Jan. 26, 2010
Complete UC Davis game notes in PDF Format 
Listen live
Game 20
UC Riverside (7-12, 4-2) at UC Davis (13-6, 5-1)
Jan. 28, 7 p.m. The Pavilion (6,100) www.ucdavisaggies.com (audio) KDVS (90.3 FM)
OPENING TIPS
A pair of winning streaks will clash on Hamilton Court on Thursday when UC Riverside - winner of four straight - faces the host Aggies, victors in six consecutive games... UC Davis enters the week with a half-game lead over second-place Cal Poly, and a one-game advantage over UC Riverside... The Aggies and Cal Poly are the only two Big West teams with winning records with no other team within three games of a .500 record... After this week's game - the third straight week with just one Big West game - UC Davis will play five of its final nine league games on the road including the next three... With 19 steals against Pacific last Saturday, the Aggies are now ranked 19th among Div. I teams (11.6), best in the conference... W Haylee Donaghe had a career-high tying nine steals against the Tigers, pushing her Big West leading average to 2.5 per game, a mark tha also ranks 72nd nationally... UC Davis has double-digit wins for the fifth straight season and the 12th in 13 under head coach Sandy Simpson.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UC RIVERSIDE
Of the teams on this year's schedule, UC Davis has only played Sacramento State (49 times) more often than UC Riverside (37)... The Aggies and Highlanders have been playing since 1971-72 with UC Davis holding a 22-15 lead... The rivalry has been played consistently through the past four decades, most recently with the teams as member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association and now the Big West.. UC Riverside has won seven of the past 11 games since UC Davis started playing Big West teams during the 2004-05 campaign... The Highlanders have won three of the past five - including both games last year - after UC Davis won back-to-back games at the end the 2007-08 regular season and in the Big West Tournament semifinals... W Lauren Juric had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds during the Highlanders' 47-44 overtime win at The Pavilion last February... The Aggies used just seven players in the game.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE HIGHLANDERS
After an 0-2 Big West start - and a four-game losing streak overall - UC Riverside has rattled off four straight wins at home to move into the thick of the conference race... Included is a 76-69 victory over Cal Poly last Thursday... RHAYA NEABORS averaged 16.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg in that win and another over UC Irvine, earning Big West Player of the Week honors... Neabors, a transfer from Arizona along with twin sister RHEYA, is averaging 12.5 ppg amd 3.5 rpg.. ALYSSA MORRIS is also scoring 12.5 ppg while adding 6.0 rpg and shooting 82.9% from the line... MARISSA RIVERA averages 11.8 ppg for the Highlanders who are scoring 64.3 ppg... Rhaya Neabors has a team-best 24 three-pointers while Rivera has 17 blocks to lead the team in that department... UC Riverside has played a tough schedule, facing Vanderbilt, Kansas and Purdue among others during the preconference slate.
LAST GAME: UC DAVIS 68, PACIFIC 59 (ot)
W Haylee Donaghe scored 18 points and P Paige Mintun chipped in with 17 - including seven in overtime - as UC Davis won its season-best sixth straight game by beating Pacific in a Big West Conference matchup at The Pavilion on Saturday night... Both teams endured season-highs in turnovers with the Tigers victimized by 37 and UC Davis picking up 28... Donaghe nearly posted a triple-double for the Aggies, finishing with eight rebounds and a career-high tying nine steals... W Heidi Heintz had 12 points while sophomore W Kasey Riecks hit a trio of three-pointers for the fourth straight game and finished with 11 points... Mintun, limited to just four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, scored all of her points after intermission... Her two free throws with 36 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime tied 53-53... Riecks hit a three and Donaghe put in a rebound for a quick 58-53 lead in the extra period before seven straight points from Mintun helped counter six straight from the Tigers' F Christina Thompson as UC Davis went up 65-59... The teams combined for 42 turnovers in the first half, 23 of them by Pacific, but UC Davis never trailed in the first 20 minutes... G Jasmine Dana's three-pointer six minutes into the second half tied the game, 30-30, the first of two ties before F Jordan Rogers' layup gave Pacific its first lead, 35-33... The Tigers took a six-point lead before UC Davis rallied... Three more ties preceded Mintun's game-tying free throws in the final minute... Both teams had possessions to try and win it in regulation but could not convert.
RIECKS ON FIRE OVER LAST FOUR GAMES
W Kasey Riecks has been very productive over the last four games, averaging 15.8 ppg and shooting 56.4% from the field during that span... She has hit a trio of three-pointers in each of the outings, shooting 57.1% from long distance overall (12 for 21)... She tied a career-high with 21 points at Cal State Bakersfield and had 17 at UC Irvine... Her scoring output has made her the third Aggie to move into a double-figure average (10.4)... Her 32 treys lead the team, and among players that have made at least 10, so does her 42.7%.
WINNING STREAK BEST SINCE 2007-08
UC Davis' current six-game winning streak is just one shy of its best during its new Div. I era, rivaling the seven-game run it had during the latter part of the 2007-08 campaign when it made a run to the Big West Tournament final... The Aggies, who were 19-12 that year, opened the season by winning five straight and had a four-game streak later in the year... UC Davis won nine straight in 2005-06... It's best winning streak under head coach Sandy Simpson came in 1996-97 when it rattled off 14 straight... The Aggies finished a program-best 29-3 that season, finishing third at the NCAA Div. II Finals.
SPEAKING OF THE STREAK
UC Davis is significantly outscoring (72.8-59.3 pp) its opponents during its current six-game winning streak with four players averaging in double figures, led by W Kasey Riecks (12.5 ppg)... Riecks has 14 treys and is shooting 51% from the field, W Haylee Donaghe is averaging 3.5 steals and P Paige Mintun has seven blocked shots.
AGGIES SPLIT OVERTIME GAMES
UC Davis' overtime win against Pacific marked their first since winning at UC Santa Barbara (59-56) in 2008... The Aggies, who have now played two extra-period games five times in head coach Sandy Simpson's 13 years, are 5-9 all-time in overtime under Simpson... They have not played more than two overtime games since 1974 and have not had a season where they've won both.
TURNOVERS PLAGUE WIN
Pacific (37) and UC Davis (28) combined for 65 turnovers during Saturday's game... The last time the Aggies had at least that many and won was in the last regular-season game in 2008-09 when they posted 29 yet still beat Cal State Northridge, 53-50.
UC DAVIS SIGNS
The Aggies announced in November the signing of BRIANNA SALVATORE and KELSEY BEARD to NCAA National Letters of Intent... Salvatore is a three-time All-Century League selection at Villa Park High School while Beard earned first-team All-Big VIII League honors at Centennial High School last year... Salvatore is a 5-foot-10 forward while Beard is a 6-3 center.
MINTUN STRETCHING DEFENSES
P Paige Mintun made just six three-pointers over her first 26 games with UC Davis but has become a long-distance threat over the past two seasons... She canned 18 three-pointers last year and already has 13 this season... She is one of four Aggies with at least 10 treys this year... She has made two in a game twice this year, including Jan. 18 at Bakersfield... Her trey in that game tied it late, 76-76... Not only is Mintun adept at making shots, she's also key in blocking them... Her 77 career swats rank No. 6 all-time at UC Davis... She has scored 721 career points as well.
DONAGHE GETS EXTRA YEAR
W Haylee Donaghe was granted a clock extension in October 2008 by the NCAA due to injuries earlier in her Aggie career... That gave her two years of eligibility at the time but, unfortunately, a knee injury suffered at South Dakota State in December 2008 cut short one of those seasons... Donaghe completed her undergraduate degree in exercise biology in June 2008 and is currently enrolled in graduate studies at UC Davis, expecting to graduate with her master's degree in exercise biology next spring... Donaghe needs 140 points to become the 14th player in school history to surpass 1,000 for her career.
HEINTZ NAMED BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
W Heidi Heintz, who averaged 13.3 points and was nearly perfect from the line during UC Davis' first three wins in early December, was named the Big West Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Dec. 7... Heintz had a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds in UC Davis' 71-59 win at Saint Mary's on Dec. 1, followed with 12 points and a game-best seven boards in the Aggies' 74-56 victory at Santa Clara on Dec. 3, then scored 13 points during a 64-57 win over visiting Denver on Dec. 5... Heintz, who transferred to UC Davis from the University of San Francisco, shot 57.1 percent from the field and 93.8 percent (15 of 16) from the line... She is the Aggies' first Big West weekly honoree of the season.
SIMPSON BECOMES ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
With a 53-50 win at Cal State Northridge last Mar. 4, Head coach Sandy Simpson became the all-times win leader at UC Davis with 206... He owns a career mark in 13 seasons of 219-139 (.612)... He picked up his 200th career win on Jan. 4 with an 86-66 victory over visiting Cal State Northridge... Simpson surpassed 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.
UC DAVIS SCORES BIG ON ALL-BIG WEST TEAMS
The Aggies were well-represented on the All-Big West Conference teams last year, despite finishing 7-9 in league and in fifth place... P Paige Mintun, who led the team in scoring (13.0 ppg), rebounding (6.4 rpg) and blocks (31), was named to the All-BWC first team... W Lauren Juric, who canned 35 three-pointers, was named the Big West Freshman of the Year... W Kasey Riecks, who started all 29 games, was selected to the All-Freshman team... She and Juric were also tabbed honorable mention all-league.
UC DAVIS TO BE TESTED WITH SCHEDULE
The Aggies will face a 2009-10 schedule that features teams from the Big XII, Pac-10 and Big East conferences during a rugged nonconference slate... Among the teams they have faced or will face are preseason No. 2 Stanford (Nov. 22), NCAA Tournament team Kansas State (Dec. 29) and Women's National Invitational Tournament participant Creighton (Nov. 27)... The Aggies will also battle rival UC Santa Barbara twice during the league season... The Gauchos advanced to last year's NCAA postseason with the Big West's automatic berth... UC Riverside, another Big West foe, earned a spot in the WNIT.
LIVE STATS AND AUDIO AVAILABLE
Thursday's game will feature free live stats and live audio... The features are available through the athletics website at www.ucdavisaggies.com.
