Feb. 8, 2011
Game Notes | | Live Audio | Live Video
GAME 23
Pacific (8-17, 3-7) at No. 13 UC Davis (17-5, 7-3)
7 pm Feb. 9 The Pavilion (7,100) Davis, Calif.
KDVS (90.3 FM) www.ucdavisaggies.com Big West TV
GAME 24
No. 13 UC Davis (17-5, 7-3) at Long Beach State (5-19, 3-7)
4 pm Feb. 12 Walter Pyramid (4,200) Long Beach, Calif.
KDVS (90.3 FM) www.ucdavisaggies.com Big West TV
* - CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
OPENING TIPS: UC Davis finishes the first part of a stretch where it plays on Hamilton Court six times in seven games, hosting local rival Pacific during "Pink Zone Night" on Wednesday before hitting the road for Long Beach State... "Pink Zone Night" is part of an annual nationwide effort among collegiate women's basketball teams to increase breast cancer awareness... The Aggies, after sweeping first-place Cal Poly and then second-place (tie) UC Santa Barbara last weekend, are two games behind the Mustangs in the Big West Conference standings, a half-game in front of UC Riverside and a game up on the Gauchos... UC Davis has won three games in a row for the fourth time this season but the first time since rattling off four straight in December... The Aggies have averaged 11.3 treys per game during their current winning streak and are shooting 48.6 percent from beyond the arc... Over her last 14 games, P Paige Mintun has averaged 14.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg., 1.7 blocks, and is shooting 48.2 percent from the field... She has scored in double figures each game during the span, a career-best run... UC Davis is 20-4 at home since the beginning of last season and has won 17 of its past 18 games on Hamilton Court... It's averaging 72.6 ppg. at home this season and outscoring opponents by 14.6 ppg... The numbers are closer on the road where the Aggies are scoring at a 68.4 ppg clip and outscoring the opposition by 6.2 ppg... UC Davis has gone with the same lineup in 18 of 22 games (P Paige Mintun, W Heidi Heintz, W Samantha Meggison, W Heidi Heintz and G Hana Asano)... They are 15-3 with that quintet starting.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. PACIFIC & LONG BEACH STATE: The Aggies extended their series lead to 10-7 over Pacific on Jan. 22 with a 65-57 win over the Tigers in Stockton... P Paige Mintun scored 19 points and W Heidi Heintz had 18, including making 10 of 13 from the line... That win snapped a three-game losing streak at Alex G. Spanos Center... UC Davis has had more success against Pacific at home, winning six straight - all since announcing the move to NCAA Div. I - and are 6-2 all-time at home... Pacific's last win in Davis was 91-59 during the 1981-82 season...Mintun had 15 points, leading four Aggies in double figures, during UC Davis' 85-67 home win on Jan. 13... That evened the series record at 8-8... The Aggies have won three straight at Long Beach but two of the last three matchups there have been decided by a total of four points... Just 10 points separated the teams during their four games between 2007-09... UC Davis is 3-3 overall at LBSU (locations for three games are not available).
A QUICK LOOK AT THE TIGERS: The Tigers have lost two straight and four of their past five, posting their lone win during the span against UC Riverside... They're 2-8 on the road this season... DANIELLE PEACON (12.3) and JORDAN ROGERS (10.3) lead the team in scoring with Peacon (6.7) and KENDALL RODRIGUEZ (6.6) tops in rebounds... Peacon is second in the Big West in blocked shots, averaging 1.9 pg... Pacific is the second-best rebounding team in the conference (39.4 pg), including a BWC-best 14.8 on the offensive end... The Tigers average 63.3 ppg and are being outscored an average of 8.1 pg... They've made 122 three-pointers but are eighth in the league in percentage (.283)... Rogers has 40 treys while ERICA McKENZIE has 35 to account for more than half the team's totals.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE 49ERS: Long Beach State, tied for eighth in the Big West with Pacific, is trying to hold on to a potential playoff position, sitting one game in front of Cal State Northridge (2-8)... The 49ers enter the week having lost two in a row and six of their past eight... They have had a two-game winning streak during that span, beating UC Irvine (80-79) and Pacific (73-60) in late January... The 49ers are 3-7 at home... COURTNEY JACOB, back-to-back Big West Player of the Week in January, leads the team in scoring (13.6) and rebounding (12.9) while BRANDI HENTON is averaging 12.9 ppg... The pair have combined for 51 three-pointers with Henton canning a team-high 27... They are the only 49ers with at least 10... Long Beach State is averaging 61.0 ppg., giving up 73.8 ppg, and is being outrebounded 43.8-39.2 pg.
LAST GAME - UC DAVIS 74, UC SANTA BARBARA 70: W Kasey Riecks' 18 points led three Aggies in double figures on Saturday afternoon as UC Davis overcame seven three-pointers from UC Santa Barbara's Emilie Johnson, winning 74-70 over the Gauchos and breaking a second-place with them in the Big West Conference women's basketball standings... UC Davis led 69-57 with just 1 minute, 17 seconds left in the second half but Johnson made four treys down the stretch to help bring the Gauchos to within 73-70 with just 14 seconds to go. However, G Hana Asano made a free throw soon after for a four-point lead and the Aggies were able to pick up the key Big West win... The close finish was in contrast to the previous five minutes when the Aggies' lead hovered around double-digits... After leading by just two points at halftime, UC Davis took its biggest lead of the game to that point when it went up 53-42 with 9:41 to go... A pair of free throws from W Samantha Meggison finished a 5-0 surge as the Aggies rebuilt the lead to 61-49 with 5:49 remaining.
RECORDS UPDATE: P Paige Mintun has 1,208 career points and is No. 6 all-time, and has a school-record 130 blocks... She went over 1,000 points on Dec. 1 and set the blocks mark at Pacific last month... She needs 25 rebounds to move into that top 10 list and with 149 steals is just one away from cracking that top 10 chart... W Heidi Heintz went over 1,000 career points (split between seasons at San Francisco and UC Davis) at UCSB in January... She and Mintun were honored for their scoring achievements during pregame ceremonies on Feb. 5.
BY THE NUMBERS: Fourteen of the Aggies' 22 games have been decided by more than 10 points and they are 11-3 during those matchups... They are also 16-1 when leading at halftime, 17-0 when holding the lead with five minutes to go and are 17-1 when carrying the lead into the final minute... UC Davis has played just one game decided by three points or less, losing 58-56 to Cal State Fullerton in its Big West Conference opener.
THREE-GAME WINNING STREAK: UC Davis is averaging 82.0 ppg., 11.3 treys, 4.3 blocks and has four players averaging double-figure points during its current three-game winning streak... The Aggies are also shooting 48.6 percent from beyond the arc (49.1 percent overall) and are being outrebounded by less than one per game (32.3-32.7)... W Vicky Deely (9 of 14, .643) and P Paige Mintun (5 of 7, .714) have been especially hot from three-point while Deely has been perfect from the line, going 13 for 13. NEW FORMAT FOR BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: The road to March Madness takes a different route this year with the Big West Tournament using a different format... Unlike previous years, no byes will be awarded and not all tournament games will be in Anaheim, although eight teams will still qualify for the postseason... Teams will be seeded 1-8 with the higher seed hosting first-round games on Mar. 8... The winners will advance to the conference semifinals at the Honda Center on Mar. 11 with the title game set for Mar. 12... The tournament moves to the Honda Center this year from its previous home at the Anaheim Convention Center... As a sidenote, the men's tournament will have the same format but all games will be in Anaheim beginning on Mar. 10.
THREE-POINTERS ON PACE AGAIN: The Aggies are averaging 7.7 treys per game and is on pace to break the school record of 206 they made last season... They need 37 more and have seven regular-season games left plus the postseason to try and eclipse the mark... UC Davis has made at least 10 in six games, including its last three, and made a season-high 14 at San Jose State on Dec. 21.
MID-MAJOR POLL UPDATE: UC Davis moved up one spot to No. 13 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week following its sweep at home last weekend... 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 (22 pts) is 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 244-149 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.
