Jan. 7, 2009
Complete UC Davis Game Notes in PDF Format 
DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis women's basketball team returns to the road this weekend, playing its first Big West Conference games away from The Pavilion this season, when the Aggies face preseason conference favorite UC Riverside on Thursday and Long Beach State on Saturday.
Tipoff at UC Riverside is 7:10 p.m. while Saturday's matchup in Long Beach is 5 p.m. Both games can be heard on KDVS (90.3 FM) and at www.ucdavisaggie.com.
The Aggies are 5-7 overall and 1-0 after beating Cal State Northridge 86-66 in their league opener on Sunday while the Highlanders - who own a victory over then No. 16 Vanderbilt earlier this season - are 5-9 and 1-1. The 49ers will face Pacific on Thursday before hosting the Aggies and are 3-10 overall and 0-2 in the Big West.
UC Davis will be without the services of junior standout Haylee Donaghe. Donaghe, an All-Big West second-team selection last year, learned on Monday that she will be sidelined the remainder of the season due to a knee injury sustained against South Dakota State on Dec. 17 and subsequently caused her to miss the last four games. She averaged 11.6 ppg. in the Aggies' first seven games but has been a defensive stalwart. Her 149 career steals are 10th all-time at UC Davis.
Donaghe received a clock extension from the NCAA in October after having two seasons impacted for unrelated injuries and is eligible to return next season. The Aggies, who have suited up just eight players each of the past three games due to injuries and illness, will also be without redshirt freshman post Lisa Peterson who will not make the trip due to injury.
UC Davis hopes to be able to duplicate the effort it had against Cal State Northridge on Sunday when it snapped a five-game losing streak. In that game, sophomore Paige Mintun enjoyed a career-night, recording her first double-double as an Aggie with 25 points and 10 rebounds. She added seven assists, six steals and three blocks, each of those marks either setting or tying previous career-highs.
She continues to lead the team in scoring (13.3) and rebounding (6.8) and is ranked 35th nationally with an .860 free throw percentage. Lauren Juric, who has the team's other double-double this year, is averaging 7.8 rpg and 6.0 rpg. UC Davis has been particularly effective from beyond the arc over the past four games, making an average of 8.8 per game to push their conference-leading mark to 6.3 pg.
UC Davis leads UC Riverside 19-12 in the all-time series between the teams but the Highlanders - picked by the media and head coaches to win the Big West this season - have won three of the past four matchups with the Aggies on their home floor. The veteran squad has won two of the past three league titles. Post Kemie Nkele (16.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg) leads four seniors among the team's top scorers. The Highlanders are only averaging 54.4 ppg but are allowing just 57.2 ppg. They opened their Big West season with a road win at Cal Poly before losing 47-40 at UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.
Long Beach State enters the weekend trying to reverse a trend in which it has lost three straight and six of their past seven games. The 49ers are led by guard Whitney Fields who posted a pair of double-doubles in road defeats at UCSB and Cal Poly. She opened with 11 points and 10 boards against the Gauchos before finishing with 14 points and 11 rebound versus the Mustangs on Sunday. She is complemented by Courtney Jacob who is second on the team in both scoring (10.6) and rebounding (5.5). Fields leads the team in scoring at 12.1 ppg.
UC Davis will return home to face Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 15) and UC Irvine (Jan. 17) next week.
