THIS WEEK...
2015 BIG WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
UC Davis Tournament Central
#8 UC Irvine (8-23, 5-11) vs. #5 UC Davis (13-15, 8-8)
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
6:00 p.m.
Fullerton, Calif. - Titan Gym
RADIO: KDVS 90.3 FM
Game Coverage:Live Stats | Audio | ESPN3.com | UC Davis Notes | UCI Notes

2015 BIG WEST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Tuesday, March 10 (ESPN3) at Cal State Fullerton
#5 UC Davis vs. #8 UC Irvine, 6 p.m.
#6 UC Riverside vs. #7 Cal State Fullerton, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 11 (ESPN3) at Cal State Fullerton
#3 Cal Poly vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 6 p.m.
#4 Long Beach State vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 8:30 p.m.

Friday, March 13 (ESPN3) at Honda Center (Anaheim, Calif.)
#1 Hawai'i vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, Noon
#2 CSUN vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 14 (Fox Sports Prime Ticket) at Honda Center (Anaheim, Calif.)
Championship Game, 3:00 p.m.

TIP-OFF: The UC Davis women's basketball team (13-15 overall, 8-8 in Big West play) begins its "second season" this week, making a return trip to Southern California as the No. 5 seed at the 2015 Big West Conference women's basketball tournament. The Aggies open with a quick rematch against eighth-seeded UC Irvine on Tuesday night (March 10) at 6 p.m. at Titan Gym on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.

"HI, MOM!": For those UC Davis fans unable to make the trip to Southern California, the first two rounds of the women's tournament will be streamed live online from Titan Gym via ESPN3.com and the Watch ESPN app. Friday's semifinals will also be available via ESPN3, while Saturday's championship game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.

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, 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!: 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 women's basketball schedule page at UCDavisAggies.com or the StatBroadcast landing page at UCDavisLiveStats.com to access the links when the games begin.

BIG WEST HONORS: Senior Sydnee Fipps was named to the All-Big West First Team for the third consecutive season, junior Alyson Doherty earned her second straight second-team honor, and newcomer Dani Nafekh was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team, as the league announced its honor roll on Monday morning (March 9). For the complete release, please visit http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030915aaa.html.

RARE ALL-BIG WEST AIR: Fipps became only the second UC Davis women's basketball player to earn three All-Big West First Team honors in a career, joining Paige Mintun, who also accomplished the feat from 2009-11. With her third award on Monday, Fipps joins a select group of only 17 players in the history of the Big West to earn first-team honors at least three times in her career.

ROOKIE NO MORE: After playing in 27 of the team's 28 games -- including five starts -- freshman guard Dani Nafekh probably can shed the "freshman" moniker, averaging nearly 20 minutes per game this season while finished second on the team in assists (61). That, however, didn't stop the Oakville, Ontario, Canada, native from being named to the Big West All-Freshman Team on Monday, becoming only the fifth Aggie to earn such honors. She joins current teammates Alyson Doherty and Molly Greubel (both in 2012-13) as well as Lauren Juric, who was also named the league's Freshman of the Year, and Kasey Riecks in 2008-09.

AGGIES IN THE TOURNEY: UC Davis has qualified for the Big West Conference Tournament in every season since becoming a full-fledged member of the league in 2007-08. The Aggies have made the conference tournament championship game three times in that span (2008, 2010, and 2011), including winning the tournament title and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth in 2001. UC Davis is 6-6 all-time in the Big West Tournament, splitting its two games last season at The Pyramid in Long Beach.

2008: 1-1 (W, UC Riverside... L, UC Santa Barbara)
2009: 0-1 (L, CSUN)
2010: 1-1 (W, UC Santa Barbara... L, UC Riverside)
2011: 3-0 (W, UC Irvine... W, UC Riverside... W, Cal Poly)
2012: 0-1 (L, Pacific)
2013: 0-1 (L, CSUN)
2014: 1-1 (W, UC Santa Barbara... L, UC Irvine)

WAIT, WE'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE: It's deja vu all over again for the Anteaters and Aggies, who will meet for a third time in a single season for the second straight year after UC Irvine swept all three games from UC Davis in 2013-14, including eliminating the Aggies in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

ABOUT THE ANTEATERS: UC Irvine enters tournament play with an 8-23 overall record and a 5-11 mark in Big West play, and holders of the eighth seed in this year's tournament... The Anteaters have won three of their last four heading into the tournament, splitting last weekend's games at Cal State Fullerton (L, 66-54) and at home against UC Davis (W, 71-62)... Mokun Fajemisin leads a balanced scoring effort for UCI, averaging 12.2 ppg and 7.5 rpg while shooting .429 from the field.

VERSUS UC IRVINE: According to records that date back to 1975, UC Davis is 20-8 all-time against UC Irvine, splitting the two regular season meetings this year with a 79-69 win at The Pavilion on Feb. 7 and last Saturday's 71-62 loss at the Bren Events Center... The Anteaters have won seven of the last nine meetings with the Aggies following a 12-game winning streak by UC Davis from 2006-11... The Aggies are 1-1 against UCI in the Big West Tournament, winning a first round match-up en route to the title in 2011, and falling in overtime in the quarterfinals in 2014.

LOOKING AHEAD: The players and coaches won't, so we'll do it for them. Should the Aggies prevail on Tuesday night in their first-round clash with UC Irvine, UC Davis will meet No. 4-seeded Long Beach State in the quarterfinals at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday (March 11) at Titan Gym. The Aggies and 49ers split their two regular season meetings, each posting a win on their home floor, and it would be the first-ever Big West Tournament meeting between the two schools since UC Davis joined the league.

AND, NOW... THE REST OF THE FIELD: With a 22-7 overall record and a 14-2 mark in Big West play, Hawai'i is the regular season champion and top seed in this week's tournament, earning a bye into the semifinals where they will meet the lowest remaining seed on Friday at Noon at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. CSUN, last year's regular season and tournament champion, is the No. 2 seed, and will meet the highest remaining seed in the second semifinal on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Cal Poly and Long Beach State are the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds, respectively, awaiting the winners of the first round games between UC Davis-UC Irvine and No. 6 UC Riverside and No. 7 Cal State Fullerton.

AROUND THE NATION: UC Davis enters tournament play ranked among the top 20 in the nation in three different categories, standing No. 6 in three-point percentage (.382), No. 16 in three-pointers per game (8.1), and No. 18 in field goal percentage (.445). Individually, senior Kelsey Harris remains among the nation's top sharpshooters, standing No. 3 in the nation in three-point percentage (.457), trailing only UConn's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (.518) and Wisconsin's Nicole Bauman (.488).

IT COULD GO EITHER WAY: There has been nothing comfortable about this Big West Conference season if you're the Aggies, who has had all but four of their 16 league games decided by nine points or fewer -- including six of the team's eight conference defeats by eight points or less following a 61-56 loss at UC Riverside last weekend. On paper, this season's record could look quite different as nine of the team's 15 losses overall have been by eight points or fewer -- including five of those by a single possession (three points or fewer).

SPONSORED BY ENERGIZER?: She kept scoring and scoring and scoring. Junior center Aly Doherty had the best offensive game of her UC Davis career in the regular season finale at UC Irvine last Saturday. With her teammate, and leading scorer, Sydnee Fipps sidelined due to injury, Doherty shouldered the load for the Aggies, scoring a career-high 27 points on 8-of-14 from the field and finishing with a career high 11 free throws (on 15 attempts). The scoring output topped her previous high of 24 points at Hofstra last season, giving her three 20-point games this season (and eight for her career), while the 11 free throws were two better than her previous best set at home against UC Santa Barbara last year.

CAREER YEAR: Her last outing against UC Irvine gave Doherty a career-high 362 points this season, surpassing last year's total of 355 points with, at least, one game remaining. Other career high's for the junior include free throws made (99), free throws attempted (129), rebounds (175), and assists (56), while her scoring average (13.4 ppg) and rebounding average (6.5 rpg) would also be career bests.

ALMOST PERFECT: Senior Sydnee Fipps' run to perfection came to an end on Saturday at UC Irvine, as an injury suffered at UC Riverside forced the second-leading scorer in UC Davis history to miss the first game of her career, ending a streak of 118 consecutive games played -- just one game shy of her head coach, Jennifer Gross, who holds the school record with 119 consecutive games played.

STOP AND SCORE ME 20: With back-to-back 20-point games against Long Beach State and Hawai'i on Feb. 19 and 21, giving her 32 such scoring performances her stellar career and breaking the school record of 31 set by Staci Stevens that had stood since 1988. They were the eighth and ninth 20-point games of the season for Fipps, who has hit double digits in points 21 times in 26 games this season and 80 of her 118 career games.

ON TARGET: After shooting 43 percent in both their games last week at UC Riverside and UC Irvine, the Aggies have now shot better than 40 percent in 24 of their 28 games this season, doing so while taking 277 fewer field goal attempts during the course of the year. UC Davis, which led the Big West with a .421 field goal percentage last season, again leads the league, shooting .445 from the floor in 2014-15 -- which would be the highest mark by a conference school since Cal Poly lead the league at .449 in 2009-10, and the best for an Aggie squad since the 2003-04 team shot .455 from the field. A top finish in the category this season would mark the third time that UC Davis would lead the league, also joining the 2007-08 squad, which led the Big West by shooting .435 from the field.

WHAT'S A FEW MORE FEET?: UC Davis' league-best .382 from three-point range would give the Aggies their first league title in that category, posting the highest percentage from long-distance since Cal Poly paced the Big West in 2009-10, shooting .388 from beyond the arc.

REWRITING THE BOOKS: A season after sinking a single-season school-record 86 three-pointers, senior Kelsey Harris is on the verge of rewriting yet another school mark in her final season -- this time for accuracy. Harris' .457 three-point percentage this year would shatter the previous UC Davis mark of .430 set by Lori Hurlbut in 1998, and would also rank seventh on the Big West Conference single-season list.

NEAR OR FAR?: If Harris had her druthers, the further away the better. Of her 186 field goal attempts this season, 164 have been from behind the arc (88.2%), while 75 of her 84 makes (89.3%) have been from three-point range. During her stellar two-year Aggie career, Harris has taken all but 32 of her field goal attempts from beyond the arc, shooting .423 (161-for-381) for her career from three, while shooting a more-than-respectable .464 from everywhere else (32-for-69).

TONIGHT'S TOP 10 LIST: Doherty enters the week ranked seventh in the Big West in scoring (13.4 ppg) and eighth in rebounding (6.5 rpg), standing as one of only three players to rank among the conference's top 10 in both categories entering the tournament (UC Riverside's Annelise Ito and UC Irvine's Mokun Fajemisin being the others). The junior from Lake Forest, California, also ranks among the best in field goal percentage (3rd - .500), free throw percentage (5th - .767), blocks (5th - 1.22 bpg), and defensive (7th - 4.70 rpg) reboounds.

BLOCK YOU VERY MUCH: Junior center Alyson Doherty tied her career high with four blocks in a battle with Cal Poly on Feb. 26, giving her 33 for the season -- ranking 10th on the school's single-season list and just two shy of last season's total that stands tied for seventh. With her 95 career blocks, the Lake Forest, California, native solidified her hold on fifth place on the school's all-time list, just one back of Staci Stevens (1985-88) for fourth. With five more blocks, Doherty would become only the fourth UC Davis player to reach 100 for her career, joining Paige Mintun (150 from 2006-11), Kendall Greene (119 from 1992-96), and Janae Henning (109 from 1998-02).

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A POINT MAKES: Not reaching the 60-point plateau last week pretty much doomed the Aggies' hopes in a crucial road contest at UC Riverside, as UC Davis dipped to 1-8 this year in games in which it scored 59 points or fewer. On the flip side, the Aggies have scored 60 points or more 19 times, posting a 12-7 mark in those contests.

M*A*S*H UNIT: Someone get "Hawkeye" and "Trapper" on the radio, the Aggies are in need of a medic. Aside from Fipps going down in the penultimate regular season contest, UC Davis has also had its depth tested when sophomore guard Taylor McGuire was ruled out due to an eye injury prior to its game against Cal Poly on Feb. 26, and lost point guard Molly Greubel to a wrist injury just three games into the year. Along with redshirts Lauren Seyranian and Morgan Bertsch, the Aggies are down to 10 players -- one fewer than their entire roster in 2013-14.

STREAKING THE WRONG WAY: The Aggies' five-game losing streak is its longest in a single-season since they struggled through a similar streak in 2012-13 against Washington, Sacramento State, Pacific, Cal Poly, and UC Santa Barbara. UC Davis also had a pair of five-game skids during its second year in the league in 2008-09, as a loss in the first round on Tuesday would mark its longest losing streak of the program's Division I era, as one would have to go all the way back to the 1984-85 campaign to find a losing streak of at least six. The Aggies lost nine straight at one point that season on the way to a 7-19 record.

BIG TIME IN THE BIG WEST: Fipps' 1,634 career points rank 23rd on the Big West Conference's all-time list -- one of three active players making the climb up the league's chart this season (CSUN's Ashlee Guay [1,691 for 18th] and Cal Poly's Ariana Elegado [1,490 for 34th] are the others). Fipps is the third Aggie to reach the 1,000-point milestone since UC Davis has been a Big West member, joining Paige Mintun (1,364 points from 2007-11) and Kasey Riecks (1,076 points from 2008-12).