UC Davis women beat UCI for second straight Big West title

<p>LAS VEGAS &mdash; Cierra Hall scored 23 points, Evanne Turner had 22 and top-seeded UC Davis pulled away late in the third quarter to beat No. 2 seed UC Irvine 61-42 on Saturday night in the Big West Conference tournament championship. </p>
<p>It was the second straight title and third overall for UC Davis (13-2), which also won the tournament in 2011. The Aggies are also the first to win back-to-back championships since Cal State Northridge in 2014 and 2015. </p>
<p>Hall, the Big West Conference Player of the Year, and Turner were a combined 18-of-28 shooting and made six of the Aggies’ seven 3-pointers. Sage Stobbart added five points and 12 rebounds. </p>
<p>Neither team held more than a four-point lead until the Aggies ended the third quarter on a 6-2 surge for a 40-34 advantage. Turner scored 11 points and Hall added six as the Aggies outscored UCI 21-8 in the fourth. </p>
<p>Chloe Webb had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Anteaters (15-9). Kayla Williams added 12 points on four 3-pointers. </p>
<p>UC Davis leads the series 32-9 and is 4-1 against UCI in the tournament. It was the Anteaters’ fifth appearance in the championship game, and they won the title in 1997. </p>
<hr />
<p>More AP women’s college basketball: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball">https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a>.</p>