MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced women's basketball team knocked off their highest ranked opponent in program history, topping No. 10 University of Antelope Valley on Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The win improves the Bobcats best ever record to 22-6 overall, 10-3 in California Pacific Conference play.
Junior guard Mia Belvin led all scorers with 20 points and neared a double-double with nine rebounds. Belvin shot 92% (14-15) from the charity stripe and made ten foul shots in the final quarter.
Aubrey Hayes, Haylee Owen and Rainah Smith joined Belvin in double figures. Hayes pitched in 14 points, while Owen finished with 12 points. Two of Owen's 12 points came with five seconds left. Up 74-73 with the ball, Owen was fouled and sunk both free throws forcing UAV to make a three to extend the game.
Smith's all-around effort consisted of ten points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Center Mia Shannon added nine points and became the program's all-time blocks and rebounding leader. The senior enters her final game of the regular season with 112 career blocks and 590 rebounds.
For the second straight game, UC Merced erased a fourth quarter deficit. This time around, the Bobcats successful comeback came while down 59-50 a minute into the fourth quarter.
The name of the game, free throws. A lot of them.
Mia Belvin cut it to 59-52 via a pair of makes at the charity stripe and then after a defensive stop, the game's leading scorer drew more contact and sunk both foul shots to get within five at 59-54.
However, Belvin's mini 4-0 run was halted by a Pioneer triple and the Bobcats deficit was back to three possessions with eight minutes to play.
Almost the same series of events followed, a Bobcat 4-0 run to inch closer followed by an opponent's three-point field goal.
Now down 65-58 but in the bonus, three different Bobcats, including Belvin, were sent to the free throw line in a 90 second stretch and a make from Owen eventually evened the score at 67.
A triple from each team, Pounds for the Pioneers and Hayes for the Bobcats, brought the neck and neck game to 70-70 with 2:26 left on the clock.
The score was tied until Belvin went back to the line and split her free throws to give the Bobcats a 71-70 lead. The one point lead was the Bobcats first lead since the midway point of the third quarter.
Shannon, who broke two career records in the same game, secured the stop at the other end of the floor with a strong defensive rebound. Shannon was fouled grabbing the board and before she could walk to opposite stripe, the officials charged a technical foul to UAV resulting in four total free throws for the Bobcats. Hayes sunk both technical shots to go up 73-70 and Shannon added a make to give the Bobcats a two possession lead with 33 seconds left.
UAV wouldn't go away and It was 74-73 with ten seconds left. Samanth Earl scored the three points for UAV to come within one.
Up a point, the Bobcats were set to inbound in front of their own bench. Cierra McClain got the ball into Owen, who then made a pair of defenders miss and avoided contact for five seconds. When eventually fouled, Owen hit both free throws to make it a three point game. A Bobcat defensive stop finalized the game, 76-73.
When it was all said and done, the Bobcats made 19 of 24 foul shots in the fourth quarter and shot 80% (32-40) for the game.
Earlier in the game, UAV held a 14 point lead at 26-12. That was tied for the largest lead of the night and it came a little over eight minutes into the contest. UAV also led by 14, 34-20, midway though the second quarter but the Bobcats countered with a 13-0 run to cut the deficit to 34-33. Hayes accounted for five points during the offensive surge.
The Bobcats first lead of the night came post intermission, when Shelby Bohlmann buried a triple two minutes in for a 42-40 lead. McClain matched Bohlmann with a three-pointer of her own roughly a minute later before UAV took control again. The Bobcats next lead came when they took the lead for good with 54 seconds left in the game.
Defensively, the Bobcats held Antelope Valley 18 points under their season average.
Up next, UC Merced hosts La Sierra University in the final game of the regular season. Senior night is scheduled for 6:30pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium. Seniors Deja Jackson, Mia Shannon, Aubrey Hayes and Kimiko Sato will be honored before the game.
