Nov. 20, 2008
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
GAME 2
UC Davis (1-0) at University of Denver (0-1)
Nov. 21, 6 p.m. (PST) • Magness Arena (7,200) • KDVS (90.3. FM)
www.ucdavisaggies.com (audio)
OPENING TIPS
UC Davis plays for the first time in a week and for the second consecutive game on the road when the Aggies visit the University of Denver on Friday... The game is the second straight in the Mountain Time Zone for the Aggies who played at Southern Utah in their opener... UC Davis also plays at least a mile about sea level for the second time this year (SUU: 5,857 ft., Denver: 5,280 ft.)... The last time the Aggies opened a season with at least two games on the road was in 2006-07 when they played at Boise State, Gonzaga and San Diego State, losing all three... They reversed the trend last year, winning their first five games on the road, a streak that included four games away from The Pavilion.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. DENVER
Friday's game is the first between the two programs... UC Davis has played two teams from the state of Colorado, however, facing both Metro State and Regis during its NCAA Division II era... The Aggies went 4-0 against Metro - including a 117-85 road win in 1998 - and is 3-0 versus Regis.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE PIONEERS
Denver returns two starters and eight letterwinners off last year's team that finished 11-19 overall and 6-12 in the Sun Belt Conference... Among the returners is senior F NNENNA AKOTAOBI who led the team with an 11.1 scoring average... Senior F SARA BENTS returns after averaging 4.4 rpg... F ASHLY ROBINSON scored a team-high 13 points and had a team-best six rebounds for the Pioneers in their 61-54 season-opening loss to Wyoming on Nov. 14... The teams were tied 26-26 at halftime before Wyoming pulled just enough away for the win... Denver has a new head coach in ERIK JOHNSON who was most recently associate head coach at Boston College.
FOUR RETURNERS BACK IN THE LINEUP
UC Davis returns four letterwinners to this year's team in W Haylee Donaghe, G Genevieve Costello, P Paige Mintun and P Ashley Curry... Another letterwinner - G Anna Harp - will redshirt due to injury... Donaghe started all 31 games last year while Mintun started 13 of her 24 games played... The four represent 34 percent of the Aggies' scoring from last year
DONAGHE GETS EXTRA YEAR
: W Haylee Donaghe has been granted a clock extension by the NCAA due to injuries earlier in her Aggie career... As a result, she has two years of eligibility remaining... Donaghe completed her undergraduate degree in exercise biology last spring and is currently enrolled in graduate studies at UC Davis.
UC DAVIS ANNOUNCES DIVISION I PRESENCE
The Aggies wasted little time establishing themselves as a formidable NCAA Division I program by enjoying a strong inaugural season at their new level... The Aggies finished 19-12 overall, 12-4 in the Big West Conference and advanced to within one game of the "Big Dance" by falling to UC Santa Barbara in the league's tournament championship game... UC Davis was just the second team in Big West history to advance to the title game as well as the postseason... The Aggies, by virtue of their second-place finish in the regular season, earned the Big West's automatic berth into the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT)... Wins over Pac-10 member Washington, UCSB (the Gauchos' only league loss), and winning streaks of six, five and four games highlighted UC Davis' impressive debut.
UC DAVIS 64, SOUTHERN UTAH 44
P Lisa Peterson scored a game-high 14 points and W Haylee Donaghe had a career-high nine steals as UC Davis cruised to a nonconference win over the Thunderbirds in Cedar City... The Aggies had three players in double figures overall, a trio that was completed by sophomore Paige Mintun who had 11 points and guard Genevieve Costello who finished with 10... The Aggies took control of the game early in the first half by scoring the first eight points, highlighted by a pair of three pointers from Mintun and Costello... A jumper from Peterson with 5 minutes, 56 seconds left in the first half gave UC Davis its second 12-point lead while Costello's trey extended it later to 23-10... The Aggies held Southern Utah scoreless over the final 3:50 of the first half while scoring the final seven points to take a comfortable 32-13 lead at the break... A 9-2 run over a time span of just under two minutes to start the second half pushed the lead to 41-15... UC Davis matched that 26-point lead twice down the stretch while letting Southern Utah get no closer than 17 points in the final 20 minutes of action.
BREAKOUT YEAR FOR DONAGHE
The 2007-08 season proved to be a memorable one for W Haylee Donaghe who enjoyed a tremendous season where she was second on the team in scoring (12.3), averaged 3.7 rebounds and was 35th in Division I in steals at 2.7 pg... Donaghe had four games with at least 20 points, including back-to-back games of 23 (Saint Mary's) and 22 (San Francisco) points in December... Donaghe earned All-Big West Conference second-team accolades after her standout season.
SIMPSON CLOSING IN ON WINS MARK
Head coach Sandy Simpson has a career record of 196-115 (.630) as he begins his 12th year with the Aggies... He needs just 11 wins to pass former coach JORJA HOEHN (1988-95, 96-97) who amassed a 205-51 (.801) record during her impressive tenure... Simpson served as an assistant coach under Hoehn as well as mentor PAM GILL-FISHER (1975-79, 81-86, 87-88) who posted 164 career victories.
SCORING THREATS GRADUATE
UC Davis lost two of its top three scores to graduation with the departures of W Jessica Campbell (15.3) and W Heather Bates (10.3)... Campbell ended her career as the No. 3 all-time scorer at UC Davis with 1,143 points and was named to the All-Big West Conference first team last season... Bates, a three-point specialist, canned 48 treys last year and led the team with a 5.5 rpg mark.
YOUTH WILL BE SERVED
Of UC Davis' 11 active roster players this season, seven are underclassmen (three redshirt freshmen, four true freshmen)... The Aggies had just three underclassmen last year, each of whom are underclassmen again this year as redshirt freshmen
STEAL CURTAIN
W Haylee Donaghe has made a name for herself as a pick-pocket specialist on the hardwood... Her 2.7 rpg average ranked 35th among all Division I players while her 44 picks in Big West games led the league... She's picked up this season where she left off after last season, posting a career-high nine steals in last week's win at Southern Utah... That tied her with current associate head coach Jennifer Gross who accomplished the feat against Humboldt State in 1996... Her 2007-08 season total of 85 is No. 5 all-time.
LOCAL KIDS MAKE GOOD
Of UC Davis' four true freshmen, two hail from the local regional area... W Cortney French (St. Mary's, Stockton) and W Kasey Riecks (Placer HS, Auburn) will combine with redshirt freshmen P Lisa Peterson (El Camino HS, Citrus Heights) and P Lauren Juric (Bear River HS, Grass Valley) to give the Aggies a decidely local flavor over the next few seasons.
FREE THROWS ARE A SPECIALTY UC Davis was one of the best in the country last year when it came to the charity stripe... UC Davis shot .787 from the line (444 of 564), just off the school record of .796 set during the 2005-06 season which would've been the best in Div. I had the Aggies been eligible to be ranked... Last year's mark ranked sixth... P Genevieve Costello (.907), P Paige Mintun (.714) and W Haylee Donaghe (.702) give UC Davis a good core in their starting lineup.
UC DAVIS TO BE TESTED WITH SCHEDULE
UC Davis will face five teams that advanced to the postseason last year, including national runner-up Stanford and NCAA participant Arizona State during its 28-game schedule this season... Other teams that earned postseason nods were Creighton and South Dakota State, which like the Aggies played in the WNIT... Altogether, six Aggie opponents posted 20-win sasons in 2007-08, a group that includes Stanford (35-4), Arizona State (22-11), South Dakota State (23-7), UC Santa Barbara (23-7), Creighton (21-12) and Santa Clara (20-11)... UCSB, as Big West champion, also participated in the NCAA Tournament.
