Box Score Davis, Calif. – UC Irvine clinched the fourth seed for the upcoming Big West Tournament with a 68-55 victory over UC Davis in the regular season finale at The Pavilion Saturday.
The Anteaters have won two in a row and four of the last five games to finish the regular season with a 9-7 mark in the Big West. UCI tied UC Davis for fourth place in the league standings, but the Anteaters own the tiebreaker with two wins over the Aggies.
The Anteaters will receive a first round bye at the Big West Tournament held at the Walter Pyramid and will play the late game Wednesday (Mar. 12) against an opponent to be determined following Tuesday night's action.
UCI Big West Tournament Central
UCI improved to 16-14 overall, which is the most wins since the 2002-03 squad won 17.
UCI senior guard Kelly Meggs poured in 22 points, which tied her season-high, knocking down 5-8 from long distance. Senior forward Camille Buckley posted her league-leading 17th double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds plus five steals. Senior forward Lauren Spinazze added nine points while senior guard Jennifer Tsurumoto had eight points and a career-high eight assists and senior forward Jasmine Bernard had seven points. Junior Methlyn Onogomuho totaled four points and six rebounds.
Alyson Doherty had a team-high 20 points to pace UC Davis. Celia Marfone recorded 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. The Aggies were 5-29 from three-point range.
UC Davis led by eight (26-18) with 6:15 to go in the first half before UCI went on a 13-2 run to take a 31-28 lead at the break. In that spurt, Lauren Spinazze hit a pair of three-pointers including one at the buzzer to send the Anteaters in to half with a lead.
The Anteaters scored six straight on baskets by Methlyn Onogomuho, Camille Buckley and Kelly Meggs to open a 45-36 lead at 14:11. Buckley made an old fashioned three-point play then Onogomuho knocked down a jumper to give UCI its largest lead of 13 (58-45) with 7:38 to play. The Aggies would narrow the margin to 61-55 at 1:49, but that would be the last time they scored as the Anteaters would record the final seven points of the game.
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