GAME 21: Cal State Fullerton (4-16, 1-6) at UC Davis (14-6, 5-2)
Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017
2:30 p.m.
The Pavilion (5,931)
Davis, Calif.
TV: None
RADIO: KDVS 90.3 FM
Game Coverage: Gameday Central (Audio/Video/Stats) | UC Davis Notes | Cal State Fullerton Women's Basketball

TIP-OFF: Coming off a big win to keep pace in the race for the top spot in the Big West Conference, the UC Davis women's basketball team (14-6, 5-2) closes out its weekend at home on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 28), welcoming Cal State Fullerton to Northern California. For the second time in a week, the Aggies and Titans will lock horns, tipping off at 2:30 p.m. as the front end of a doubleheader with the men's team at The Pavilion.

IN THE POLLS: Both UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton are unranked nationally this week by the Associated Press, USA Today, or the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major 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 (facebook.com/UCDavisWomensBasketball) as well as follow them on Twitter and Instagram (@UCDavisWBB). In-game updates on game day are also available on Twitter by following @UCDavisInGame.

ABOUT THE TITANS: Cal State Fullerton enters Saturday's game with a 4-16 overall record and a 1-6 mark in Big West play following a, 65-48, loss at home to Long Beach State on Thursday night... The Titans have lost their last three straight dating back to a 64-53 win over UC Irvine on Jan. 14, including a 70-51 defeat at the hands of UC Davis on Jan. 19 in Orange County... Fullerton enters the weekend winless (0-8) on the road, and have lost 19 of 21 away from home dating back to last season... Junior guard Iman Lathan leads the way, averaging 16.1 ppg to go with 6.4 rpg and shooting .395 from the field... Sophomore Daeja Smith is also in double figures at 10.5 ppg and leads the way on the boards with 8.0 rpg, shooting .518 from the floor.

SERIES NOTES: UC Davis leads the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton, 15-10, dating back to the 2004-05 season... The Aggies have won the last five meetings with the Titans, including a 19-point win earlier this year... Of UC Davis' 15 wins in the series, only five have come at the Pavilion as the Aggies are just 5-7 against Fullerton at home... UC Davis has won its last two home games against the Titans over the last two seasons, after Fullerton had won four straight in Northern California from 2010-14.

INCOMING!: UC Davis women's basketball solidified its front line with a trio of signings during the NCAA's early signing period on Nov. 10, welcoming three high school standouts to the "Aggie Family." Southern California natives Kayla Konrad (Valencia, Calif. / Valencia HS) and Cierra Hall (Cypress, Calif. / Fairmont Prep Academy) join highly-rated Canadian post Sage Stobbart (North Vancouver, British Columbia / Seycove Secondary School) in the Aggies' signing class, who all begin their careers as true freshmen in 2017-18. For more details on the three signees, read the entire release at http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/111016aac.html.

RPI LEADERS: The Aggies, who have been ranked as high as No. 40 in the nation in the RPI this season, enter Thursday's game at No. 89 in the rankings (as of Jan. 23) -- one of only two Big West Conference schools in the top 100 (No. 85 Long Beach State). UC Davis has faced four other teams currently in the top 100: No. 8 Oregon State, No. 9 Stanford, No. 78 Montana State, and No. 79 Jacksonville, along with three more among the top 150 with No. 122 UCF, No. 127 Saint Mary's, and No. 145 San Francisco.

#PROTECTTHEPAVILION: With an 8-2 record within the friendly confines of The Pavilion this season, UC Davis has matched last season's home win total (8-5) and stands four back of the Division I Era mark for home wins set in 2010-11 (12-3) with four home contests remaining. The Aggies have won 12 of their last 15 on its home floor, and are a combinbed 45-32 (.584) at The Pavilion under Jennifer Gross.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A POINT MAKES: Thanks to its big win against UC Riverside, UC Davis is a perfect 12-0 this season when scoring 70-or-more points, but is just 2-6 when held to 69-or-fewer after scoring just 62 points against Long Beach State on Jan. 21.

TWINBILL TRIUMPHS: Saturday afternoon marks the second of four home doubleheaders with the men's team after the Aggies laid claim to their fifth straight victory on such dates with their win over Hawai'i on Jan. 7. UC Davis have won 11 of its last 12 home doubleheader dates, improving to 18-4 in its half of the twinbill during the program's Division I Era, including an 8-2 mark against Big West opponents. In 22 all-time home doubleheaders, both the men and women's teams have swept the day 10 times, including three of the last five dates.

SHOOTER!: UC Davis remains at the top of the Big West when it comes to scoring offense at 71.7 ppg (No. 73 in the nation), helped along by the fact that UC Davis is one of the most accurate shooting teams in the country. The Aggies rank No. 28 in the NCAA in field goal (.450), No. 32 in free throw (.756), and No. 39 in three-point percentage (.359), entering Saturday's game against Cal State Fullerton leading the Big West in all three categories.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NATION: Entering the week, the Aggies also rank among the top 50 in the country in assists per game (No. 22), assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 26), overall assists (No. 29), three-point percentage defense (No. 33), fewest fouls per game (No. 45), three-pointers made (No. 48), and field goal percentage defense (No. 33). Overall, UC Davis ranks among the top 100 teams in 20 different categories as of Jan. 27.

MOVING ON: If there has been a silver lining to losses this season, it would be that the UC Davis coaching staff hasn't allowed the student-athletes to dwell on them too long. The Aggies have yet to lose back-to-back games this season, rebounding from each of their six defeats with huge victories: a 20-point win over San Diego State (after Hofstra), upsetting mid-major No. 14 Saint Mary's (after Stanford), posting a Division I Era record 110 points at Sacramento State (after Oregon State), a 41-point win over UC Irvine in their Big West opener (after Jacksonville), and double-digit wins over CSUN (16 points) and UC Riverside (17 points) following losses to Long Beach State.

YOU WON'T LIKE US WHEN WE'RE ANGRY: Opponents beware. In following up all six of their losses with six wins, the Aggies have won five of those games by double digits, and out-scored the opposition by an average of 21.3 ppg (a total of 495-367).

MILESTONE ON THE HORIZON?: Bertsch is just 221 points away from becoming the 18th player in UC Davis history to reach 1,000 points for her career, but she has some work to do -- needing to average 22.1 ppg over the final 10 games of the season (nine regular season games, plus the possibility of only one postseason contest). If she were to reach the mark with a monster finish this season, Bertsch would become the first sophomore to do so in the history of the program after three former greats (Carol Rische, Ellen Porshneva, and Sydnee Fipps) accomplished the feat as juniors.

GIANOTTI GOES OFF: A big night for junior Pele Gianotti helped the Aggies bounce back from their second Big West loss of the year, as the Myrtle Creek, Ore., native finished with a season-high 22 points on a season-high eight makes from the field to help UC Davis to the 17-point win. It was the second 20-point game of the season for Gianotti (her first since finishing with 20 in the season opener against Portland on Nov. 11) and her fourth career 20-point performance.

GIVING NO QUARTER: A huge third quarter run on Thursday against UC Riverside saw the Aggies hold the Highlanders to just four points in the period -- and only two until a jumper in the final minute of the quarter -- to set a new season low for points allowed in a quarter this season, besting the previous mark of six points allowed in the first quarters of wins over Portland (Nov. 11) and Holy Names (Nov. 13).

RUN AGGIES, RUN!: An 18-0 run in the third quarter on Thursday night against UC Riverside broke open what was a close contest at halftime, and marked the Aggies' largest run of the season, surpassing the 17 consecutive points scored at San Francisco on Dec. 21.

I'LL TAKE EATON FOR 200, ALEX: With four more assists against UC Riverside on Thursday, sophomore Kourtney Eaton has amassed 198 for her career -- moving her to within two helpers of becoming only the sixth player in the program's Division I history to reach 200 for a career. Sporting the second-highest assist total (85) entering Saturday's game, Eaton has finished with no fewer than three assists in 19 of the team's 20 games, while turning the ball over two-or-fewer times in 15 of those contests -- including five games with zero turnovers. Entering the weekend, Eaton ranks second in the Big West and No. 26 in the nation with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

BLOCKED OUT: UC Davis was held without a block for the first time this year on Thursday against Riverside -- the first time that had happened since the Aggies were held block-less dating back to last year's Big West Tournament semifinal against the Highlanders.

SHE'S BAAAAAAACK...: After being held to single digits in the scoring column against Long Beach State on Jan. 12 for the first time since February of last season, sophomore Morgan Bertsch has bounced back in a big way in her last four games, hitting 24-of-43 (.558) and averaging 16.0 ppg over that span. While her double-digit scoring streak came to an end at 23 games, the Santa Rosa, Calif., native has still been stellar over the last 28 games, averaging 17.3 ppg (485 overall) and shooting .558 (189-for-339) from the floor in that stretch.

SHE CAN DISH IT OUT: Junior Dani Nafekh has solidified her hold on second place on the school's Division I list for career assists with 257, ranking behind only Hana Asano (278) on that list, and moving her closer to Jessica Campbell (274) for 10th on the all-time chart, needing just 17 more to match the all-time Aggie great. Nafekh is only the fifth player in the program's Division I history to reach 200 assists, joining Asano, Blair Shinoda (223), Alyson Doherty (214), and Celia Marfone (206).

RECORD CHASING: Three first half blocks on Jan. 21 at Long Beach State solidified sophomore Morgan Bertsch's hold on eighth place on the school's all-time list with 72 career swats, placing her just eight back of Ellen Porshneva (2003-06, 2007-08) for the No. 7 spot. Her 36 swats this season (which rank No. 62 in the NCAA) ties her own total from all of last year and moves her into a tie for eighth with herself on the school's single-season list, just two back of Staci Stevens' total from 1987-88.

SWAT TEAM: When it comes to patrolling the paint, not many have done it better than the Aggies' tandem of Bertsch and junior Marly Anderson, who have combined for 62 of the team's 81 swats thus far this season. Bertsch leads the way and has tallied at least one block in 18 of her team's 20 games -- including a career high-tying four against Saint Mary's (Dec. 11) and Sacramento State (Dec. 18), and 11 games with two or more -- while Anderson has at least one block in 17 of the team's 20 games and is second on the team with 26 overall, including three in wins over Montana State and San Diego State.

CENTURY MARK: With 81 blocks thus far this season, the Aggies are just 19 away from hitting the century mark for the second straight year and 44 back of the school's single-season mark of 125 established last season. Should they reach 100 for the year, it will be the third time in the last five seasons that the Aggies will tally at least 100 blocks in a single campaign, and the fourth time since NCAA records are available in 1992-93 along with the 1994-95 UC Davis squad that finished with an even 100 for the year.