Feb. 17, 2010
Complete UC Davis game notes in PDF Format 
Game 25
Long Beach State (11-13, 7-4) at UC Davis (16-8, 8-3)
Feb. 18, 7 p.m. The Pavilion (6,100) www.ucdavisaggies.com (audio)
KDVS (90.3 FM)
OPENING TIPS
The Aggies begin a key home-and-home series against Long Beach State - separated by a week - when they host the 49ers on Thursday at The Pavilion... The consecutive games against the same opponent is unusual but not rare... UC Davis did the same thing at the end of the regular season last year, traveling to face Cal State Northridge before opening the Big West Tournament against the Matadors... The Aggies remain a half-game behind Cal Poly (9-3) in the league standings, are in front of UC Riverside by the same margin, and are one game in front of Long Beach State... Five teams in the Big West have at least 11 wins but only Cal Poly (16-8) and the Aggies own winning records... W Heidi Heintz has been strong as of late for UC Davis, posting double-doubles against UC Santa Barbara (12 pts, 10 rebs) and Pacific (11 pts, 11 rebs) and then delivering big against UC Irvine (21 pts, 5 rebs) last Saturday... Despite allowing an average of 72.5 ppg over its last two outings, UC Davis continues to pace the Big West in scoring defense (61.0)... W Samantha Meggison had a pair of three-pointers against UC Irvine, giving her 11 for the season and making her the seventh Aggie with at least that many... UC Davis has is 9-0 when scoring between 70-79 points.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. LONG BEACH STATE
The 49ers lead the all-time series with the Aggies, 8-5 but UC Davis has won four of the past five... The series started during the 1971-72 season, was played three times and then discontinued until 2004-05... Long Beach State won the first five games before UC Davis got on the winning side... W Kasey Riecks was fouled with 2.1 seconds left and then made two free throws during the Aggies' 55-54 win over the 49ers in Long Beach last season but G LAUREN SIMS scored 21 points and had three treys during the 49ers' 68-64 victory on Hamilton Court later in the season.... That snapped a four-game winning streak in the series for UC Davis.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE 49ERS
Long Beach State has come on as of late, posting three straight Big West wins and four in their past five games to climb up the league standings... Included in its latest winning streak are victories over Cal Poly (72-65) and UC Santa Barbara (65-62), both at home... G KARINA FIGUEROA has helped fuel the resurgence, scoring 24 points against the Mustangs and then adding 26 against the Gauchos... Figueroa has also been effective at sharing the ball, averaging 5.71 assists, best in the league. She's averaging a team-high 17.7 ppg, pulling down 5.0 rbg and has made 34 three-pointers... G LAUREN SIMS is scoring 12.5 ppg and has 60 treys while ALLY WADE (11.4) is also scoring well while leading the team on theboards (6.2 rpg.)... The 49ers have been particularly strong from beyond the arc, averaging a Big West-best 7.1 pg... They are being slightly outscored (67.8-68.5)... The 49ers also rank well in free throws (3rd., .728) and 3-pt pct. (2nd, .364)... While being strong from three-point, they also do a good job holding teams down from long distance, ranking third among league teams (.324)... Long Beach State is 2-8 on the road this season with both wins coming during the conference season.
LAST GAME: UC DAVIS 74, UC IRVINE 71
W Heidi Heintz's three-point play with 16 seconds left gave UC Davis a late lead and the defense stopped UC Irvine on a last-second attempt as the Aggies beat the Anteaters 74-71 in a Big West Conference game at The Pavilion on Saturday night... Mikah Maley-Karros, whose tough shot inside with six seconds left was off the mark, led UC Irvine with a game-high 34 points... She also had a game-best 15 rebounds... UC Davis trailed 69-67 with 55 seconds left after Jade Smith-Williams' free throw but Heintz tied the game for the 10th time with a layup from the left side with 47 seconds to go... Maley-Karros answered inside on the Anteaters' end with 27 ticks left but Heintz delivered the game-winner on another drive from the left side while being fouled by Keyonna Johnson... Heintz made the ensuing free throw... UC Irvine went to Maley-Karros inside with six seconds left but she missed, Kasey Riecks grabbed the rebound and then made two critical free throws with three seconds on the clock.... Heitnz, who had a trio of three-point plays in the second half, scored 19 points after halftime and helped lead the Aggies back after they trailed by as many as nine in the opening 20 minutes... One of those three-point plays made it 41-41 early in the second half, bringing UC Davis even for the first time since the 12:39 mark of the first half... UC Irvine led for most of the first half, twice stretching its early lead to nine points before UC Davis went into the break down just 37-34... Paige Mintun had 12 points, 10 of them in the first half but was saddled with foul trouble much of the second.
TOUGH STRETCH FROM LONG DISTANCE
UC Davis went 1-2 in games against Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific during the past two weeks and part of the reason can be attributed to hot shooting from beyond the arc from their opponents... The three combined to make 37 of 64 attempts, shooting an impressive .578... More than half the field goals the teams combined to make came from three-point with the Mustangs (12-21, .571) and Pacific (15-22, .682) the most effective... The Aggies, meanwhile, were 19 of 65 (.292) during that same span.
HEINTZ `AND 1' EQUAL THREE
W Heidi Heintz has been particularly effective with collecting three-point plays this season but it's not been more evident than during the Aggies' win over UC Irvine last week... Heintz had three `and 1" opportunities in the second half, the first which tied the game (41-41) and then the last which came with 15.8 seconds left that delivered a 74-71 victory... Fouling Heintz when she converts a basket almost assuredly leads to a three-point play since she also leads the Big West in free throw shooting (.865), a mark that also has her 24th nationally.
LINEUP CONSISTENCY
Despite its depth and ability to use its entire roster every game, UC Davis has still been consistent with its starting lineup... The Aggies have gone with the same quintet in 18 of 24 games with four players - W Heidi Heintz, W Haylee Donaghe, G Hana Asano and W Kasey Riecks - starting all of them... P Paige Mintun - who missed four games because of injury and was eased back into the lineup - has started 20... W Lauren Juric started both games Mintun missed and then two more upon her return.
BLOCKING PARTY
P Paige Mintun and W Lauren Juric have both proven to be effective near the hoop, combining to block 41 shots... Mintun has 23 swats, three times garnering three in a game while Juric has picked up 18 and is coming off a four-block game against UC Irvine.
AGGIES CONTINUE TO POST WINS
UC Davis needs one more win to have their second-highest total (17) since the 2002-03 campaign... It had 19 during its inaugural NCAA Div. I year in 2007-08.. The Aggies were 17-10 in 2002-03... They have nine seasons with at least 11 wins since having a streak with at least 22 victories snapped in 1998-99.
SHOOTING IT FROM DOWNTOWN
The Aggies are averaging 6.1 three-pointers per game and if they can continue the pace, will nearly set a school record for most made in a season... The 2006-07 squad made 189 with this year's team currently at 147 with five regular-season games to go... At their current rate, UC Davis will head to the postseason with a near school-record 177... It needs to average 8.4 per game to break the mark (not including any postseason matchups)... It helps that seven players have made at least 11, including W Kasey Riecks (40) and W Cortney French (28)... UC Davis is ranked third in the Big West for three-pointers per game.
TOP 10 UPDATES
W Haylee Donaghe has 205 career steals, moving her to sixth on the program's career leaders list, just recently passing G Jackie Turpin (201, 2002-06)... Donaghe's nine steals against Pacific tied her career-high which are also No. 3 at UC Davis... P Paige Mintun's 82 career blocks have put her into the No. 5 all-time Aggie position on that chart, just in front of former teammate P Ellen Porshneva (80, 2003-06).
UC DAVIS SIGNS TWO
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.
DONAGHE GETS EXTRA YEAR
W Haylee Donaghe, from Atascadero High School, 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 116 points to become the 14th player in school history to reach 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' only Big West weekly honoree of the season so far.
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 222-141 (.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.
LIVE STUFF AVAILABLE
Thursday's game will feature free live audio, stats and subscription-based live video... The features are available through the athletics website at www.ucdavisaggies.com.
