In her last game ever at the Thunderdome, senior point guard Danae Miller delivered perhaps her greatest masterpiece yet, putting up a career-high 35 points and leading the UCSB women’s basketball team over UC Davis for the first time in over six years in a 65-62 win.
Four Gaucho senior guards were honored after the game – including Kiana Vierra, Lauren Lee and Megan Anderson – but it was Miller who received the most fanfare postgame in her ceremonial return to the court, and deservedly so. The fifth-year senior finally got over the hump against an Aggie team that she had gone 0-9 against entering Saturday.
Miller followed a 10-point opening half with a 25-point outburst over the final 20 minutes. She put in threes on back-to-back possessions midway through the third quarter to give the Gauchos their largest lead of the day, 41-24.
UC Davis (13-11, 7-7) forced the Gauchos (14-10, 8-7) into a number of mistakes down the stretch and nearly pulled off a remarkable late comeback with 29 points in the fourth alone. However, that was neutralized by 14 big fourth quarter points from Miller, who sent the T-Dome crowd into a frenzy with two more threes on consecutive possessions.
She also went 8-of-10 at the line in the final period, knocking down all six in the final minute. Her final trip to the charity stripe put the Gauchos up 65-62 with eight seconds remaining. UCD’s Cierra Hall got a decent look on a stepback three to tie it in the final seconds, but it fell short.
It was the second 30-point game of Miller’s career, setting a new conference-wide single-game scoring high. She played all 40 minutes, going 10-of-22 (45.5%) and 6-of-10 from three-point range. The six treys were also a new personal-best, giving her 153 for her career and moving her past Melissa Zornig and Makala Roper for No. 6 in the UCSB all-time charts.
UCSB’s only other double-digit scorer was junior center Ila Lane, who recorded a second straight double-double to give her 10 for the year. She has now scored in double-figures while shooting at least 60 percent in seven consecutive outings.
The Gauchos saw another uptick in their three-point percentage defense marks, a category they continue to lead in the Big West. The Aggies finished just 3-of-21 (14.3%) from deep, compared to 8-for-22 (36.4%) for UCSB.
Santa Barbara’s other starting guards, Johnni Gonzalez and Alexis Tucker, chipped in with eight points apiece. Gonzalez also had six assists for the sixth time this year.
The Gauchos will close out the regular season next week with road games at CSUN on Tuesday and Hawaii on Saturday.
Michael Jorgenson writes about sports for UCSB.
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