VALLEJO, Calif. - The top-seeded University of California, Merced women's basketball team is headed to the California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship game after a dominant 76-55 win over Park University Gilbert in the semifinals on Monday night.

With the win, the Bobcats are also automatic qualifiers into the NAIA National Tournament. The Bobcats conference title game will be their fifth in program history, first since 2018. The Bobcats five Cal Pac title game appearances is the most the conference has seen in the last decade. 

A team effort on both sides of the ball, the Bobcats, who never trailed, got points from ten different players and forced 22 Park Gilbert turnovers en route to their biggest margin of victory ever in a postseason game. The Bobcats win was their program-best eleventh in a row.

Madison Hotchkiss led the Bobcats with 16 points and tied the program's postseason record with five three-pointers. Hotchkiss shot 63% (5-8) from downtown and needed just 17 minutes of action to reach her scoring total.

Haylee Owen and Andrea Rogers finished with 14 points each. Owen also had five assists, grabbed four rebounds and notched a steal. Rogers had two steals.

Cierra McClain was good for nine points and three steals, while Damilola Sule and Mikayla Mabie pitched in seven and six points, respectively. All of Mabie's points were scored at the charity stripe.

Rainah Smith was solid defensively with a game-high 12 rebounds and shared game-high with three steals. Smith's rebounding total was the third highest ever for the Bobcats in a postseason game. Five of her 12 rebounds came on the offensive glass.

Other individual notables for head coach Sarah Hopkins-Chery's team include three assists each from Mabie and Deyliana Lewis.

The Bobcats started blistering hot from downtown and used three McClain triples in the first four minutes of action to set the tone. Soon after, Rogers earned her first minutes of the night and got a quick five points to put the Bobcats up 14-6 midway through the quarter. After the media timeout, Owen knocked down a mid-range jumper to give the Bobcats their first double figure lead at 16-6. The Bobcats led 21-12 at the end of the first quarter.

The Bobcats suffocated Park Gilbert over the first six and a half minutes of the second quarter and went on a 12-0 run. Lewis started the period's scoring with a second chance basket. Sule followed suit the next trip down the floor to put the Bobcats up 25-12. Julinna Fletes, who missed the last 22 games with an injury, was key in setting up the Bobcats next few baskets and the top-seed extended their lead to 33-12 midway through the second quarter. After Park closed the gap to 16 points, Hotchkiss hit a pair of triples in the final 30 seconds of the half to put the Bobcats up 41-21 at intermission.

Hotckiss and McClain combined to shoot 75% (6-8) from downtown in the first half.

The Bobcats opened the second half with back-to-back second chance baskets from Smith and Sule. The two teams traded baskets over the next four minutes, before Hotchkiss buried back-to-back triples in a 15 second span to put the Bobcats up by a game-high 28 points at 55-27. 

Park Gilbert followed with a 14-3 run between the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter to close the gap to 16 points. Mabie and Rogers helped halt the Bucs momentum with trips to the charity stripe. Owen followed with a score to get the Bobcats lead to 25 points at 65-40 with six minutes left. The Bobcats led 70-50 with three minutes left before ending the night with a 76-55 victory.

The Bobcats finished the game shooting 42% (28-66) from the floor, 33% (8-24) from downtown and 71% (12-17) from the charity stripe. The Bobcats held Park Gilbert to just one three-pointer despite 12 attempts.

Monday night's game was the first ever between UC Merced and Park Gilbert.

The California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship game is scheduled for 7:30pm on Tuesday, March 1 at the PEAC Main Gym on the campus of Cal Maritime in Vallejo, Calif. The Bobcats will face the winner of Monday night's second semifinal between #2 Westcliff University and #3 La Sierra University.

 A livestream will be available here.