VALLEJO, Calif. - UC Merced shot over 50 percent from the field, including 56 percent from behind the three-point line, lifting the No. 3 seed Bobcats to a 99-84 win over No. 2 seed Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) in a semifinal game at the California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) women's basketball. Sophomores Jazlyn Maletino (Tracy, Calif.) and Haley Villegas (Anthem, Ariz.) each had 18 points to lead the Eagles.
UC Merced (19-10) used the first seven minutes of the game to build a 16-10 lead after Aubrey Hays hit a three pointer. Embry-Riddle (21-6) then scored four straight and ended the quarter on a 11-4 run, taking a 21-20 lead into the second quarter when Villegas drained one of her four three pointers of the game.
In the second quarter ERAU saw its lead grow to five points when sophomore Jenna Knudson (Sterling, Colo.) hit a three, but UC Merced came back with 14-2 surge, taking a 36-29 lead on back-to-back three pointers. Freshman Bethany Wolph (Chandler, Ariz.) then answered for the Eagles with back-to-back threes of her own, pulling ERAU back within one at 36-35 midway through the quarter. Over the final five minutes the Bobcats pushed their lead back up to as many as six, and took a 48-45 lead into the half after a shot by sophomore Katana Martina (Redding, Calif.) in the final seconds.
UC Merced scored the first 10 points of the third quarter, pushing its lead to 13 points less than three minutes in. The Bobcats held Embry-Riddle to just eight points on 3-of-16 shooting in the quarter and went on to outscore the Eagles 22-8 over the 10 minutes, taking a 70-53 lead going into the fourth.
A three-pointer less than two minutes in had UC Merced up 75-55, but the Eagles were not done and managed to chip away at the Bobcats lead. In less than a four-minute span ERAU cut the lead from 20 points down to nine, pulling within 85-76 with 2:24 left when Maletino hit on a jumper in the lane. Nine points would prove to be as close as ERAU would get, however, as UC Merced picked up a pair of key threes late to hold off the Eagles and move on to the championship game.
