ANAHEIM, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's basketball team's Big West Tournament run has come to an end. UCI was unable to slow down a well-rested UC Davis squad as the top-seeded Aggies ran away with an 82-50 semifinal win Friday afternoon at Honda Center.
 
"I thought we came out a little flat then picked it up a bit," third-year head coach Tamara Inoue said. "But, one thing with this team is we just don't give up. No matter the score, there is always something we can work on. It doesn't matter who we're up against, we are always looking to get better and I think seeing our team frustrated and seeing the competitive juices of wanting to win shows that our culture is definitely getting to where we want it to be."
 
UC Davis (24-6), which received a double-bye into the semis after winning the regular-season championship, shot 54 percent overall and 48 percent (10-21) from 3-point range.
 
The Anteaters (20-11), who were playing their third game in four days, finished at a 25 percent clip and were just 2-for-19 from beyond the arc. They did win the rebounding battle, 41-37, and held a commanding 20-to-5 advantage in offensive boards.
 
Sophomore Jordan Sanders was the only 'Eater in double figures with a team-high 22 points and five rebounds. It was her 14th 20-point game of the year, keeping the 5-foot-11 forward among the top-25 in the nation with 20.3 ppg.

Senior Sabrina Engelstad pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Junior Lauren Saiki also finished with seven points and three boards, while sophomore Tahlia Garza had six points and three rebounds.
 
UC Irvine struck first and took an early 4-2 lead before the Aggies knocked down their first triple to start a 15-2 stretch that put them on top by 11 at the 4:03 mark. Sanders then ended a four-minute scoring drought for the Anteaters but UC Davis would go back on top by double digits with a 24-13 cushion at the end of the first quarter.
 
UCD would go up by as many as 21 in the second when junior Brooke Bayman's three-point play sparked a 10-2 run that cut the deficit to 38-26 with 2:58 remaining. That was the closest the 'Eaters would get, however, as they headed to the locker room trailing, 45-30.
 
UCI was by no means out of the game at the half as it erased a double-digit deficit in five of its wins this season, but the 'Eaters just couldn't get anything going offensively in the third period. UC Davis took advantage, outscoring UC Irvine, 21-5, to open up a 66-35 lead. Senior Sabrina Engelstad accounted for three of the Anteaters' points with an and-1 at the 5:41 mark.
 
The effort was there in the fourth frame, but UCI was unable to cut into the Aggie lead over the final 10 minutes.
 
"This game doesn't define our season," Inoue said. "We have had a great year. We are just the third team in our program to have a 20-win season and that's a testament to the work my players have put in and what they have done here."
 
Big West Player of the Year Morgan Bertsch led UC Davis with a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds. Kourtney Eaton added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting (4-4 3FG), while Cierra Hall had 15.
 
NOTES
• Jordan Sanders averaged 19.0 points and 8.3 rebounds in the Big West Tournament after missing the last three regular-season games with an injury.
• Her 22 points in the semifinal are tied for the ninth-most in a conference tournament game in program history.
• This was the Anteaters' first semifinal appearance in five years.
• The 'Eaters (20-11) recorded their first 20-win campaign since 1984-85.
• Their 20 victories are also tied with the 1983-84 squad for second in single-season school history.
• Senior Andee Ritter had one steal to increase her UCI career record total to 196.
• Ritter is also the all-time program leader in 3-pointers made at 202.