MERCED, Calif. - Mia Belvin led all scorers with 21 points and the University of California, Merced women's basketball team toppled Simpson University on Senior Night, 74-48 Thursday evening inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (13-11, 7-4) are now two games over .500 for the first time this season and swept the home and away series with Simpson for the first time since 2015-16.
Belvin, who was honored alongside seniors Shelby Bohlmann and Kylee Scheib in a pregame ceremony, scored 20+ for a career-best fourth straight game and extended her double figure scoring streak to a California Pacific Conference best 24 games. She did so while shooting 60% (9-15) from the floor and 50% (3-6) from downtown. The senior also grabbed seven rebounds, notched four steals and tallied a season-high five assists. Thursday night marked Belvin's first 20-point, five-assist night of the season and fourth of her career.
Haylee Owen turned in her first career double-double with 15 points and tied the program's single-game assists record with ten. Owen's ten assists also tied the 2019-20 California Pacific Conference single-game high and she is the first player to record a double-double with assists in a conference game since Benedictine University Mesa's Erica Vasquez did so on January 20, 2018. Owen added five rebounds and two steals to her all-around performance.
Rainah Smith was good for 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals, while Andrea Rogers was stellar off the bench with a career-high nine points and grabbed six rebounds. Other strong bench contributions include nine rebounds from Marisse Jackson, four steals from Cierra McClain and three blocks from Deyliana Lewis. McClain's defensive effort tied her career-high originally set back on November 16, 2019. McClain joins only Belvin and Owen as Bobcats who have tallied at least four steals in multiple games this year.
Jackson's nine rebounds ties her Cal Pac career-high. Lewis has now recorded three or more blocks against three different Cal Pac teams and leads the conference with 31 total blocks.
The defensive efforts limited Simpson to just 48 points and the Bobcats are now 26-0 under head coach Sarah Hopkins-Chery when holding teams below 50 points.
As for the Bobcats offensive numbers, Hopkins-Chery's team has now won six straight when scoring 70+ and 21 of their last 25.
The Bobcats only trailed for ten seconds in Thursday night's win and led the entire way after Lewis knocked down a pair of foul shots on the Bobcats fourth possession to go up 4-2.
Belvin got her night started soon after with a steal and score to double the lead. Midway through the quarter, Belvin blocked a shot that resulted in a Smith bucket at the other end for a 13-4 lead. An Owen triple allowed the Bobcats to go up by double figures for the first time at 18-8 but a Simpson basket with the shot clock off cut the Bobcats lead to 18-10 after one quarter of play.
Simpson scored five unanswered in the second quarter to make it an 18-15 game but the Bobcats responded with an 11-0 run to grab a 29-15 lead. Belvin had six points and two steals during the Bobcats biggest run of the first half, while Nia Smiley grabbed a couple rebounds and scored her first basket of the night.
The advantage grew to 15 points midway through the quarter and a Rogers three-point play to end the half allowed the Bobcats to carry a 44-24 lead into intermission. The lead, partly due to forcing 16 turnovers, was the biggest home halftime lead since February 7, 2019 against Cal Maritime.
The third quarter was highlighted by a 12-0 UC Merced run that got the Bobcats up by as many as 33 points at 62-29. Belvin started the run with a triple and was responsible for eight of the 12 points during the surge. Owen assisted on all three of Belvin's field goals and added a bucket of her own in the same time span. The 12-0 run took up the final five and a half minutes of the third quarter. The Bobcats shot 60% (6-10) from the floor during the run while holding Simpson scoreless on nine straight possessions.
The run extended to 15-0 as Owen and Smith combined for the first three points of the fourth quarter to garner a 65-29 lead. Owen grew the lead to a game-high 38 points at 69-31 less than three minutes in. Simpson slowly shaved points off the Bobcats advantage as the night came to a close, cutting the 38-point deficit to 30 with three and a half minutes left and came within 24 with 40 seconds to go, 72-48. A Jackson jumper from the elbow in the final seconds stopped what was a 12-0 Simpson run and finalized the scoring at 74-48.
The 26-point win was the second biggest win of the season but the Bobcats biggest in Cal Pac play since January 17, 2019.
The Bobcats shot 44% (32-73) from the floor, 24% (5-21) from downtown and 41% (5-12) from the foul line.
Other notables include scoring 25 points off 22 Simpson turnovers and 14 second chance points off 21 offensive rebounds.
Looking ahead, the Bobcats visit Cal Maritime on Saturday, February 15 in Vallejo, Calif. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30pm inside the Physical Education Center.
