NEXT UP…
GAME 26: Cal Poly (10-15, 6-7) at UC Davis (19-6, 10-2)
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017
7:00 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 Poly Women's Basketball

TIP-OFF: Winners of six straight -- and eight of its last nine -- the first-place UC Davis women's basketball team (19-6 overall, 10-2 in the Big West Conference) return home to The Pavilion for the final time this season with a one-game lead in the league standings, hosting Cal Poly in its annual Breast Health Awareness game on Wednesday (Feb. 22). Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Fans are asked to join the two teams in wearing pink in support of the cause, with t-shirts and pink ribbons to be handed out to the first arriving fans when the doors open an hour before tip-off.

Prior to the game, UC Davis will also celebrate the 31st anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day with activities featuring a number of Aggie student-athletes from various athletic programs, including field hockey, lacrosse, and golf, in the upper concourse. Kids of all ages are invited to interact and compete against these UC Davis athletic mentors at the various stations, each featuring a different game or challenge, for prizes.

IN THE POLLS: Both UC Davis and Cal Poly are unranked nationally this week by the Associated Press and USA Today… The Aggies are receiving three votes in the Feb. 14 CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll. An updated top 25 will be released on Feb. 21.

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 MUSTANGS: Cal Poly enters the week with a 10-15 overall record and a 6-7 mark in the Big West Conference for sixth place... The Mustangs split their two games last week, extending their winning streak to three with a two-point win over Long Beach State, but fell to UC Irvine on Saturday in overtime at home... Seven of Cal Poly's 10 wins this season have come at home as the Mustangs are just 3-9 away from the Mott Athletic Center this season, but they have won three of their last four road contests... Junior Lynn Leaupepe leads the team offensively, averaging 14.8 ppg to go with a team-high 7.8 rpg... Her sister, Dynn, and teammate Hannah Gilbert are also in double figures at 14.6 ppg and 14.0 ppg, respectively... Together, the trio have combined to score nearly two-thirds of the team's points.

SERIES NOTES: UC Davis holds a 28-13 lead in the all-time series with Cal Poly, including a 10-10 mark during the Aggies' Division I Era against the Mustangs... UC Davis has won its last three meetings with Cal Poly, including an eight-point win (61-53) in San Luis Obispo, Calif., earlier this season... The Aggies are 15-9 at home against the Mustangs, having won five of the last seven... A win on Wednesday would give UC Davis its second consecutive regular season sweep of Cal Poly.

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.

#PROTECTTHEPAVILION: With an 10-2 record within the friendly confines of The Pavilion this season and two home contests remaining this season, UC Davis has already surpassed last season's home win total (8-5) and has posted the most home victories since the 2010-11 squad set the Division I Era record for home wins with a 12-3 mark. The Aggies have won 14 of their last 17 on their home floor, and are a combinbed 47-32 (.595) at The Pavilion under Head Coach Jennifer Gross.

MATCH GAME: A win on the Islands in their only game last week gave the Aggies 19 overall and 10 in Big West play entering the final home weekend of the regular season, matching the win totals in both categories for all of last year when they finished 19-13 overall and 10-6 in league. A win on Wednesday against Cal Poly would give UC Davis its third 20-win season at the Division I level and the first since the Aggies finished 24-9, won the Big West Tournament, and earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament, in 2010-11.

STREAKING: Last week's win at Hawai'i gave the Aggies their season-best sixth straight victory, surpassing their 4-0 start to the 2016-17 season for the longest of the year. This streak is the longest for UC Davis since it won six straight from Nov. 19-Dec. 6 during last season, while a seventh consecutive victory on Wednesday against Cal Poly would tie the longest in the program's Division I history set from Feb. 2-23, 2008, and tied from Jan. 4-28, 2010.

ALL SHE DOES IS WIN, WIN, WIN: Head Coach Jennifer Gross is listed among the Aggie record books in a number of categories, including one which has her as the winningest UC Davis player of all time as a part of 101 total victories as a student-athlete from 1993-97, winning no fewer than 22 games in a season during her four years, culminating in a 29-3 record and a third-place finish nationally as a senior. That winning mentality has carried over into her coaching career as the Aggies' sixth-year mentor stands three wins shy of 100, which would put her alonside former coaches Sandy Simpson (251), Jorja Hoehn (205), and Pam Gill-Fisher (164), as UC Davis women's basketball coaches who have reached the century mark in the win column. With four regular season games remaining (plus any possible tournament contests), Gross could reach the milestone as soon as March 2 at UC Riverside.

ANOTHER MILESTONE ON THE HORIZON?: Bertsch is just 136 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 27.2 ppg over the final five games of the season (four 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.

DE-FENSE! (CLAP, CLAP) DE-FENSE! (CLAP, CLAP): Take your best shot, but the Aggies' defense will make sure it's not a good one. The Aggies enter the week ranked among the top 25 in the nation in both field goal percentage defense (No. 18) and three-point field goal defense (No. 20), allowing opponents to shoot just over 35 percent overall and just over 27 percent from beyond the arc. As a result, each of the Aggies' last six opponents have scored 55 points or fewer, held to an average of 47.8 ppg during UC Davis' recent win streak.

WIRE-TO-WIRE: Last week's win at Hawai'i marked the fourth straight game -- and the sixth time this season -- that UC Davis has led wire-to-wire, joining victories over Holy Names (Nov. 13), UC Irvine (Jan. 5), Cal Poly (Feb. 2), UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 4), and UC Irvine (Feb. 11). The Aggies haven't trailed for the last 184:15 of gametime dating back to a three-pointer by Cal State Fullerton's Jordan Jackson for a, 14-13, Titan lead at the 5:45 mark of the second quarter on Jan. 28.

RUN AWAY AND HIDE: Thanks to a 19-point triumph over Hawai'i last Thursday, nine of the Aggies' last 10 victories -- and 14 of their 19 wins overall this season -- have been by double digits, with the largest being a 41-point triumph over UC Irvine back on Jan. 5. In addition, seven of those 18 wins have been decided by 20-or-more points following a 20-point victory over UC Irvine on Feb. 11.

CENTURY MARK: With 97 blocks thus far this season, the Aggies are just three away from hitting the century mark for the second straight year and 28 back of the school's single-season mark of 125 established last season. Should they reach 100, it will be the third time in the last five years 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 team that swatted an even 100.

I'LL TAKE BERTSCH FOR 20: The sophomore hit for 20-or-more points for the third time in her last four games (the lone outlier a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double against UC Irvine on Feb. 11) at Hawai'i last week, finishing with a game-high 24 points while tying a career high with 11 field goals made. The performance against the Rainbow Wahine marked the eighth performance of at least 20 points this season and the 18th of her career, while the 11 field goals made represented the fourth time that the Santa Rosa, Calif., native has reached that mark in her career -- the last coming at UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 4.

GIANOTTI GOES OFF: Tying a career high with nine made baskets in Honolulu last Thursday, Gianotti collected her third 20-point game of the season and added 10 rebounds to record her third double-double of the year -- the latter breaking a tie with Bertsch for the most by an Aggie this season. Gianotti's five career double-doubles are the most among active Aggies.

TWO FOR 20: With Bertsch (24) and Gianotti (20) both reaching the 20-point plateau in Honolulu last week, the Aggies posted two players with at least 20 points in the same game for the first time since a win over San Diego State on Dec. 2 at The Pavilion when Dani Nafekh finished with a career-high 28 points to go along with Bertsch's 20 against the Aztecs.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DUTY: Bertsch's 23 double-digit scoring performances rank sixth on the school's single-season list during the program's Division I Era, while the 44 for her career stand fifth on the career chart during that same time. The sophomore's eight 20-point games this season also rank fifth, while the 18 for her career stand second behind only Sydnee Fipps, who had 32 such games from 2012-15.

RECORD CHASING: Tying a career high with four more swats in the win at Hawai'i last week moved Bertsch into a tie with Ellen Porshneva (2003-06, 2007-08) for seventh on the school's all-time list with 80, standing just seven behind current assistant coach Des Abeyta (1996-00) for the No. 6 spot. Bertsch's 44 blocks this season (which rank No. 79 in the NCAA as of Feb. 19) moved her into a tie for fifth place on the school's single-season list with Kendall Greene's 1994-95 total and stands just four back of Greene's 1993-94 total for fourth. Bertsch also ranks third on the program's Division I single-season chart behind Paige Mintun (56) and Alyson Doherty (50).

DROPPING DIMES: Kourtney Eaton's career high-tying nine assists at UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 4 marked the ninth time this season -- and the 20th time in her career -- that the Washington native has finished with at least five assists in a game, and the eighth time in her two seasons as an Aggie with seven-or-more in a game.

HELPING HANDS: Powered by Kourtney Eaton's team-high 107 assists this season, the Aggies rank among the top 25 in the nation in both assists (421 overall) and assists per game (16.8 apg) -- good for No. 46 and No. 20, respectively, in each category as of Feb. 19.

ONE FOR YOU, NONE FOR THEM: In racking up those 107 assists, Eaton has turned the ball over only 40 times this season, posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.68 that ranks first in the Big West and No. 20 in the NCAA. The Longview, Wash., native has finished with no fewer than three assists in 23 of the team's 25 games, while turning the ball over two-or-fewer times in 18 of those contests -- including five games with zero turnovers. Overall, the Aggies rank No. 23 in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.23 as a team as of Feb. 20.

SHE CAN DISH IT OUT: With five assists at Hawai'i last week, junior Dani Nafekh solidified her hold on second place on the school's Division I career list with 271, standing only seven back of Hana Asano for the program's Division I mark and three behind Jessica Campbell for 10th on the school's all-time list. Nafekh is one of only six players to amass 200-or-more assists at the Division I level in the program's history: Asano (278), Nafekh (271), Blair Shinoda (223), Kourtney Eaton (220), Alyson Doherty (214), and Celia Marfone (206).

SWIPER, NO SWIPING: UC Davis was a little handsy on Feb. 2 at Cal Poly, finishing the night with a season-high 18 steals -- the most since they had the same number against Akron on Nov. 30, 2013. Led by a career-high tying five swipes from sophomore Kourtney Eaton, UC Davis finished just four shy of the school's Division I record of 22 at CSUN on Feb. 9, 2008.

FEW AND FAR BETWEEN: When the Aggies turned the ball over on Jan. 14 against CSUN, it must have come as a shock to many because it didn't happen very often. UC Davis finished with only six miscues against the Matadors, not only setting a new season best, but tying the program's Division I record set against CSUN in 2010-11 and tied against UC Riverside a year later.