Feb. 1, 2011
Game Notes | Live Audio
Live Video |
| In-game Twitter Updates
GAME 21
Cal Poly (12-7, 8-0) at No. 14 UC Davis (15-5, 5-3)
7 pm Feb. 3 The Pavilion (7,100) Davis, Calif. KDVS (90.3 FM)
www.ucdavisaggies.com Big West TV
GAME 22
UC Santa Barbara (11-9, 5-3) at No. 14 UC Davis
2 pm Feb. 3 The Pavilion (7,100) Davis, Calif. KDVS (90.3 FM)
www.ucdavisaggies.com Big West TV
* - CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
OPENING TIPS: The Aggies begin the second half of Big West Conference action on Thursday, hosting first-place Cal Poly before entertaining UC Santa Barbara - tied with UC Davis for second - on Saturday... After playing five of their first eight league games on the road, the Aggies will play five of the final eight at home including the next three - their longest stretch at home during conference... The Mustangs currently have a three-game lead in the Big West... W Vicky Deely is now ranked 27th (.419) among NCAA Div. I three-point shooters after going 5-for-5 at UC Irvine on Saturday... She has made five treys in a game three times this year and leads UC Davis with 44 overall... Saturday's matchup features, statistically, the top two defenses in the Big West in UCSB (58.1) and UC Davis (59.8), the only two teams under 60.0 ppg... The Aggies continue to rank among the top 25 Div. I teams in four different stat areas: turnover margin (6th, +7.4), steals (14th, 12.6 pg), three-pointers (21st, 7.4) and three-point defense (22nd, .273)... UC Davis' 46.2 percent (12 of 26) from beyond the arc at UC Irvine was a season-best while its six steals marked the fourth time in the past six games it's been held to single-digits.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CAL POLY & UC SANTA BARBARA: UC Davis leads the Mustangs 20-18 in their all-time series but has lost two straight and four of the past five in the series... Included was a 74-65 Cal Poly win in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 8... G RACHEL CLANCY was the catalyst in that game for the Mustangs, scoring 31 points, including draining seven three-pointers... UC Davis led 35-32 at halftime but was outscored by a dozen in the second half... The Aggies are 10-7 at home all-time against Cal Poly... UC Davis posted a 63-55 win over UCSB two days earlier in Santa Barbara, getting 14 points and seven boards from P Paige Mintun... Four Aggies scored in double-figures... G KELSEY ADRIAN had 17 points and C MEKIA VALENTINE grabbed 18 rebounds for UCSB... That win helped the Aggies post their fourth straight win in the series which the Gauchos lead 12-7... The series is tied 3-3 in Davis.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS: Cal Poly is the hottest team in the Big West right now, entering the week with an eight-game winning streak, all of them in league... That has helped put the Mustangs in the driver's seat at the midway point... A big part of that is G RACHEL CLANCY who is second in the Big West in scoring (16.1), has a league-high 53 three-pointers and plays just a shade under 36 minutes/game, second-most in the conference... The Mustangs' scoring attack (68.6), second to UC Davis in the Big West stats, has come on during the league season... They're averaging 72.6 ppg over their last eight games and have four players - Clancy (16.50, P ABBY BLOETSCHER (14.3), G KAYLA GRIFFIN (11.1) and G CAROLINE REEVES (10.6) - in double-figures over that span... In league games, Cal Poly is is shooting 45.3 percent from the field (41.2 percent from three-point), is 80.5 from the line and is outrebounding opponents by almost five per game (38.5-33.6)... The Mustangs have been doing it with three players averaging at least 30 minutes/league game and six players averaging at least 26 min.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE GAUCHOS: After losing to UC Davis almost a month ago, UCSB has captured four of its past six games to move near the top of the standings... C MEKIA VALENTINE has helped spur that surge, averaging a double-double with 10.0 ppg. and 12.8 rpg. during league... The Gauchos have turned up the defensive pressure during the Big West season, allowing just 53.2 ppg. and holding opponents to just 32.8 percent from the floor (27.8 percent from three-point)... UCSB have also averaged 41.9 rpg. and are giving up just 32.8 pg... Valentine leads the league - for all games - in field goal percentage (.589) and blocked shots (3.9 pg)... She's ranked fourth nationally in blocks and 30th in rebounds... She also has a triple-double to her totals this year... F SWEETS UNDERWOOD is averaging 7.7 rpg while G EMILIE JOHNSON (11.4) is the only Gaucho averaging at least 10.0 ppg. overall.
LAST GAME - UC DAVIS 91, UC IRVINE 72: W Vicky Deely hit a career-high tying five three-pointers and scored 23 points after halftime - scoring a career-best 25 points overall - as UC Davis pulled away from host UC Irvine on Saturday afternoon for a 91-72 Big West Conference women's basketball win at the Bren Events Center... W Samantha Meggison added a career-high 15 points, W Kasey Riecks had 14 and P Paige Mintun scored 12... The Aggies couldn't pull away from the Anteaters who cut a nine-point deficit in the first half to just two points, and then stayed between two and six points much of the second before a 12-2 run near the eight-minute mark put UC Davis in front 82-66... Deely was on fire throughout the second half, scoring 23 points in just 10 minutes of court time... She canned three straight three-pointers - she was 5 for 5 overall - over a less than two-minute span of the second half.
DEELY ON FIRE AT UC IRVINE: W Vicky Deely's 25 points at UC Irvine last Saturday marked a career-high which is news enough... The fact she eclipsed her previous high of 22 points during just 10 minutes of the second half alone is bigger news... Deely did so by nailing all five of her three-point attempts and all six of her free throws... She had 25 points overall - 23 during that torrid second-half stretfch - making a career-high tying five treys overall... Her performance helped her rise to No. 2 in the the Big West in three-pointers made (2.2 pg.) and third for percentage (.419).
AGGIE WINS GETS AN ASSIST: UC Davis had 23 assists at UC Irvine on Saturday, tying a season-high total it also had against Pepperdine earlier in the year... They also came on the heels of a season-lowing tying total of eight at UC Riverside just two days earlier... The Aggies have at least 20 assists in three games and are currently second in the Big West to Cal Poly (16.4) with 15.1 pg.
72 MEANT GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS: Both UC Riverside and UC Irvine scored 72 points against UC Davis last weekend but a 41-point scoring difference for the Aggies between the games meant both a win and a loss... The games marked just the second and third times this year an opponent has scored at least 70 points... Cal Poly was the other during its 74-65 win on Jan. 6.
DOUBLE-DIGIT STREAKS: P Paige Mintun has extended her career-high streak of double-digit scoring games to 12 and has only been held below 10 points three times this year, the last time coming at Kansas State on Dec. 12 when she was held to two points... Mixed into the run was a double-double effort off 11 points and 11 rebounds against Cal State Northridge, fourth of her career... W Heidi Heintz has five double-digit games in her past six while W Vicky Deely has done so in five of her past seven.
MINTUN KEEPS BLOCK PARTY GOING: P Paige Mintun, already a member of the 1,000-point club for UC Davis, added a career-high four blocks against UC Irvine last week, pushing her school-record total to 125 career swats... She has nine in her past four games and ranks fourth in the Big West (1.6 pg).
AGGIES LEAD THE PACK IN STEALS: The Aggies are averaging a team-high 12.6 steals per game, 14th nationally, with three players - W Samantha Meggison (1.95), P Paige Mintun (1.80), and W Kasey Riecks (1.71) - occupying the second, fourth and sixth positions in the Big West, respectively.
MID-MAJOR POLL UPDATE: UC Davis dropped four spots to No. 14 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week following split in Southern California last week... The Aggies, who debuted in the poll after the season's opening weekend, rose to as high as No. 8 where they sat for three weeks before two Big West losses moved them down to No. 13... They're the only Big West team in the top 25 although Cal Poly (34 pts) and UC Irvine (8) are receiving votes.
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.
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 242-149 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.
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... In-game updates are provided via Twitter by following UCDavisAggies on the social networking site.
