PRESCOTT, Ariz. - The University of California, Merced women's basketball team fell 64-57 to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the semifinal round of the California Pacific Conference Championships on Saturday night inside the ERAU Activity Center.
The Bobcats (15-13) conclude their season in the conference tournament for the second year in a row but currently hold the Cal Pac's longest active streak having made six consecutive postseason appearances.
In what would be her final game in a UC Merced uniform, 4X All-Cal Pac First Team selection Mia Belvin turned in her best tournament offensive performance and led all scorers with 22 points on 50% (6-12) shooting. The 3X Defensive Player of the Year was also good for a block and a steal and she became just the third player in program history to go for 20 points with a block and a steal in a postseason game. Belvin, the first to do it since 2016, joins Courtney Danna and Moses Oceguera in the category. Nine of Belvin's 22 points Saturday night came from beyond the arc and with it she joins Shelby Howard as the only other Bobcat in program history to make 50 or more three-point field goals in multiple seasons. The senior finishes her career with 20 points in seven of the last eight games and averaged a career-high 18 points per game for the season. The program's all-time scoring leader went for 1,842 points and 15.7 points per game in 117 career outings.
Nia Smiley doubled her career-high with 12 points off the bench and is the first postseason Bobcat since Aubrey Hayes on March 1, 2016 to go for double figures in less than 20 minutes of playing time.
Rainah Smith stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, eleven rebounds, three blocks and two steals, while Marisse Jackson grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds. A rebound away from the program's all-time single game record, Jackson's tally was good enough for the program's single-game postseason record.
Cierra McClain added five points off the bench and led all Bobcats with three assists. Andrea Rogers blocked two shots in 14 minutes of action prior to fouling out.
The Bobcats shot 34% (19-55) from the floor, 28% (4-14) from downtown but shot extremely well from the charity stripe and finished at an 83% (15-18) clip. The Bobcats shot over 80% from the foul line three times this season.
UC Merced was undone by 24 turnovers and Embry-Riddle scored 18 points off the miscues. On the flipside, the Bobcats scored 16 points off 16 Eagle turnovers.
The Bobcats grabbed the first lead at 2-0 but after a triple from the Eagles Haley Villegas, UC Merced didn't lead again until midway through the third quarter.
Belvin and All-Cal Pac First Team selection Haylee Owen combined for all 12 UC Merced points in the first quarter and solid defense kept the Bobcats within a possession after ten minutes of play, 15-12.
Embry-Riddle created further separation with a 6-0 run in the first four minutes of the second quarter. The Bobcats halted the run briefly by earning trips to the foul line but soon after fell behind by double figures for the first time at 26-16. The Bobcats fell behind by as many as 12, 36-24, and trailed 36-26 at the half.
Prior to the semifinal game, the Bobcats had come back from double figure halftime deficits twice during the 2019-20 regular season. The latter comeback win came the last time UC Merced and Embry-Riddle met. In postseason history, the Bobcats have won twice when trailing by double figures at the half, including the program's first ever playoff win and the 2016-17 California Pacific Conference Championship game.
Looking to repeat history, Smith cut the Eagles lead to single figures at the 7:49 mark and her bucket was the first of a 13-0 Bobcat run to take a 43-40 lead with 3:49 to go in the quarter. Belvin had seven points during the surge and the Bobcats held Embry-Riddle scoreless on eight straight possessions and without a field goal on ten straight possessions.
Head coach Sarah Hopkins-Chery's team was able to build its lead to four points at 45-41 and after the hosts reclaimed the lead, Cierra McClain beat the third quarter buzzer from beyond the arc and the score was 49-49 heading to the final frame.
Neither team scored again until two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter and it was a Danae Ruiz bucket to put the Eagles on top. Ruiz is the only other player in Cal Pac history who can say she is a 4X All-Cal Pac First Team selection.
The score also marked the final lead change of the game and the Bobcats never managed to make a field goal in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats scored eight fourth quarter points and they all came at the charity stripe.
The deficit was six points midway through the quarter and seven points at 57-50 with 2:44 remaining. Free throws weren't enough to complete a comeback and the Bobcats never came within a possession the rest of the way. The closest was five points, 62-57 with 44 seconds on the clock.
Embry-Riddle also did the majority of their damage at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, shooting 75% (9-12) from the line. Embry-Riddle made just three field goals and the two teams combined to shoot just 9% (3-31) from the field in the final ten minutes.
The Bobcats are now 6-4 all-time in California Pacific Conference Championship Tournament games.
The Bobcats have the opportunity to return 12 letterwinners next year and the group accounted for 71% of the Bobcats scoring and 90% of its rebounding efforts.
To stay up to date on everything UC Merced women's basketball in the offseason, follow the team on Twitter @ucmercedwbb.
