Sept. 2, 2009
2009-10 UC Davis Women's Basketball Schedule
DAVIS, Calif. - A 14-game home schedule - highlighted by a Nov. 22 visit from Final Four participant Stanford - helps highlight the 2009-10 UC Davis women's basketball schedule which also includes matchups against teams from the Big XII and Big East Conference, and the Ivy League.
Season ticket plans will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Aggies, who will feature a veteran roster this season with 12 letterwinners, will also face tough roadtrips to the Pacific Northwest and east coast before playing a 16-game Big West Conference schedule as they look to advance to the league tournament for the third consecutive season.
UC Davis will open the regular season on Nov. 13 at Seattle before facing Pac-10 member Washington State two days later. A three-game homestand follows with contests against San Francisco (Nov. 17) and Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) participant Creighton (Nov. 27) sandwiched around the marquee matchup versus the Cardinal.
UC Davis and Stanford will be meeting for the third straight year but the first time at The Pavilion since a 61-54 win by the Aggies during the 1977-78 season. The teams played two years later but then took a break until resuming their series - which UC Davis leads 8-3 - in 2007.
The game will also provide the third opportunity for sisters Haylee and Hannah Donaghe to square off on the hardcourt. Haylee, a standout senior for the Aggies, faced Hannah in the final minutes of their teams' matchup at Maples Pavilion in 2007, but missed last year's rematch at Stanford after suffering a season-ending injury in mid-December. Hannah Donaghe is entering her junior season with the Cardinal and is also coming off injury.
"It's an opportunity to not only play one of the top teams in the nation but it's one of the most storied programs in NCAA history," head coach Sandy Simpson said of the matchup with the Cardinal. "It's a treat not only for UC Davis basketball fans but for all basketball fans."
Other nonconference home games include Denver (Dec. 5), Causeway Classic rival Sacramento State (Dec. 13) and Big XII member and NCAA Tournament team Kansas State (Dec. 29). The Wildcats finished 25-8 last year.
UC Davis will visit Saint Mary's (Dec. 1) and Santa Clara (Dec. 3) of the West Coast Conference before traveling later in the month for first-ever games at Yale (Dec. 19) of the Ivy League and Seton Hall (Dec. 21) of the Big East. The final nonconference road contest is Jan. 19 at Cal State Bakersfield.
"The nonconference schedule is a good mix of teams and a good mix of styles that should help us for whatever we may face in the Big West," said Simpson.
Eight home games and eight on the road make up the Big West season with UC Davis not playing more than two in a row at The Pavilion, but facing three straight on the road at Cal Poly (Feb. 4), UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 6) and Pacific (Feb. 11). Defending champion UC Santa Barbara visits UC Davis on Jan. 7 while league power UC Riverside will be at The Pavilion on Jan. 28.
UC Davis, which advanced to the Big West title game during its inaugural Div. I season in 2008-09 when it advanced to the WNIT, will again look to make the league tournament which will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center on Mar. 10-13. The winner earns the Big West's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Aggies will play Humboldt State on Nov. 5 in their lone exhibition game.
UC Davis returns nearly its entire roster from last year, including All-Big West first-team selection Paige Mintun (13.0 ppg., 6.4 rpg) and Freshman of the Year Lauren Juric (8.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg). Juric was also am honorable mention pick to the All-Big West team with teammate Kasey Riecks (8.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg) who joined her on the All-Freshman team.
