Dec. 27, 2008
Complete UC Davis game notes in PDF Format 
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STANFORD, Calif. - The UC Davis women's basketball team (4-5) will play a ranked team for the third time this month when the Aggies travel to face No. 11/8 Stanford (8-3) in a nonconference game on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. They'll return home to host Seattle University on Tuesday at 4:45 p.m., part of a doubleheader with the UC Davis men who will host Dartmouth.
The Aggie women enter the weekend having lost three straight games, including a pair on the road last week at South Dakota State and Creighton; teams that earned bids to last year's Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
The Cardinal is coming off a tremendous 2007-08 season which saw it finish 35-4 and advance to the NCAA Championship game where it lost to Tennessee.
Stanford, which beat UC Davis 62-41 last season, is the highest ranked team on the Aggies' schedule and part of a highly competitive month which also saw the Aggies face then No. 25 Arizona State (L, 73-59) on Dec. 3 and then No. 22 South Dakota State (L, 59-47).
The Cardinal, which opened the season 8-1 and rose as high as No. 3 in the national polls after opening at No. 2, has lost two of its past three games, all on the road. Two of those defeats, however, came to national powerhouses Duke (L, 56-52) and defending champion Tennessee (L, 79-69, ot). Stanford is 4-0 at home this season.
The Cardinal is led by center Jayne Appel, who is averageing a double-double with 14.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. She had double-doubles in each of her team's most recent three games including 16 points and 10 rebounds against Duke and 19 points and 14 rebounds at Tennessee.
Kayla Pedersen (11.9), Jeanette Pohlen (10.5) and Nnemkadi Ogwumike (10.1) are also averaging in double figures for Stanford which is outscoring opponents by nearly 18 ppg (76.5-58.4), is shooting 45.2 percent from the floor and is outrebounding the opposition by nearly 10 rebounds per game.
Saturday's game will also mark the second collegiate matchup on the hardcourt between Stanford sophomore guard Hannah Donaghe and sister, Haylee, a standout junior for UC Davis. The former Atascadero High School stars played briefly against each other in last year's contest at Stanford and will have the opportunity for a third meeting next year when the Cardinal visit The Pavilion.
Haylee Donaghe, second on the Aggies with an 11.6 ppg average and ranked 39th nationally with 3.0 steals per game, was injured early against South Dakota State on Dec. 17 and sat out against Creighton. She's expected back for Sunday's game at Stanford.
UC Davis is both scoring and allowing 58.4 ppg as it tries to get back on the winning side. The Aggies are being paced by post Paige Mintun who has set or tied her career-high in scoring in three games. She tallied 18 points against Arizona State, tied it a few days later at Saint Mary's and then finished with 24 points at Creighton last weekend.
The Aggies, shooting 42.5 percent from the floor, are also doing a solid job on the boards, holding a sllight advantage over their opponents at a little more than 32 per game.
UC Davis will return for its first home game since Dec. 3 when its hosts Seattle University on Tuesday afternoon, a matchup which will be followed by the men's team hosting Dartmouth.
The Redhawks are in the first year of a four-year reclassification to NCAA Division I. They'll enter a home game on Sunday against Cascade College with a 4-6 record. Seattle, which has lost two straight, is led by forward Breanna Salley who is averaging 17.8 ppg. Forward Chelsie Morrison (11.2) is also scoring in double figures while forward Merceded Alexander is pulling down a team-best 5.7 rpg.
Seattle has been potent from beyond the arc, making 74 three-pointers so far, nearly twice as many as its opponents. Cassidy Murillo has a team-high 25.
The Aggies' two games over the next three days brings to a close the preconference portion of their schedule. They'll open up Big West Conference play on Jan. 4 against visiting Cal State Northridge.
