Feb. 3, 2010
Complete UC Davis game notes in PDF Format 
Game 21
UC Davis (14-6, 6-1) at Cal Poly (13-7, 6-2)
Feb. 4, 7 p.m. • Mott Gym (3,032) • www.ucdavisaggies.com (audio) • KDVS (90.3 FM)
Game 22
UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara (7-13, 4-4 entering week)
Feb. 6, 2 p.m. • The Thunderdome (6,000) • www.ucdavisaggies.com (audio) • KDVS (90.3 FM)
OPENING TIPS
First-place in the Big West Conference is on the line on Thursday when UC Davis visits second-place Cal Poly in a key league game... The Aggies will continue the difficult roadtrip to the Central Coast on Saturday when they square off against defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara in a matinee matchup... The Aggies, who beat the two teams by just a combined 10 points during their earlier matchups at The Pavilion, lead the Mustangs by only a half-game... The game will mark the midway point of the 16-game Big West season for UC Davis... The Aggies have been equally adept at home and on the road, posting mirroring 7-3 records for both... UC Davis currently leads the Big West in five statistical categories, including scoring defense where it has dipped below the 60-point barrier again at 59.8 ppg... The Aggies have held their last two opponents below 60 points, just one shy of the three straight games they have done twice this season... UC Davis is 12-1 in such games... It also ranks among the top 100 NCAA Division I teams in nine categories, notably in steals (11.4), turnover margin (4.6) and three-point pct. (.363).
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CAL POLY & UC SANTA BARBARA
UC Davis holds a 20-16 advantage over Cal Poly in their all-time series but the Mustangs have won the past two of the past three games... The Mustangs slipped by the Aggies 64-60 at Mott Gym in last year's first game - despite 22 points from UC Davis' P Paige Mintun - before posting a 62-47 victory at The Pavilion later in the season... Four Aggies scored in double figures, including 16 points from W Heidi Heintz, during a 77-72 UC Davis win on Jan. 9 on Hamilton Court... UC Davis led 43-36 at halftime before posting the five-point win... C KRISTINA SANTIAGO paced the Mustangs with a game-high 29 points... The Gauchos lead the Aggies 10-4 in the all-time series with UC Davis' 54-49 victory on Jan. 9 ending a three-game losing streak... P Paige Mintun had 13 points and W Haylee Donaghe had 11 for the Aggies on Jan. 7.. UC Davis shot just 37.3% from the field and was outrebounded by a wide margin (46-19) but capitalized on 27 UCSB turnovers to record the win.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly, which has won two of its past three Big West games and its last five at home, lead the conference in six categories including scoring where it averages 71.2 ppg... The Mustangs also shoot a league-best 44.9%, hold opponents to just 30.4% from beyond the arc and are pulling down a Big West-high 40.2 rebounds... They also do a good job sharing the ball, dishing 17.9 assists per game, another Big West-leading figure... C KRISTINA SANTIAGO, a three-time Player of the Week winner this season, leads the league in scoring (19.5) and rebounding (7.9) and is second in shooting (.547)... Santiago also leads the team in blocks (17) and steals (48)... G RACHEL CLANCY, whose 31 three-pointers are tops, is averaging 11.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg, both second-best on the team... Cal Poly is outrebounding opponents by nearly four per game (40.2-36.9) and outscoring them by four (71.2-67.2).
A QUICK LOOKS AT THE GAUCHOS
Longtime Big West power UCSB is uncharacteristically in seventh place but the Gauchos still feature a stingy defense, allowing just 62.8 ppg - second only to UC Davis... They lead the league in field goal pct. defense (.379), rebounding margin (+3.5) and blocked shots (5.9)... EMILIE JOHNSON (12.7) leads three UCSB players in double figures, a trio that also includes C MEKIA VALENTINE (12.3) and MEAGAN WILLIAMS (10.9)... Valentine, whose impressive 60.2% shooting leads the Big West, is second in rebounding (7.1)... She also averages 3.7 blocks per game, another league-leading mark... The Gauchos are 3-6 at home this season and have split their last six games overall.
LAST GAME: UC DAVIS 54, UC RIVERSIDE 50
W Kasey Riecks scored a team-high 14 points and UC Davis stayed atop the Big West Conference women's basketball standings with its seventh straight win as the Aggies beat visiting UC Riverside at The Pavilion on Jan. 28... UC Davis, which was coming off an overtime win against Pacific, didn't trail after taking a 41-39 lead on W Lauren Juric's three-pointer with 9 minutes, 47 seconds left but the Aggies weren't able to pull away... Rheya Neabors' three-pointer tied it 44-44 with 6:19 left but a 7-2 surge, capped by a free throw from Riecks made it 51-46 with under three minutes to go. Trailing 53-50, UC Riverside had a chance to tie the game with 22 seconds to go but P Paige Mintun stole a pass from Alyssa Morris and the Aggies were able to hold on the rest of the way... The Highlanders led for most of the first half after taking a 10-9 lead on Rhaya Neabors' jumper early on... They twice took seven-point advantages, the last time coming at 25-18 with 3:54 left... But a 10-2 run to end the half, highlighted by a a three-pointer from Riecks and two late free throws from W Vicky Deely gave UC Davis a 28-27 lead at the break... The Aggies shot just 35.4% but had only 14 turnovers and had 11 assists on 17 baskets. Riecks continued her hot shooting from beyond the arc, hitting two treys and extending her streak with at least that many to five games.
TOP 10 UPDATES
W Haylee Donaghe has 198 career steals, moving her to seventh on the program's career leaders list, just three behind 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 79 career blocks have put her into the No. 6 all-time Aggie position on that chart, just one back of P Ellen Porshneva (80, 2003-06).
BALANCED SCORING ON OFFENSE
UC Davis has showcased depth througout the season and it's never been more evident than during the Big West Conference season where the Aggies have four players within 1.4 ppg of each other in average, and each in double figures... P Paige Mintun (11.4), W Kasey Riecks (11.0), W Heidi Heintz (10.4) and W Haylee Donaghe (10.1) make up the quartet.
A HALF-DOZEN FROM THREE
UC Davis is shooting 36.3% from beyond the arc, 35th-best among all Div. I teams... They have spread that out among several players including six who have made at least 10 each... W Kasey Riecks leads the way with 34 while trey specialist W Cortney French (27) is close behind... P Paige Mintun (14), G Hana Asano (11), W Heidi Heintz (10) and W Lauren Juric (10) are also contributing significantly.
RIECKS MAKING HERSELF AT HOME BEYOND THE ARC
W Kasey Riecks has been very productive over the last six games, averaging 14.0 ppg and shooting 48.3% from the field during that span... She has hit a at least two three-pointers in each of the outings - including four straight with three each - while shooting 48.5% from long distance overall (16 for 33)... 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 (10.5).
WINNING STREAK BEST SINCE 2007-08
UC Davis' current seven-game winning streak is its best during its new Div. I era, equaling 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... Its 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.
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 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.
LIVE VIDEO AND AUDIO AVAILABLE
Thursday's game will feature free live audio and subscription-b ased live video... The features are available through the athletics website at www.ucdavisaggies.com.
