Feb. 11, 2009
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
GAME 22
UC Davis (7-14, 3-7) at UC Irvine (5-18, 2-8)
Feb. 12, 7 p.m. • Bren Center (5,000) • KDVS (90.3. FM) • www.ucdavisaggies.com • Big West TV
GAME 23
UC Davis at at Cal State Fullerton (6-15, 3-7)
Feb. 14, 5 p.m. • Titan Gym (4,000) • KDVS (90.3. FM) • www.ucdavisaggies.com • Big West TV
OPENING TIPS
UC Davis tries to beat UC Irvine for the second time this season, while posting its first win since beating the Anteaters on Jan. 17, when the Aggies return to Southern California for a pair of key conference games this weekend... UC Davis is tied for fifth in the Big West Conference with Cal State Fullerton, which it plays on Saturday... The Aggies' current five-game losing streak is the program's longest in a season since opening the 1987-88 campaign with five straight losses... UC Davis lost six consecutive games over the end of the 2005-06 and beginning of the 2006-07 seasons (three on each side)... The Aggies were severely short-handed against second-place UC Riverside last Saturday, suiting just seven players - including six freshmen - yet still managed to lead most of the way before losing in overtime... P Paige Mintun and G Genevieve Costello missed the game due to injuries suffered in practice the day before... Seven UC Davis players have missed a combined 42 games this season due to injuries.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UC IRVINE
The Aggies have a six-game winning streak over the Anteaters and are a 11-1 overall... UC Irvine last beat UC Davis 79-72 in 2006... The series, which began in 1975-76 and included a break from 1980-2004, opened with six consecutive Aggie wins... P Paige Mintun had 17 points while G Cortney French added a career-high 14 courtesy of four three-pointers as UC Davis won 68-56 at The Pavilion on Jan. 17... The Aggies converted 11 of 24 three-pointers in the game... F JOVANA PETROVIC scored 20 points to pace the Anteaters.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CAL STATE FULLERTON
The Titans took a 34-22 halftime lead at The Pavilion on Jan. 15 en route to a 71-59 victory over the Aggies which game them a 5-4 all-time series lead and snapped UC Davis' modest two-game winning streak in the matchup... F MEGAN RICHARDSON had a game-high 18 points, one of our Fullerton players in double figures, while G TONI THOMAS had 15... W Kasey Riecks scored 17 points for UC Davis which struggled from beyond the arc (4 of 15).
A QUICK LOOK AT THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine has lost two straight games and 16 of its past 18 games since opening the season with a 3-2 mark... The Anteaters are playing their first home game since beating Cal State Northridge 48-46 on Jan. 24... REBECCA MAESEN leads the team in scoring (13.4) while KIM BARNES (5.2) paces them on the boards... Maessen is currently sixth in the league in scoring and is second in three-point percentage (.394)... UC Irvine's highest conference rankings are in scoring defense (5th, 64.5) and rebounding defense (5th, 37.8)... Opponents are averaging 64.5 ppg and shooting .415 from the field.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton has dropped seven consecutive games, posting its last win against UC Davis on Jan. 15... The Titans are playing their first home game since facing Long Beach State (L,54-51) on Jan. 24... Despite their record, Cal State Fullerton boasts a potent threat in G TONI THOMAS who ranks among the top 10 players in six Big West statistical categories... Thomas is currently fourth in scoring (14.1) and rebounding (7.4) and is second in free throw percentage (.882)... MEGAN RICHARDSON (10.3) and LAUREN CHOW (10.0) are also in double-figure scoring with Chow's average bolstered by 41 three-pointers, third-best in the Big West.
UC RIVERSIDE 47, UC DAVIS 44 (OT)
Seyram Gbewonyo scored a game-high 23 points, including five in overtime, as UC Riverside rallied after trailing most of the game to record an exciting Big West Conference women's basketball win at The Pavilion on Saturday night... UC Davis played with just seven healthy players - including six freshmen - after injuries to starters Paige Mintun and Genevieve Costello sidelined them for the game... Jessie Schmuckal scored 12 points for UC Riverside while Roney Friend had 11 rebounds... The Aggies held the Highlanders without a point for nearly nine minutes to start the game, led 23-16 at halftime and were still up by seven points with 4 minutes, 18 seconds left in regulation before UC Riverside rallied... Gbewonyo hit a three-pointer that delivered the Highlanders a 37-36 lead with another with 47 ticks remaining... After Juric scored inside to put the Aggies back in front, UC Riverside tied it when Chanel Foster was fouled on a three-point attempt with 10 seconds left and made one of her three tries from the stripe... Juric scored the first points of the extra period but UC Riverside scored seven straight - including five from Gbewonyo - to go up 45-40... The Aggies got back to within a point but Kemie Nkele's jumper put the Highlanders back up by three... Cortney French just missed a long three-point try with nine seconds which would've tied it again.
RIECKS STANDS ALONE
W Kasey Riecks is the only player to have started every game this season but is just one of four to have started at least 20 of the 21 games... P Paige Mintun, P Lauren Juric and G Genevieve Costello are the others... Despite the consistency with that quartet, UC Davis has still used six different starting lineups primarily because of injuries.
DROPPING THEM FROM BEYOND THE ARC
UC Davis is 45th nationally in three-pointers per game (6.7) and has only made fewer than six in two Big West games (4-CSF; 3-UCR)... The Aggies' .358 conversion rate is 38th in Division I... They lead the Big West in both categories... Individually, P Lauren Juric (.394) is third among conference players.
CLOSE GAMES ABOUND
Despite losing five straight, the Aggies have been competitive... The last four losses have been by a total of 11 points... In fact, of the 14 defeats this season, half have come by six or fewer points.
OVERTIME LOSS FIRST SINCE LAST YEAR
UC Davis' 47-44 overtime loss to UC Riverside last week was the team's extra-period game since beating UC Santa Barbara on the road last year and handing the Gauchos their only league defeat of the year... Coincidentally - or maybe not - those same teams played overtime in their first matchup last season at The Pavilion with UCSB pulling out the win.
TURNOVERS SHOW IMPROVEMENT
The Aggies committed 16 or fewer turnovers just three times in their pre-conference games but have done so in four of their past six games... Included was just 14 against Pacific on Jan. 31.
INJURIES SIDELINE AGGIES:
UC Davis has been hampered with injuries throughout the season with players combining to miss 42 games so far this season... W Haylee Donaghe (knee) became injured against South Dakota State in mid-December and will be sidelined the remainder of the season... Donaghe, who already had two seasons impacted due to unrelated injuries, received an NCAA clock extension in October and will be eligible to play in 2009-10... W Vicky Deely (leg) has played just three games, most recently the first two games of the Big West season, and will not play the rest of this season... P Lisa Peterson missed six games while four others have also been sidelined.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Due to injuries to two more starters (P Paige Mintun, G Genevieve Costello), UC Davis was down to just seven players against second-place UC Riverside last Saturday... Six of the players were either true or redshirt freshmen... Despite the limited roster, the Aggies gave the Highlanders everything they could handle, holding them without a field goal until nearly midway of the first half, and then holding the lead for most of the game before falling in overtime... The last time the Aggies played with just seven was against Cal State Northridge last season, winning 76-60 at The Pavilion.
AGGIES CONTINUE TO RANK AMONG NCAA'S BEST AT LINE
UC Davis is shooting .757 from the line, ranking second in the Big West behind UC Santa Barbara and 15th among all NCAA Division I teams, up five spots from last week... The Aggies have only shot lower than 73 percent once during their first 10 Big West games and are 37 of 46 (.804) over their past four games... Their .804 at the line during league games is tops... Despite that performance, UC Davis only has two players (W Kasey Riecks, .828; P Paige Mintun, .804) ranking among the Big West's top 10 for conference games... Riecks is eighth and Mintun is ninth.
SIMPSON REACHES 200 WINS WITH ALL-TIME RECORD CLOSE
A Jan. 4 win against Cal State Northridge delivered head coach Sandy Simpson the 200th of his 12-year career, helping push his overall mark to its current 202-129 (.610)... With 202, he needs just four 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... His first year in 1996-97, when he assumed interim leadership duties while Hoehn took a one-year absence, resulted in a 29-3 record and third-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships.
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 TO BE TESTED WITH SCHEDULE
UC Davis have faced or 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.
