DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team made a late push but was unable to overcome a slow start as it fell to league-leading UC Davis, 66-56, Saturday afternoon at The Pavilion.
 
The Anteaters suffered their third-straight loss, dropping to 17-11 overall and 9-4 in conference play. UC Davis, which clinched the regular-season title, improved to 23-4, 13-1 Big West.
 
Freshman Jordan Sanders paced UCI with 10 points and nine rebounds. Redshirt freshman Autumn Baumgartner added nine points, while junior Andee Ritter finished with seven points, four boards and two steals. Sophomore Lauren Saiki also had seven points, and freshman Haleigh Talbert chipped in six points and three assists.
 
The 'Eaters outrebounded the Aggies, 37-31, and held a 15-4 edge on the offensive glass, but were hampered by an 0-for-13 start as they ended the day shooting 33.3 percent overall and 31.6 percent from long distance.
 
UC Irvine came out cold, and UC Davis took advantage as it raced out to a 15-0 lead at the 5:13 mark. Sanders then got the 'Eaters on the board with a putback, but they were unable to get much else going on the offensive end, falling behind 20-6 at the conclusion of the first quarter.
 
The Anteaters used a 6-2 run in the first two minutes of the second period to cut the deficit to 22-12. The Aggies would push their lead back to 13 before a 7-2 spurt, capped by a Baumgartner layup, made it 33-25 with 2:24 left in the half. UCI was held scoreless the rest of the way, however, allowing UCD to increase its margin to 40-25 at the break.
 
UC Irvine opened the third frame on a 10-4 sprint with a triple from Baumgartner closing the gap to 44-35 at the 6:34 mark. UC Davis answered with a three of its own and pulled ahead, 56-39, after three.
 
The 'Eaters made another push in the fourth as Baumgartner's second trey of the game made it 62-50 with 5:43 remaining. The Aggies ended a four-minute scoring drought for both teams before the Anteaters rallied for six unanswered, which included a Dani Guglielmo 3-pointer, to come within eight (64-56) with 52.4 seconds on the clock. UC Davis was then able to use the clock to its advantage, holding on for the 66-56 win.
 
UC Davis registered a 50.0 field goal percentage and was 8-of-21 from beyond the arc. Dani Nafekh led the way with 17 points, while Pele Gianotti finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
 
UC Irvine closes out the regular season next week, traveling to CSUN on Thursday, March 1, before returning home for Senior Day against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, March 3.
 
NOTES: UC Irvine dropped to third in the Big West standings and will enter the final week of regular-season play a half-game behind Cal Poly … Andee Ritter is alone in third on UCI's all-time charts with 139 career 3-pointers made … She has connected from long distance in three-straight games … The 'Eaters suffered their first loss of the year when Jordan Sanders reaches double figures in scoring … They are now 13-1 when she scores 10+ points …  UCI also saw a six-game streak of 20+ turnovers forced snapped as UC Davis finished with 14.