Dec. 10, 2004

Final Stats

AZUSA, Calif. - Monica Somers and Sarah Leathers each scored 15 points on Friday night and Azusa Pacific overcame an early deficit in overtime to defeat UC Davis 75-72 in a nonconference women's basketball game played before 211 fans at the Felix Events Center.

UC Davis dropped its third straight game, falling to 2-6 overall while the Cougars - ranked No.18 in NAIA - won their third straight and are 6-2. Kimberly Smith scored 18 points to lead the Aggies while guard Jackie Turpin added 14. Post Lara Gray had a team-high 11 rebounds.

The game was tied 62-62 at the end of regulation before UC Davis struck early in overtime for a three-point lead on a trey from Smith. A couple of free throws from Turpin with 3 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the extra period gave the aggies a 67-64 lead but the Cougars went on a 7-0 run over the next nearly three minutes for a 71-64 lead. UC Davis had three turnovers during that span and finished the game with 24 after only have nine at halftime.

A pair of free throws by Ashley Oakes with 18 seconds left in overtime gave Azusa Pacific a 73-70 but Smith's three-point try in the waning seconds was just off the mark. Turpin eventually put in a short bucket after the miss but UC Davis had to foul afterwards and was not able to catch the Cougars.

"At the end of overtime, we got the look we wanted for Kim Smith but unfortunately it didn't go in," said Aggie coach Sandy Simpson.

UC Davis led most of the second half after the game was tied 31-31 at halftime. Trailing 47-46 midway through the half, the Aggies went on a 10-0 run - highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Laura Thomas - to lead 56-47 with 6:33 to play. But the Cougars responded and tied the game 58-58 with 3:09 to play.

Azusa Pacific led 62-58 with just over two minutes to play but UC Davis tied it on four consecutive points by Turpin. The Aggies had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but could not get a shot attempt.

UC Davis held a 19-12 lead in the first half and then trailed 27-19 before heading into intermission with the tie. The Cougars had 13 second-chance points in the first half, but none in the second. The Aggies finished with a 45-39 advantage on the boards.

"They just got after us in the first half," said Simpson. "They got a lot of second chances. They just did a good job going after the loose ball. That was our (focus) at halftime."

UC Davis finished 11-of-18 in the game from three-point territory, headlined by four three-pointers from Smith and three from Thomas. Leathers had a trio of three-pointers for the Cougars while Somers was 5 of 9 from the field as both players went for 15 points. Center Lindsay Rice had 18 rebounds to lead all players.

UC Davis returns to action on Saturday, traveling to face future Big West Conference foe UC Irvine at 7 p.m.™

UC Davis Aggies Women's Basketball

Printer-friendly format	Email this article