, one of the gifts they gave you is they expose your weaknesses early," said Simpson. "You don't come out of the game thinking what you have to work on but knowing. Today will help us prepare for the rest of the season."

UC Davis will return to action when it concludes its season-long three-game homestand with a matchup on Friday against Creighton. Creighton advancd to last year's Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) after edging the Aggies 61-58 last December.

UC Davis Aggies Women's Basketball

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