UP NEXT...
UC Davis (0-1) at Sacramento State (0-2)
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014
7:00 p.m.
The Nest
Sacramento, Calif.
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Live Audio (KDVS 90.3 FM) | Live Video | UC Davis notes (PDF) | Sacramento State notes

TIP-OFF: It's rivalry week for the UC Davis women's basketball team (0-1 overall), as the Aggies make the short, 20-mile jaunt across the Causeway for its first road game of the season, heading to the Capitol City to take on Sacramento State on Tuesday (Nov. 18) at 7 p.m., at the Hornet's Nest.

IN THE POLLS: UC Davis and Sacramento State are unranked to begin the season. However, the Aggies will face four other squads which were either ranked or receiving votes in the national preseason polls this season: UConn (Nov. 14), is a unanimous No. 1 in both polls, Stanford (Dec. 22) is ranked No. 6 in both polls, Arizona State (Dec. 13) is receiving votes in both, and Big West Conference rival CSUN is receiving votes in the USA Today poll.

BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in UC Davis Athletics by "liking" us on Facebook (facebook.com/UCDavisAggies) and following us on Twitter (@UCDavisAggies). You can also "like" the women's basketball program on Facebook by visiting facebook.com/UCDavisWomensBasketball as well as follow them on Twitter (@UCDavisWBB) and Instagram (instagram.com/ucdaviswomensbasketball). Game Day in-game updates are also available on Twitter by following us @UCDavisInGame.

SO... HOW 'BOUT THOSE AGGIES?: Losing only one player off of last season's "efficient" roster, UC Davis features an experienced lineup that lists five returning starters, 10 returning letter winners, and five newcomers, with a nice balance of upperclassmen (3 seniors, 5 juniors) and underclassmen (2 sophomores, five freshmen). Under the direction of fourth-year head coach (and former Aggie point guard) Jennifer Gross, UC Davis looks to build off a 2013-14 campaign that saw the Aggies finish 15-16 overall and 9-7 in Big West Conference play, advancing to the league tournament quarterfinals thanks to a late-season run that saw them win four of their final five regular season contests. Sydnee Fipps (17.7 ppg), Alyson Doherty (13.1 ppg), and Kelsey Harris (10.7 ppg), all averaged double figures in scoring for the Aggies, while Doherty (6.3 rpg) and Celia Marfone (6.1 rpg) ranked among the top 10 in rebounding in the Big West Conference.

ABOUT THE HORNETS: Sacramento State is coming off an 0-2 weekend that saw the Hornets drop road games at San Diego State (99-91) and CSUN (81-66) to open the season... Senior guard Takara Burse leads Sacramento State in scoring early-on, averaging 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, with 17 of her 25 points thus far coming thanks to a perfect 17-for-17 performance at the line... Senior guard Fantasia Hilliard is shooting an efficient .538 from the floor (9.5 ppg), and leads the team with six assists and eight steals through two games... The Hornets are shooting just .297 from the field while allowing opponents to hit on 65 percent of their shots from the floor and grab an average of 52 rebounds per game.

SERIES NOTES: Sacramento State enters Tuesday's clash leading the all-time series with UC Davis, 29-24... The Hornets have won back-to-back games in the series following a 66-65 overtime win in 2012-13 and an 84-78 victory at The Pavilion last season... UC Davis has won four of the seven meetings since both have been Division I members dating back to 2007-08... The Aggies' last win in the series came on Dec. 4, 2011, at home in a 68-57 victory... UC Davis' last win in Sacramento came on Dec. 19, 2010, in a 78-55 triumph.

CONFERENCE CALL: UC Davis is a combined 30-38 all-time against the current Big Sky Conference alignment, but has only faced four of the league's 12 members according to records that date back to 1970-71. Aside from Sacramento State (24-29 overall), the Aggies have also faced Northern Arizona (1-0), Portland State (3-9), and Southern Utah (2-0).

"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?": Thanks to a partnership with Arizona-based Stretch Internet, live Internet audio will be available for all of the Aggies' contests this season, as well as broadcast locally on KDVS 90.3 FM with Greg Wong and Brian Fuller on the call. Visit the women's basketball schedule page at UCDavisAggies.com to access the links.

"YOU ARE LOOKING LIVE...": Bringing together live and on-demand video from each of the Big West Conference's nine member institutions, BigWest.TV covers Big West sports, press conferences, interviews, and features, including every home and conference contest. Now in its 11th year, BigWest.TV will again air all of the Aggies home and conference clashes FOR FREE during the 2014-15 campaign. Log on to www.bigwest.org/thisweek for weekly schedules or visit the women's basketball schedule page at UCDavisAggies.com.

I NEED STATS, STAT!: Barring technical difficulties, new-look live stats for all UC Davis home games, as well as selected road contests, are available on your computer and mobile device courtesy the StatBroadcast platform. Visit the men's soccer schedule page at UCDavisAggies.com or the StatBroadcast landing page at UCDavisLiveStats.com to access the links when the games begin.

THEY CAME IN DROVES: With the top-ranked team in the nation visiting Davis for the first time, the fans came out in record numbers to see the Aggies battle the Huskies. The announced attendance of 4,712 at The Pavilion on Nov. 14 was the largest crowd to see a women's basketball game in UC Davis history, topping the previous mark of 4,675 against Chico State back on Jan. 23, 1999, and only the fourth to break the 4,000 mark, joining two other games vs. the Wildcats in 1998 (4,615) and 1996 (4,549).

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ADDS TWO IN EARLY PERIOD: UC Davis women's basketball head coach Jennifer Gross announced, on Nov. 13, that Washington natives Karley and Kourtney Eaton have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers with the Aggies beginning with the 2015-16 season. Originally from Longview, Washington, the twin sisters helped lead the Mark Morris HS girl's basketball team to the school's first-ever Washington State championship as sophomores and a runner-up state finish as juniors in 2014. Over the last two seasons, the Monarchs have compiled a 49-5 overall record with the help of the Eaton's, who will enter UC Davis as freshmen with four years of eligibility remaining. For more information on both Karley and Kourtney, read the full release online at http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/111314aah.html.

THE SYDNEE "500": Well, it was actually 495, but it didn't quite have the same ring to it when we used it in the headline. In any case, senior forward Sydnee Fipps could leave UC Davis as the program's all-time leading scorer with 496 points this season. All she has to do is come close to duplicating her efforts of the last two years when she scored 512 points as a sophomore and a career-high 548 points as a junior and she will pass Carol Rische, who had 1,711 points from 1979-83. In the more immediate future, Fipps needs just 19 points to pass her head coach, Jennifer Gross, for seventh on the all-time list, 27 more to leap over Ellen Porshneva for sixth, and 37 to jump past Aimee Conner and break into the top five.

NEWCOMERS GET THEIR "FIRSTS": Not a bad way to make your Division I debut. Freshmen Rachel Nagel, Pele Gianotti, and Dani Nafekh each made their collegiate debuts in the Aggies' opener against top-ranked UConn, providing some punch off the bench while putting up the first official stats of their careers. Nagel led the trio with seven points in 13 minutes thanks to a pair of three-pointers, Gianotti added five points and four rebounds, while Nafekh tallied her first career assist and steal against the Huskies. This coming off an exhibition performance that saw the UC Davis freshman class combine to shoot 9-of-18 (.500) from the field, 3-of-6 (.500) from beyond the arc, and 7-of-9 (.778) from the line, contributing 28 of the team's 37 points off the bench against Sonoma State.

SPEAKING OF FIRSTS: She's not new, but junior Lauren Beyer made the first start of her collegiate career against the defending NCAA champion Huskies last week in the place of Alyson Doherty (knee injury), just one year after coming off the bench in 30 of the the team's 31 games as a sophomore last season. It's another step forward for the Elk Grove, California, native, who rebounded last year after missing the better part of her first two collegiate seasons due to a dramatic leg injury just two games into her true freshman campaign in 2011-12.

FOUR THREE'S FOR THIRTY THREE: Senior sharpshooter Kelsey Harris picked up right where she left off last season, draining four three-pointers in Friday's opener against #1 UConn, giving her 90 in her brief Aggie career. She'll have to have her shooting shoes on all season, however, if she's to reach the all-time UC Davis record held by Lori Hurlbut, who sank 194 during her four seasons from 1997-01. Harris' 12 points against the Huskies gave her the honor of being the first Aggie to reach double figures this season and marked the 20th such game of her career in 32 all-time appearances since transferring to UC Davis.

SILVER LINING: It may not be much, but the Aggies' 43 points scored against #1 UConn last week bettered their offensive output from their first meeting with the Huskies by six points. Compared to last year's inaugural meeting between the two programs, UC Davis finished with one more field goal, three more three-pointers, and cut down their turnovers by 10 on Friday at The Pavilion.

AGGIES PICKED FOURTH IN COMPETITIVE BIG WEST RACE: UC Davis was picked to finish fourth in the race for the Big West Conference crown this season -- one spot higher than where the Aggies finished a season ago, and two spots better than where they were picked at the start of the 2013-14 season. UC Davis received 83 points to place behind defending regular season and tournament champion CSUN (13 first-place votes, 125 points), Hawai'i (1 first-place vote, 101 points), and Cal Poly (99 points), while finishing 10 points ahead of fifth-place Long Beach State. Cal State Fullerton (53), UC Irvine (41), UC Riverside (29), and UC Santa Barbara (26), round out the preseason prognostications.

TOURNEY-TESTED SCHEDULE: The Aggies are scheduled to face nine teams that saw some sort of postseason action in 2013-14, four of those teams in the NCAA Tournament and five more that made the WNIT field. Connecticut (National Champions), Stanford ("Final Four"), Arizona State (2nd Round), and CSUN (1st Round), all made the NCAA bracket, Southern Utah and Saint Mary's advanced to the second round of the WNIT, while league rivals Cal Poly and Hawai'i joined Pacific as WNIT selections.

HOME, SWEET HOME: Last season, it was rare to see the Aggies play at home before Christmas, with eight of the team's first 11 regular season contests played on opposing courts. This season's schedule should please the hometown faithful as UC Davis will play six of its first seven games (including Friday's exhibition) on its home court, with the lone exception being a short 20-mile jaunt across the Causeway to take on rival Sacramento State on Nov. 18.

DECADE OF DOMINANCE AT THE PAVILION: The Aggies have defended the home court well over the last 11+ seasons, winning nearly two-third of their contests at The Pavilion to the tune of a combined 94-54 (.635) record dating back to 2003-04. In that span, UC Davis has suffered a losing home record only twice in 2008-09 (5-8) and 2012-13 (5-9) while posting double-digit win totals four times, including a high of 12 victories against only three defeats in the 2010-11 campaign.

HONORS ROLL IN FOR FIPPS: As if a second All-Big West First Team selection wasn't enough for the senior, Fipps has already garnered a host of other preseason awards from various outlets. One of six named to the All-Big West Preseason Team by a vote of media members covering the league, the Mariposa, California, native also earned preseason all-conference first-team honors (one of 10 selected) according to College Sports Madness, as well as All-Mid Major Second Team laurels by the same organization -- one of only two Big West players (CSUN guard Ashlee Guay the other) to be so honored.

DON'T FORGET DOHERTY: Junior Alyson Doherty also earned a nod on the College Sports Madness preseason All-Big West First Team alongside her teammate Sydnee Fipps, joining CSUN's Ashlee Guay, Cal Poly's Ariana Elegado, and UC Riverside's Brittany Crain.

SO, WHAT DO YOU DO FOR AN ENCORE?: Someone better get a hand in the face of senior Kelsey Harris this season or who knows what she'll accomplish. The Brea, California, native set a UC Davis single-season record with 86 makes from beyond the three-point arc, breaking the record previously held by Karen Boisvert (81) that had stood since the 1990-91 season. Harris, who ranked among the Big West's best in three-point percentage (5th, .396) and three-pointers made per game (2nd, 2.77 per game), also took the second-most three-point attempts in a season (217) and is tied for sixth on the school single-season list in three-point percentage.

BY THE NUMBERS: With all but one letter winner returning for the 2014-15 season, it is almost an embarassment of riches statistically for the Aggies, who bring back 94 percent of their scoring (1,960 points), 93 percent of their rebounds (1,047), 94 percent of their assists (429), 95 percent of their steals (183), and 94 percent of their blocks (67). What does that all mean? We don't know, but numbers are fun.

"HELLO, MY NAME IS...": Name tags may be required for the first few games as fans get to know the five new faces on the UC Davis roster: Morgan Bertsch, Pele Gianotti, Dani Nafekh, Rachel Nagel, and Lauren Seyranian. The five true freshmen on this year's roster are the most for the Aggies since the 2012-13 season when that season's rookie class featured Heidi Johnson, Aniya Baker, Celia Marfone, Molly Greubel, and Alyson Doherty.

#WINNING: UC Davis' 15 wins overall and nine Big West Conference victories eclipsed the Aggies win totals in both categories from all of last season and are the most since they finished 17-13 overall and 9-7 in the Big West during the 2011-12 campaign.

THIS CLOSE: A couple of balls bounce the other way for the Aggies and the 2013-14 season could look a lot different. Of UC Davis' seven conference losses, five of those came by nine points or fewer -- a total of 52 points -- while nine of their 16 losses overall were by single digits.

SHE'S JUST ALY FROM THE BLOCK: Junior Alyson Doherty finished with 35 blocks last season -- ranking in a tie for seventh with Paige Mintun (2009-10) on the single-season list -- and enters her third season looking to move up the career charts as well. Doherty's 62 career blocks rank ninth on the career list, just two back of Kari Sivesind (64 from 1992-96) and three behind Lauren Juric (65 from 2008-12) for seventh all-time.

RECORDS ABOUND: Aside from Kelsey Harris' record-setting performance from beyond the arc, the Aggies were also busy in other categories. Junior guard Molly Greubel set a school single-game record with a career-high 14 assists on Feb. 8 at UC Irvine, breaking the previous mark of 13 by Sara Lillevand at Cal State Stanislaus on March 10, 1990. As a team, UC Davis set a school single-game record with 39 three-point attempts on Nov. 29 against San Francisco, eclipsing the previous record of 36 set against Stanford on Dec. 28, 2008. Sydnee Fipps also added her name to the record books, sinking a single-game record 17 free throws at Pacific on Nov. 11, breaking Jackie Turpin's mark of 15 against Cal Poly on Feb. 9, 2006.