Dec. 29, 2010
Game Notes | Live Audio | Live Video |
GAME 13
Cal State Fullerton (4-8, 0-0) at No. 8* UC Davis (10-2, 0-0)
Dec. 31 2 p.m. The Pavilion (7,100) KDVS (90.3 FM)
www.ucdavisaggies.com Big West TV
GAME 14
Cal State Northridge (0-12, 0-0) at No. 8* UC Davis
Jan. 2 2 p.m. The Pavilion (7,100) KDVS (90.3 FM)
www.ucdavisaggies.com Big West TV
* - CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
OPENING TIPS: UC Davis, the defending Big West Conference regular-season champion, begins its fourth year in the league while opening conference play at home for the second time... The Aggies beat Cal State Northridge 86-66 in their last home opener in 2009... The Aggies enter the weekend with a 13-game winning streak on Hamilton Court... Their last loss came 73-59 to Kansas State on Dec. 29, 2009... UC Davis also brings a season-long four-game winning streak into the weekend with its last defeat this season also coming courtesy of Kansas State on the road... The Aggies rattled off streaks of five and seven games, respectively, last season with the latter encompassing six Big West opponents... They're averaging 82.0 ppg, outscoring opponents by 23.2 ppg and have three players averaging double figures during the latest four-game surge... UC Davis' 10-2 start is the team's best since jumping to a 17-1 record in the 1998-99 season while still a member of Div. II... The Aggies are averaging 7.6 three-pointers per game and are on pace for 220 during the regular season which would break the program record of 206 set last year (6.4 pg)... W Heidi Heintz, who needs just 35 points for 1,000 in her collegiate career that also includes two seasons at the University of San Francisco, captured Big West Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career after a big game at San Jose State last week... P Paige Mintun needs 11 blocks to break the school record of 119 established by KENDALL GREENE (1992-96)... Mintun has a team-high 15 this season... UC Davis remains No. 8 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 for the fourth consecutive week.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. TITANS & MATADORS: UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton are tied 6-6 in their all-time series while the Aggies lead Cal State Northridge 12-10... The Aggies and Titans didn't start playing until the 2004-05 season and have split games each of the last two years... UC Davis is 3-3 at home against Fullerton including an 80-52 win during the regular-season finale last year... The Titans opened up Big West play last year with a 68-57 home win over the Aggies, a loss that immediately preceded UC Davis' seven-game winning streak... The series with the Matadors began 30 years ago but took a 17-year hiatus before resuming in 2004-05... The Aggies are 9-4 since then and have won seven of the past eight... They're 7-4 all-time at home... UC Davis has swept the regular-season series against Northridge each of its first three years in the league but the Matadors picked up a big first-round win in the 2009 Big West Tournament.
A QUICK LOOK AT CAL STATE FULLERTON: The Titans enter league play having lost two straight and seven of eight after starting the year 3-1... The Titans haven't played since losing 101-52 at highly regarded Gonzaga on Dec. 23... They're also 1-7 on the road with their lone victory coming 63-58 at Seattle in November... G LYNDSEY GROVE (14.0) and preseason All-Big West pick G MEGAN RICHARDSON (12.5) lead the team in scoring while F/C JENNA BREITE (7.0) leads the Titans in rebounding and blocks (10)... Grove has canned 17 treys and is hitting 39.5 percent of her attempts... Fullerton is allowing 74.8 ppg, scoring 66.1 and is a very good free-throw shooting team at 72.3 percent... Opponents are shooting even better from the line at 78 percent... The Aggies and Titans share four common opponents (USF, San Jose State, Sacramento State and Pepperdine)... UC Davis has won all four while Fullerton owns a 100-74 victory over the Hornets and is 0-3 against the rest.
A QUICK LOOK AT CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: The Matadors, who play at Pacific on Friday, have an 18-game losing streak dating back to last season and are coming off a tough 93-47 game at No. 20 Iowa State on Dec. 20... Northridge, under first-year coach JASON FLOWERS, has played two Pac-10 teams (Oregon State, Washington) and has common opponents with UC Davis in Pepperdine (L, 98-74) and Wichita State (L, 67-58)... The Matadors are averaging 57.7 ppg, a bulk of that coming from F JASMINE ERVING (11.9), F VIOLET ALAMA (11.7) and G JANELLE NOMURA (10.1)... Nomura's 11 three-pointers are a team-high for Northridge which is averaging 4.4 per game and shooting just 29.4 percent from beyond the arc... Alama (5.9), Erving (5.8) and F ANALEE VIENA-LOTA (5.8) supply more than half of the team's 33.7 rpg... The Matadors are being outscored 74.5-57.7 ppg, outboarded 43.5-33.7 rpg but have 15 more blocks (38-23) than their opponents with Erving (16) leading in that department.
HOME WINNING STREAK AMONG BEST IN DIV. I: UC Davis owns a 13-game home winning streak, its best since joining Div. I... It entered last week tied for 15th-longest active streak in Div. I (new updates will not be available until Monday)... The streak is the program's best since winning 18 straight over the part of two seasons from 1998-99... The school record is 20 straight over two seasons from 1996-97.
AGGIES REMAIN IN TOP 10 OF MID-MAJOR POLL: The Aggies are ranked No. 8 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 for the fourth consecutive week... They debuted at No. 24 after the first week of the season and steadily rose to their current position... No UC Davis opponents are currently ranked although UC Riverside (41 pts) and UC Irvine (2) are each receiving votes.
LAST GAME - UC DAVIS 70, SANTA CLARA 54: A 12-0 first-half surge on Monday night pushed UC Davis into a double-digit lead it would not relinquish as the Aggies won their 13th straight home game with a nonconference victory at The Pavilion... G Blair Shinoda went 6 for 6 from the field, including making a pair of three-pointers, while scoring a career-high 14 points. P Paige Mintun added 13 points and W Kasey Riecks had 11... Mintun had seven points during the run, including a three-pointer that came right on the heels of one from G Hana Asano... The Broncos had seven turnovers and took just two shots during the span... UC Davis maintained at least a 10-point lead the rest of the half... The Aggies built the lead to 30 points at 53-23 just over six minutes into the second half and got it as large as 64-32 with 8:16 to go. The Broncos rallied to close the gap down the stretch.
THREE-POINT BARRAGE: UC Davis is on a school-record pace for made three-pointers, averaging 7.6 per game and it's done it in consistent fashion... The Aggies had a season-high 14 at San Jose State and 10 earlier against Washington State but have been fairly consistent in the other 10 games, never making less than four but not have more than nine... They are shooting 42 percent (21 of 41) over their last two games.
CHARITY STRIPE NOT SO CHARITABLE: UC Davis shot a school record 79.6 percent from the free throw line in 2005-06 and have not shot lower than 74 percent since moving to Div. I three years ago... However, the Aggies have struggled at the line so far this year, making just 63.2 percent... They've been below 60 percent five times including just 11 of 22 on Monday against Santa Clara.. There have been bright spots including an 18-for-22 (.818) at San Jose State last week.
AAHH, IT'S GOOD TO COME HOME: The Aggies have been playing well all season but particularly at home... Among the notable home stats are averages of just 13.6 turnovers (vs. 17.8 overall), 15.6 steals (vs. 14.3) and 53.6 ppg. allowed (vs. 57.0).
LINEUP CONSISTENCY: UC Davis has used the same lineup of P Paige Mintun, W Heidi Heintz, W Kasey Riecks, W Samantha Meggison and G HANA ASANA all 12 games this season... The Aggies used just two different lineups last season, necessitated only by an injury to Mintun.
OFF TO A HOT START: UC Davis is 10-2 for the first time since 1998-99 when it jumped to an 11-1 start that eventually went to 17-1.. It's the Aggies' best start since moving to Div. I... Since joining Div. I, UC Davis has started 5-0 (2007-08), 4-2 (2008-09) and 7-3 (2009-10)...
BIG WEST HONORS: UC Davis has captured a pair of Big West Player of the Week accolades this season, already matching the two it won last year... W VICKI DEELY was honored on Nov. 22 after canning a career-high five three-pointers and scoring 21 points at nationally ranked UCLA, while W Heidi Heintz - one of two Aggie winners last year along with P Paige Mintun - was honored on Dec. 23 after going 7-for-7 from the field and scoring 19 points at San Jose State.
SIMPSON ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT: HEAD COACH Sandy Simpson announced in October that the upcoming 2010-11 season will be his last in order to spend more time with his family... Simpson, in his 14th season, has a 237-146 overall record and is the program's all-time leader for wins... He has been coaching for 33 seasons overall including a tenure as an assistant at UC Davis prior to becoming head coach... Simpson led the Aggies to a program-best 29-3 record as interim coach in 1997 as UC Davis finished third at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Championships... Associate head coach Jennifer Gross, who played on the 1997 squad, has been named as Simpson's replacement on a permanent basis beginning next season.
AGGIES PICKED TO WIN THE BIG WEST: For the first time, UC Davis is the media's selection to capture the Big West Championship, receiving 16 of 25 first-place votes and 210 points overall to finish ahead of Cal Poly (183 pts), UC Riverside (182) and UC Santa Barbara (164) in the top four... UC Davis was selected second last year... For the second straight year, P Paige Mintun was voted to the preseason All-Big West team.
ON THE AIR AND ON THE INTERNET: All UC Davis games are simulcast on www.ucdavisaggies.com and KDVS (90.3 FM)... Pregame shows begin 15 minutes prior to tipoff... Live stats for all home games, as well as most road matchups, are also available by visiting www.ucdavisaggies.com... Live video of all Big West games is available for a subscription fee at www.bigwest.org.
