IRVINE, Calif. – The third-seeded UC Irvine women's water polo team upset second-seeded UC Davis, 10-7, in the Big West Championship Semifinals Saturday at Anteater Aquatics Complex.

UCI, ranked ninth nationally, will play top-seeded, No. 5, Hawai'i in the Big West Championship Game tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine topped Long Beach State to join the 'Eaters in the title match. The winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

The Anteaters used a balanced scoring attack and strong defensive effort to seal the win. Allie Loomis, Keana Eldridge and Tara Prentice led the way with two goals apiece while Toni Shackelford, Cara Borkovec, Julie Swieca and Natalie Seidemann each had one. Borkovec grabbed a team-best three steals.

Jenna Phreaner notched 14 saves in goal to go along with one steal.

The Aggies' Kathleen Schafle finished with a team-best three goals while Caitlin Golding had four saves in the cage.

UCD out-shot UCI 33-23, however, the Aggies could only convert on 5-of-16 extra-man situations while the Anteaters were 6-of-12 on powerplays.

Paige Virgil put UCD on the board first before Seidemann and Prentice notched consecutive powerplay goals to give UCI a 2-1 edge after the first quarter.

The Aggies knotted the game at two early in the second frame. Loomis took advantage of a 6-on-5, giving the 'Eaters the lead before Shackelford fired in another goal with 13 seconds left in the half to make it a 4-2 game at intermission.

Prentice opened the third quarter with an extra-man goal but the Aggies answered with back-to-back points to come within one, 5-4. Both teams exchanged points to round out the third frame making it 6-5 headed into the final quarter.

UCD's Schafle notched back-to-back goals in the  fourth quarter but it wasn't enough as Swieca, Loomis and Borkovec each tallied a goal to hold off the Aggies and seal the win.

The Anteaters improve to 13-13 on the season while the Aggies fall to 18-11 overall.

BY PERIOD
UCI: 2-2-3-3=10
UCD: 1-1-3-2=7

SCORING
UCI: Prentice 2, Loomis 2, Eldridge 2, Seidemann 1, Borkovec 1, Shackelford 1, Swieca 1
UCD: Schafle 3, Chloe Robinson 1, Paige Virgil 1, Annie Kutt 1, McKenna Hauss 1

SAVES
UCI: Jenna Phreaner 14
UCD Caitlin Golding 4