THIS WEEK...
GAME 4: Utah Valley (3-2) at UC Davis (1-2)
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014
4:45 p.m.
The Pavilion (5,670)
Davis, Calif.
TV: BigWest.TV
Radio: KDVS 90.3 FM
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video | UC Davis notes | Utah Valley notes

GAME 5: Pacific (3-1) at UC Davis (1-2)
Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014
4:30 p.m.
The Pavilion (5,670)
Davis, Calif.
TV: BigWest.TV
Radio: KDVS 90.3 FM
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video | UC Davis notes | Pacific notes

TIP-OFF: The UC Davis women's basketball team (1-2 overall) continues its season-long home stand with a Thanksgiving basketball "sandwich," hosting a pair of games around the holiday at The Pavilion. Both contests are the first games of doubleheaders with the men's team as the Aggies host Utah Valley on Wednesday at 4:45 p.m., before welcoming former Big West Conference rival, Pacific, on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

IN THE POLLS: Entering this week's contests, UC Davis, Utah Valley, and Pacific, are unranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today national polls.

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.

"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.

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 WOLVERINES: Utah Valley enters the week with a 3-2 overall record following a split against a pair of in-state rivals Utah State (L, 79-61) and Weber State (W, 61-40) last weekend... Sophomore guard Rhaiah Spooner-Knight paces the offense with an average of 16.4 points per game while shooting .548 from the floor... Junior guard Patrice Toston (11.0 ppg) is also in double figures, while sophomore forward Karlee Norris is grabbing an average of 9.8 rebounds per game to go with nine points per contest... Head Coach Cathy Nixon is in her 20th season at the helm of the Utah Valley program, winning more than 300 games as the Wolverines enter their second season in the Western Athletic Conference in 2014-15... Utah Valley returns three starters and six letter winners overall off of last season's squad that finished 7-23 overall and 4-12 in the WAC a year ago.

ABOUT THE TIGERS: Pacific enters the week with a 3-1 overall record and will hit the road for the first time this season when the Tigers travel to Davis on Saturday after opening the year with five straight contests at home... Following a loss to California, Pacific has rebounded with a pair of wins over Montana (62-50) and Iona (64-49) last weekend... Junior forward Erin Butler (14.0 ppg) leads a quartet of Tigers in double figures, joined by teammates Madison Parrish (12.5 ppg), Kendall Kenyon (11.5 ppg), and Hailie Eackles (10.0 ppg)... Kenyon leads the team with 10.5 rebounds per game... Head Coach Lynne Roberts is in her ninth season as head coach of the program, which returns 10 players and three starters off of last season's squad.

SERIES NOTES: Wednesday will mark the first meeting between UC Davis and Utah Valley, although the Aggies are 2-0 all-time against opponents from the "Beehive State," winning both of its meetings with Southern Utah... The series between UC Davis and Pacific is knotted at 12-12, with the Tigers winning the last three meetings dating back to the 2012-13 season... The Aggies' last win in the series came during the 2011-12 campaign when they swept the regular season Big West series by the scores of 59-51 at home and 65-61 in Stockton... UC Davis is 7-4 against Pacific at home, but the Tigers have won two of the last three following a six-game winning streak by the Aggies from 2004-10.

CONFERENCE CALL: UC Davis is a combined 19-10 against current members of the Western Athletic Conference, having posted a 2-8 record against Bakersfield, a 14-1 mark against Grand Canyon, and a 3-1 record against Seattle... The Aggies are a combined 36-47 against the current West Coast Conference alignment following last Saturday's two-point loss to Saint Mary's, and have lost four of the last five meetings against league members dating back to last season... UC Davis has faced seven of the 10 WCC members, having played everyone except for BYU, Loyola Marymount, and San Diego... The Aggies are 0-2 against Portland, 0-3 against Gonzaga, 8-9 against Santa Clara, 10-12 vs. Saint Mary's, 5-6 against San Francisco, 12-12 vs. Pacific, and 1-3 when facing Pepperdine.

EDGE OF YOUR SEAT: Don't leave The Pavilion early on Saturday, it's bound of be a close one. Eight of the last nine meetings between the Aggies and the Tigers have been decided by single digits, including a four-point UC Davis win in 2011-12 and a nine-point overtime win in 2009-10.

SHOOTER!: UC Davis enters the week as the top shooting team in the Big West Conference in the early-going, hitting on just over 43 percent of its shots from the field for the year -- including a season-best 54 percent against Sacramento State last week. The mark against the Hornets was the best for the Aggies since they hit 60 percent (24-for-40) at CSUN on Feb. 6 of last season.

"I WAS BUT THE LEARNER, NOW *I* AM THE MASTER": With her 26 points on Nov. 18 at Sacramento State, senior forward Sydnee Fipps (finally) passed head coach Jennifer Gross on the school's all-time scoring list, and enters this week in sole possession of sixth place all-time with 1,259 points, needing just three more points to leap over Aimee Conner and move into the top five. This comes just a few short games after it was thought that Fipps had passed Gross with an 18-point night at UC Santa Barbara on March 1, before our crack research staff uncovered 100 points that were never credited to the Aggies' all-time great from her playing days, thereby momentarily delaying Fipps' charge up the chart.

"BACK HERE WHERE WE NEED YA...": Welcome back, Doherty. Making her first appearance since a knee injury prematurely ended her sophomore campaign in the first round of last year's Big West Conference Tournament, junior center Alyson Doherty shook off the rust to post her fourth career double-double against Sacramento State, tying a career high with 11 rebounds to go with 14 points and three blocks off the bench in the Aggies' eight-point victory over their Causeway rivals. She added 14 more points four nights later against Saint Mary's and enters this week's games leading the team in scoring while grabbing an average of seven rebounds per game.

MORE DOHERTY: The junior from Lake Forest, California, has reached double digits in scoring in each of her last 10 contests dating back to a home contest against Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 13, averaging 15.1 ppg and shooting better than 51 percent (59-for-115) from the field during the run.

SHE'S JUST ALY FROM THE BLOCK: With six blocks in two games back from injury, junior Alyson Doherty is already asserting herself in the post, blocking three shots against both Sacramento State and Saint Mary's. Thanks to her performance against the Gaels, Doherty registered her 10th career game with three-or-more swats, falling one shy of her single-game career high set against Long Beach State on Jan. 11, 2014, and matched against UC Irvine on March 8, 2014. The three blocked shots against Saint Mary's give her 68 for her career, moving her into seventh on the UC Davis career list, just 12 back of Ellen Porshneva (2003-06, 2007-08) for sixth place.

SOMEBODY GET A HAND IN HER FACE: Senior Kelsey Harris has been white-hot from beyond the arc through the first three games this season, hitting 10-of-18 from three-point range (.556) and ranking third on the team in scoring at 10.0 ppg. The Brea, California, native -- who has led the team in scoring in two of the first three contests this season -- enters the week ranked third in the Big West in three-point percentage and leads all sharpshooters in three-pointers made per game (3.00). In fact, all of her field goals have come from long distance this season, continuing a trend that saw her take 82 percent (217 of 264) of her field goal attempts from beyond the arc as a junior.

HELP ME, HELP YOU: Creating opportunities for teammates has been a hallmark for the Aggies thus far this season, assisting on 45 of the team's 70 makes -- including a season-best 22 helpers on 34 makes against Sacramento State on Nov. 18. Junior Celia Marfone leads the team with nine assists (3.00 apg) -- tying for ninth in the Big West in that category and ranking fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.80) -- while seven different Aggies have handed out at least four assists this season.

I'LL TAKE SCORING FOR 20, ALEX: Fipps' 26-point performance against the Hornets fell just three shy of the Mariposa, California, native's career high, but was good enough for her to collect her 24th career 20-point game in just 21 minutes of play. Already the highest-scoring sophomore (512) and junior (548) in the history of the program, Fipps needs just seven more 20-point games this season to catch Staci Stevens (31 from 1984-88) for the most career 20-point games in UC Davis history.

ROOM TO BOARD: The Aggies' 56 rebounds at Sacramento State marked the fourth time in the last three seasons that they have topped the 50-rebound plateau, but the performance was something special as UC Davis posted its highest single-game rebounding total in its Division I history and the most boards since grabbing 56 against Western Baptist on Dec. 28, 2001. Of the last five, 50-rebound performances, three of those have come against the Hornets dating back to the 2010-11 campaign.

RECYCLED NOTES
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.

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.

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 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.

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.