Jan. 5, 2011
Game Notes | Live Audio | Live Video |
GAME 15
No. 10* UC Davis (11-3, 1-1) at UC Santa Barbara (7-6, 1-0)
Jan. 6 • 7 p.m. • The Thunderdome (6,000) • KDVS (90.3 FM) • www.ucdavisaggies.com • Big West TV
GAME 16
No. 10* UC Davis at Cal Poly (5-7, 1-0)
Jan. 8 • 4 p.m. • Mott Gym (3,032) • KDVS (90.3 FM) • www.ucdavisaggies.com • Big West TV
* - CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
OPENING TIPS: UC Davis embarks on its first Big West roadtrip this weekend, playing a pair of teams that opened their league seasons with wins... Seven of the Big West's nine teams picked up a win on the first weekend of play and all four teams that played two games split the pair... The Aggies had their 13-game home winning streak snapped by Cal State Fullerton last Friday, the second straight year the Titans have beaten UC Davis in their Big West opener... The loss helped drop UC Davis two spots to No. 10 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll... W Heidi Heintz needs eight points to reach 1,000 in her career that started with two years at San Francisco (505 points) and has continued at UC Davis (487 points)... P Paige Mintun reached the milestone earlier this season... The Aggies currently lead the Big West in seven statistical categories including scoring (69.5), defense (57.0) and scoring margin (+12.5) yet are not leading any individual category... UC Davis is off to its first 11-3 start since 2001-02 when it was a member of NCAA Div. II... The Aggies are ranked seventh in NCAA Div. I for steals (14.1 pg), 10th in turnover margin (7.7), 21st in 3-pt defense (.259) and 31st for 3-pters made (7.4 pg)... Altogether, UC Davis is ranked among the top 100 NCAA teams in 12 stat areas.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. GAUCHOS & MUSTANGS: UC Santa Barbara holds a 12-6 lead in a series which was played five times from 1974-82 but then took a hiatus until 2004 when the Aggies began playing a Big West schedule... UC Davis has won the past three games - all of them last year including a BWC Tournament Semifinal - while the Gauchos won the previous three... The Aggies are 2-4 at the Thunderdome since the series resumed six years ago... UC Davis and Cal Poly have played regularly since the 1979-80 season, except for an eight-year break just prior to the Aggies beginning their move to Div. I... UC Davis holds a 20-17 series lead but the Mustangs have captured three of the past four including a 69-48 matchup at Mott Gym last season... The Aggies are 8-10 all-time at San Luis Obispo, last earning a win there in 2008 (53-47).
A QUICK LOOK AT UC SANTA BARBARA: The Gauchos started slow, losing their first four games including a pair in overtime, but have rebounded and are winners of six of their past seven... They opened Big West action with a 70-43 thumping of Long Beach State on Dec. 30 in their last game before hosting the Aggies... Balanced scoring has been key for UCSB with four players in double-figures: G EMILIE JOHNSON (12.5), G/F KELSEY ADRIAN (10.4), F SWEETS UNDERWOOD (10.4) and F/C MEKIA VALENTINE (10.1)... Underwood (8.1) and Valentine (7.8) have also been strong on the boards while Valentine has already swatted 54 shots (4th, NCAA)... The Gauchos lead the league in both FG pct. (.424) and FG pct. defense (.348)... They are only shooting 27.7 percent from three-point territory but Adrian has canned 24 and Johnson has made 20... Valentine posted the program's first-ever triple-double on Nov. 28 against Northern Colorado with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks.
A QUICK LOOK AT CAL POLY: The Mustangs beat Long Beach State 83-72 to start league play last weekend, snapping a brief two-game losing streak to West Coast Conference foes Pepperdine and Santa Clara... That came on the heels of consecutive wins over San Francisco and San Jose State... G RACHEL CLANCY, who has made a conference-best 33 treys, is averaging 15.4 ppg for the Mustangs while G ASHLEE BURNS is scoring 10.2 ppg... Clancy is also contributing a team-high 7.0 rpg... Cal Poly leads the Big West in both 3-pt pct. (.360) and assists (16.1).. Cal Poly is being outscored an average of 72.5-67.2 but holds a slight rebound advantage (40.4-39.8)... Burns had 17 points to lead five player in double-figures during the win over LBSU... The Mustangs outscored the 49ers 40-26 in the second half after trailing by three at the break... G KAYLA GRIFFIN had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
HOME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED BY CAL STATE FULLERTON: The Titans did last Friday what the previous 13 visitors to The Pavilion in 2010 could not do - beat the Aggies on Hamilton Court... UC Davis was tied for the 15th-longest home winning streak in Div. I entering the holiday break but saw that run come to an end with last weekend's close 58-56 defeat... The last team to beat the Aggies prior to that was Kansas State (73-59) on Dec. 29, 2009... For good measure, Cal State Fullerton also halted UC Davis' season-long four-game winning streak.
AGGIES REMAIN IN TOP 10 OF MID-MAJOR POLL: UC Davis dropped two spots to No. 10 in this week's CollegeInsider.com poll after four straight weeks at a season-high No. 8... UC Davis received 475 points and is the only Big West team in the poll although UC Irvine (20 pts) and UC Riverside (14) are just outside the top 25... The Aggies debuted in the rankings after the first weekend of the season and have remained since.
LAST GAME - UC DAVIS 78, CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 56: W Vicky Deely tied her career high with 22 points and five three-pointers on Sunday, and UC Davis had an 18-5 run to break open a close game at halftime, as the UC Davis evened its Big West Conference record with a win over visiting Cal State Northridge... Deely led five Aggies in double figures. P Paige Mintun contributed a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Heidi Heintz and W Blair Shinoda also scored 11 points while W Samantha Meggison finished with 10... The Aggies also made 10 three-pointers after making just one on Friday... UC Davis led by as many as 10 points in the first half before going into intermission with a 38-30 advantage... Haley White had a three-pointer for Northridge early in the second half to make it a five-point game but the Aggies answered by scoring 18 of the next 20 points for a 56-35 with 13:55 left.
UC DAVIS SIGNS OUTSTANDING PREP TRIO: The Aggies signed three standout players to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period: W LAUREN BEYER (Bradshaw Christian HS, Sacramento), W SYDNEE FIPPS (Yosemite HS, Oakhurst), P EMILY VANN (Saint Mary's College HS, Berkeley)... Beyer is a McDonald's High School All-America nominee, Fipps averaged 24.5 ppg and 10 rpg. last season, and Vann helped lead Saint Mary's to the CIF State Div. IV title game.
MINTUN CLOSING IN ON BLOCKS RECORD: P Paige Mintun, now No. 11 on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,095 points, is just six blocks from assuming the No. 1 spot... She has 114 with P KENDALL GREENE (119, 1992-96) holding down the top position... Mintun's next rebound will also be her 500th... She needs 71 to crack the Aggies' all-time top 10 in that category.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: The Aggies had just six turnovers against Cal State Northridge, their fewest during the Div. I era... The previous low was 10, achieved most recently against South Carolina... UC Davis' +16 turnover margin (6-22) in the game was its second-best this season, trailing only +19 totals against Saint Mary's and Santa Clara... For the season, the Aggies lead the Big West in turnover margin (+7.7) and assist/turnover ratio (0.9).
LET'S STEAL AWAY: The Aggies are ranked seventh among Div. I teams for steals (14.1), nearly four more per game than Cal Poly (10.4) which is second in the Big West... UC Davis had a season-high 21 against Washington State and 20 versus Santa Clara... For the season, the Aggies' steals account for 57.3 percent of their opponents' turnovers... Against Washington State, 21 of the Cougars' 28 steals (75 percent) came via steals from UC Davis.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES: P Paige Mintun had 11 points and 11 rebounds, the Aggies' first double-double of the season, the fourth of her career, and her first since going for 21 points and 10 rebounds at home against Cal State Fullerton last season.
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 238-147 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.
