The Hornets (1-8) trailed by 17 points at the 09:16 mark of the second half, but finally began to penetrate the Aggies’ zone defense in the latter stages. Sacramento State finished the last nine minutes of the game on a 23-10 run, knocking down five three-pointers, but it was not enough to overcome the team’s early struggles that led to a double-digit deficit.

Veteran and two-time all-Big Sky Conference guard Kim Sheehy scored a game-high 16 points (11 in the second half) and sank four three pointers to lead the Hornets in scoring for the fourth time this year. The senior guard also dished out a game and career-high eight assists along with backcourt mate Stephanie Cherry, who added seven points, six assists and six rebounds in her 39 minutes on the floor.

Senior Ashley Storms doubled her previous career high with 13 points, while adding a career-best seven rebounds, five on the offensive glass. Freshman Erika Edwards was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to match her career-high of 12 points.

UC Davis (3-7) was led by Heather Bates’ 14-point and nine-rebound performance. Laura Thomas was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line for her 12 points, while Ana Harp scored just one basket, but was 10-of-12 from the stripe to add her 12 points off the bench.

The charity stripe proved to be the biggest discrepancy in the game, as UC Davis made 27 trips to the line (converting 22), while the Hornets were not called to the foul line once.

Sacramento State’s leading scorer the last three games, sophomore forward Atty Boyer, was held scoreless despite pulling down nine rebounds. Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the floor, but the Aggies were careful with the basketball, committing only 13 turnovers compared to the Hornets’ 19.

At the 5:50 mark a layup from Becca Reams erased Sacramento State’s double-digit deficit and cut the Aggies''lead to 50-42. Sheehy then drained a three-pointer with 4:32 remaining, but a basket from Bates and free throws from Harp quickly built the UC Davis lead to 10 again.

In fact, the Aggies had a 57-47 edge with 54 seconds remaining. An offensive rebound and layup from Storms was the Hornets’ first basket of their final flurry. Storms then provided the assist on Reams’ three-pointer during the team’s next possession. Another trey from Sheehy had the Aggies on their heels, 58-55, with seven seconds remaining, but Harp sealed the UC Davis victory, making one of her two free throws after Sacramento State intentionally fouled.

The Hornets’ loss also gives UC Davis 10 points in the Causeway Cup and gives the Aggies and overall 36.67-25.00 lead between the two schools in the annual all-sports competition.

The beginning of the game looked promising for the Hornets as Storms won the tip and Edwards buried a three-pointer from deep in the corner on the team’s first possession.

But 11 turnovers committed in the first 20 minutes limited Sacramento State’s ability to score the basketball, launching just 23 looks (16 three-pointers) and shooting 39.1 percent from the floor.

Cherry cut the Aggies lead to 14-13 with 8:52 in the first with a jumper just inside the arc, but within two-and-a-half minutes, UC Davis went on a 9-0 run to build a double digit, 23-13 lead, backed by a Thomas three-pointer.

Sacramento State struggled inside against UC Davis’ zone defense, taking most of its attempts from the outside. Of the Hornets’ nine first-half buckets, five were three-pointers.

Sacramento State travels to play another local rival on Friday, taking on Pacific at the Alex G. Spanos Center with a 7:05 p.m. tipoff. Dylan McKenzie will be providing the play-by-play available on www.hornetsports.com.