Greubel can’t carry Aggie women past Pacific

STOCKTON — The UC Davis women’s basketball teams had three players score in double figures on Saturday — including Molly Greubel’s career-high 18 points — but it wasn’t enough as Pacific defended its home court, 78-64, in the Big West opener for both teams.

In 26 minutes of action off the bench, Greubel hit 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and sank all four of her free throw attempts. She also dished out three assists and collected three steals for the Aggies (5-7).

Sydnee Fipps added 13 points, all of which came in the second half, to continue her double-digit scoring streak. Fipps has now scored in double figures in all 12 games this season.

Also for UCD, Celia Marfone scored 11 points by making all three of her field goals and 5-of-6 free throw attempts, while Cortney French grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

Pacific (11-2) jumped out to an 11-6 lead just four minutes in, but Aggie junior Idit Oryon responded with a jumper and a free throw, then Greubel cut the Tiger lead to just one by sinking a trey at the 14:04 mark. The teams stayed within just a few points of each other until back-to-back treys from Sam Pettinger put Pacific back up by six points with 10:13 to go before intermission.

When Kendall Rodriguez added a jumper of her own, the Tigers took their largest lead of the half at 24-16.

Two straight buckets from Greubel cut back into Pacific’s advantage, before French added a jumper in the paint and Marfone’s putback cut the lead to two with 4:18 to play.

But that would be the final field goal of the half for UCD as the Tigers closed the first period on a 14-1 run to go up 40-27 at halftime.

Out of the break, Pacific scored six straight points until Fipps’ layup stopped the Tiger run and gave the sophomore her first points of the game. Erica McKenzie responded with a 3-pointer, however, and the Tigers were ahead 49-29 with 17:33 to play.

After that, it was the Aggies’ turn to go on a run as they used a 17-4 spurt over the next six minutes to get to within seven at 53-46 with 11:24 to play. The run started with a Greubel jumper and was capped off by a 3-pointer from French.

Later, a long-range connection by Blair Shinoda kept UCD down seven with 5:19 to play but, like they had in the first half, the Tigers closed the game strong. A 9-2 run in the final 3:37 clinched the victory.

Kendall Kenyon led all scorers with 19 points while Gena Johnson added 18 and Rodriguez finished with 17 points.

The Aggies continue a four-game road trip at Cal Poly, which includes Davis High grad Nikol Allison on its roster, on Thursday and against UC Santa Barbara in the Thunderdome on Saturday.