NEXT UP…
UC Davis (26-6) at Wyoming (22-10)
Women's National Invitation Tournament - Second Round
Sunday, March 18, 2018 | Noon PDT | Laramie, Wyo. | Arena-Auditorium
RADIO: KDVS 90.3 FM (PBP: Greg Wong)
TV: Mountain West Digital Network
FOLLOW: Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio | Tickets | UC Davis Notes | Wyoming Notes

UC DAVIS
Nickname: Aggies
Location: Davis, Calif.
2017-18 Record: 26-6
Home / Away / Neutral: 14-1 / 10-4 / 2-1
2017-18 Big West Record: 14-2
Scoring Leader: Morgan Bertsch, 19.8 ppg
Rebounding Leader: Pele Gianotti, 5.8 rpg
Assist Leader: Kourtney Eaton, 4.61 apg

ON THE BENCH
UC Davis Head Coach: Jennifer Gross
Alma Mater: UC Davis '97
Years: 7th Season
Career/UC Davis Record: 129-90 (.589)
Big West Conference Record: 69-42 (.622)
Associate Head Coach: Joe Teramoto
Assistant Coaches: Des Abeyta, Matt Klemin

WYOMING AT A GLANCE
2017-18 Overall / Mountain West: 22-10 / 13-5
Home / Away / Neutral: 13-2 / 8-5 / 1-3
Head Coach: Joe Legerski
Alma Mater: Wyoming '79
Years: 15th Season
Career Record: 289-176 (.622)
School Record: Same
Associate Head Coach: Gerald Mattinson
Assistant Coaches: Bojan Jankovic, Heather Ezell

SERIES VS. WYOMING
Overall: First Meeting
Current Streak: None
at Davis, Calif.: 0-0
at Laramie, Wyo.: 0-0
at Neutral Site: 0-0
First Meeting: First Meeting
Last Meeting: First Meeting

TIP-OFF: The postseason continues for the UC Davis women's basketball team as the Aggies (26-6 overall) hit the road for Laramie, Wyo., to take on Wyoming in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament at the Arena-Auditorium on Sunday (March 18) at Noon PDT (Please note the time change from the originally announced 1 p.m. tip off time announced earlier).

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" women's basketball (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 @UCDavisWBB.

WATCH THIS!: Fans and followers of UC Davis women's basketball unable to make the trip to Laramie can join like-minded individuals to watch the game at Woodstock's Pizza in Downtown Davis located at 219 G St. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

MID-MAJOR MOVERS: A season-ending loss has the Aggies down to No. 13 in the latest College Insider mid-major poll released on Tuesday (March 6), falling out of the top 10 for the first time since Jan. 2 (No. 12). The drop ended a run of seven consecutive weeks in the top 10, where the Aggies stood for 12 of the 18 weeks this season. UC Davis has stood among the top 25 of the College Insider poll every week this season, debuting at No. 20 in the preseason.

Tracking the Aggies in the CollegeInsider.com poll
Preseason - No. 20
Nov. 14 - No. 17
Nov. 21 - No. 11
Nov. 28 - No. 8
Dec. 5 - No. 8
Dec. 12 - No. 5
Dec. 19 - No. 5
Dec. 26 - No. 7
Jan. 2 - No. 12
Jan. 9 - No. 10
Jan. 16 - No. 8
Jan. 23 - No. 8
Jan. 30 - No. 7
Feb. 6 - No. 10
Feb. 13 - No. 9
Feb. 20 - No. 9
Feb. 27 - No. 8
March 6 - No. 13

HAVE GAMES WILL TRAVEL: It wouldn't be the WNIT if the Aggies weren't on the road. Just two days after becoming the first Big West Conference school to host a WNIT game, UC Davis will hit the road for the 2,630-mile round trip to Laramie, Wyo. (altitude 7,165). This comes a year after the Aggies hit the road for three WNIT games, traveling a total of 4,552 round-trip miles and playing at elevations of 5,002 (Colorado State), 4,226 (Utah), and 2,352 feet (Washington State). When you add in UC Davis' three previous WNIT road games in 2008 (Gonzaga), 2010 (California), and 2012 (Oregon State), the Aggies will have traveled 9,952 round-trip miles for seven WNIT contests.

AGGIES IN THE POSTSEASON: The 2017-18 season marks the Aggies' sixth foray into the postseason in its 11 seasons at the Division I level, and back-to-back trips following last year's "Sweet 16" appearance in the WNIT... This year marks UC Davis' fifth appearance in the WNIT since 2008, posting a 2-4 record in those five appearances -- with every game played on the road... The wins over Utah and Colorado State at last season's WNIT were the program's first-ever postseason victories at the Division I level... The Aggies have also made an appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament in 2011, falling to Bay Area rival Stanford... UC Davis was a mainstay at the NCAA Division II Tournament before making the jump, advancing to the NCAA West Regionals 12 times in 14 years from 1986-99, including a third-place national finish in 1997.

UC DAVIS DIVISION I POSTSEASON HISTORY
2008 - WNIT - at Gonzaga - L, 81-60
2010 - WNIT - at California - L, 74-69 (ot)
2011 - NCAA - at Stanford - L, 86-59
2012 - WNIT - at Oregon State - L, 66-48
2017 - WNIT - at Utah - W, 72-62
2017 - WNIT - at Colorado State - W, 58-57
2017 - WNIT - at Washington State - L, 71-62
2018 - WNIT - vs. Idaho - W, 82-62

MILLENEUM MILESTONES
1. Carol Rische (1979-83) - 1,711 points
2. Sydnee Fipps (2011-15) - 1,636
3. Morgan Bertsch (2015-pres.) - 1,598
9. Ellen Porshneva (2003-06, 2007-08) - 1,251
10. Jennifer Gross (1993-97) - 1,243
11. Pele Gianotti (2014-pres.) - 1,184
18. Kasey Riecks (2008-12) - 1,071
19. Rachel Nagel (2014-pres.) - 1,037
20. Kendall Greene (1992-96) - 1,027
-- Dani Nafekh (2014-pres.) - 873

AGGIES IN THE NCAA: UC Davis is one of the top shooting teams in the nation, entering the WNIT second round as the No. 6 team in the nation in three-point shooting (.391) and No. 14 in field goal percentage (.470) as of March 15... The Aggies also rank in the top 25 in assists per game (No. 16), overall assists (No. 18), and winning percentage (No. 19), as well as standing in the top 50 in five other categories: field goal percentage defense (No. 33), assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 30), three-pointers per game (No. 37), and three-pointers made (No. 32).

ABOUT THE COWGIRLS: Wyoming improved to 22-10 overall with its first-round win over New Mexico State on Thursday... The Cowgirls finished 13-5 in the Mountain West to place third... Wyoming finished 13-2 at home this season, winning four of its last five... Senior guard Liv Roberts leads the way, averaging 14.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and shooting .474 from the field... Sophomore forward Taylor Rusk (10.2 ppg) is also in double figures in scoring, while junior forward Bailee Cotton leads the team in rebounding (6.2 rpg)... The Cowgirls average 61.4 ppg and shoot .422 from the field as a team, allowing just 56.7 ppg and a .393 field goal percentage.

SERIES RECORDS: Sunday's second round WNIT contest will be the first between the two programs.

WIN AND WHERE: The Aggies' win over Idaho in the first round of the WNIT gave them their 26th victory of the season -- a new Division I program record for wins in a season and tying them for the second-most victories in a single campaign tying the 26-5 Aggies in 1990-91 and trailing only the 29-3 UC Davis team that finished third nationally in 1996-97... Meanwhile, on the conference side of the ledger, the Aggies' 14-2 mark tied the Division I school record set last season (14-2)... The 28 wins in league over the last two seasons are the most in the program's Big West era, surpassing the 21 wins from 2009-11 (11-3 & 10-6), and the most in a two-year span since 1998-00 when the Aggies were 32-8... The 28 conference wins over the last two years are the most in the league since UCSB finished 30-2 over the 2007-09 campaigns.

#PROTECTTHEPAVILION: With their victory over Idaho, the Aggies moved to 14-1 at The Pavilion this season -- establishing a new program Division I record for home victories and posting the most wins at home since the 1996-97 team finished 16-0. UC Davis, which has won its last nine straight at home, has been impressive in defending its home court, winning 26 of its last 29 at The Pavilion and posting a combined 63-33 (.656) record at home under Head Coach Jennifer Gross.

AGGIES PACE BIG WEST IN THE RPI: After reaching as high as No. 42 in the nation in the RPI at one point this season, the Aggies continue to pace their Big West sistren as of March 12, ranking 73rd in the RPI and standing as the only Big West team in the top 100 thus far (Cal Poly is second among league members at No. 148). The No. 42 ranking earlier this season was the highest that UC Davis had been ranked in the RPI dating back to Dec. 29, when the Aggies stood 40th.

WINNING IN THE WNIT: The Aggies entered the 21st annual WNIT tied for the fourth-most victories overall among the field of 64, and sports the third-best winning percentage (.806) behind only South Dakota and UAB (.813), which finished the regular season at 26-6 overall and tied with Drexel (26-7) for the most wins in the tournament field.

POSTSEASON PREPARED: Combined with the announcement of the 2018 NCAA Tournament field earlier in the day, and the release of the 16-team Women's Basketball Invitational bracket later Monday night, the Aggies have faced eight teams that have secured a postseason berth this season in NCAA selections CSUN (No. 16 seed vs. No. 1 Notre Dame), Seattle (No. 15 seed vs. No. 2 Oregon), and Oregon State (No. 6 seed vs. No. 11 Western Kentucky), as well as WNIT selections Saint Mary's (an automatic qualifier out of the West Coast Conference), UCF (an automatic qualifier out of the American Athletic Conference), and Fordham (an at-large selection out of the Atlantic-10 Conference). In addition, UC Irvine and Yale were both selected to compete at the WBI.

DOUBLING UP: Of UC Davis' 26 victories this season, 18 of those have been by double digits, with eight of those by 20-or-more points. Of those eight, two have been by 30-or-more points: a 32-point win at Pacific on Nov. 20 and a 30-point win over conference rival Long Beach State on Feb. 15.

POINTS MADE: The Aggies' 82 points in the win over Idaho on Thursday night were the most scored by UC Davis in a WNIT game (as well as the most field goals made with 34) in the program's history and were tied for the third-most by a team through the tournament's first two days along with New Mexico. Georgia Tech scored 85 in its win over Bethune-Cookman, while West Virginia finished with 83 against Bucknell.

STAY ON TARGET: When the buzzer sounded on UC Davis' 20-point win over Idaho, the Aggies finished the night shooting .557 from the field against the Vandals -- the 13th time this season that they have hit at least half their shots from the floor in a game. The percentage was the fourth-highest of the year for UC Davis and the highest at home this season after the team's previous four best shooting performances came on the road at Long Beach State (.585), at Saint Mary's (.569), at Hawai'i (.558), and at Cal State Fullerton (.556).

NOTHING FOR FREE: The Aggies were awarded only six free throws in their win over Idaho on Thursday -- the seventh time that they have finished with single-digit attempts from the line -- but made the most of their trips, making five. The five makes are tied for the fewest this season, matching the 5-for-6 night against San Francisco on Dec. 6.

PLAYING FROM AHEAD: Thursday's win over Idaho marked the seventh time this season that UC Davis has led a game wire-to-wire, and the 19th time that the Aggies have led for 30-or-more minutes in a game. All told, UC Davis has led for 859 of the 1,285 minutes played this season.

QUEENS OF THE QUARTER: Twenty times this season an Aggie has finished with double-digit points in a single quarter after Bertsch scored 12 of her game-high 27 points in the first quarter of last week's win over Idaho -- the 15th time that the junior has accomplished the feat. Since the NCAA returned to four quarters in 2015-16, senior Pele Gianotti holds the program record for points in a quarter with 13 in the fourth against Cal Poly on Feb. 22, 2017 -- a mark Bertsch tied in the second quarter at Cal State Fullerton on March 1.

SPEAKING OF SCORING: Junior Morgan Bertsch, the highest scoring junior in the history of the program, finished with a game-high 27 points on 12-of-15 from the field against Idaho -- 20 of those coming in the first half -- scoring the most points and making the most baskets by an Aggie in a WNIT contest in the program's history. As of March 15, Bertsch ranks No. 26 in the NCAA in points (a school single-season record 632), No. 30 in points per game (19.8 ppg), and No. 29 in field goal percentage (.560).

RECORD RUN CONTINUES FOR BERTSCH: The biomedical engineering major's 12 makes from the field on Thursday give her 658 for her career, pushing her past Carol Rische (1979-83) for the most in UC Davis history. As of March 15th, Bertsch ranked No. 2 in the nation in field goals made with a school single-season record 274 (trailing only Iowa's Megan Gustafson with 308), and entered the postseason at No. 5 in the country.

THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME?: Entering Sunday's contest with 1,598 career points to her name, good for third on the all-time list, Bertsch needs just 113 more to catch Carol Rische (1979-83) for the top spot and 223 more points to pass Audwin Thomas (1,821 points from 1975-79) on the men's side to become the all-time leading scorer in UC Davis basketball history. Although there are games still to be played, Bertsch -- who ranks fifth on a combined men's and women's all-time scoring list after passing Preston Neumayr on Thursday night -- could join rarified air in Big West history as well if she can repeat this year's success as a senior, needing 402 more points to reach 2,000 for a career, something only seven other players in the history of the league have done.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DAMAGE: Chalk up two more records for Bertsch, who recorded the 30th and 31st double-digit performances of the season -- and the 80th and 81st of her career -- at the Big West tournament to set new program Division I records in both categories. Teammates Pele Gianotti (59) and Rachel Nagel (44) also rank fifth and seventh, respectively, on that same career list.

MISS CONSISTENTCY: Bertsch's 32 consecutive double-digit scoring games this season (read: every game this season) is a new program Division I record, breaking her own mark of 23 straight such performances from Feb. 18, 2016, to Jan. 5, 2017.

"KOURT" VISION: Four more assists in the WNIT opener has pushed junior Kourtney Eaton into second on the school's career assists list with 398, passing Sara Lillevand (1988-91) and putting her just 50 assists behind Head Coach Jennifer Gross (448 from 1993-97) for the all-time mark. Her 143 helpers this season are also a program Division I era record, breaking her own mark of 142 set last season, and stands second all by herself on the all-time single-season list, trailing only Lillevand's 159 assists in 1990-91. It is Eaton's third season with at least 100 assists and only the fifth such season by an Aggie in the Division I era.

IN A GIVING MOOD: UC Davis has been the queens of making the extra pass this season, ranked No. 16 in the nation in assists per game (17.3 apg) and No. 18 in overall assists (553), while ranking No. 20 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.22) as of March 15. Meanwhile, Kourtney Eaton enters the weekend ranked No. 81 in the nation in assists per game (4.6), No. 76 in total assists (143), and No. 36 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.34).

SWAT TEAM: Freshman Cierra Hall's block in the first quarter of the Big West tournament championship game was a record-breaker, giving the Aggies 130 blocks as a team to break last year's short-lived mark of 129. UC Davis, which now has 134 blocks this season, have collected at least four blocks in a game 21 times this season en route to its third straight campaign with at least 100 swats (125 in 2015-16 and 129 in 2016-17).

BLOCK YOU VERY MUCH: Already the fifth Aggie to reach the century mark in career blocks at Seattle on Nov. 26, Bertsch upped her career total to 144 swats against Idaho on Thursday, solidifying her hold on third place on the school's all-time list. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native is just three back of Alyson Doherty (147) for second place, and is well-within striking distance of Paige Mintun (150) for the all-time lead. Meanwhile, Bertsch's 51 blocks this season rank third on the all-time single-season list and stands just six behind her single-season record of 57 set last season.

SHE'S GOT GAME(S): No one has appeared in more games in UC Davis history than senior political science major Pele Gianotti, who collected career game No. 128 on Thursday against Idaho, blowing past Samantha Meggison's previous record of 123 games played from 2008-12. A four-year contrbuter who has started every game since her sophomore campaign, Gianotti also broke Jennifer Gross' all-time consecutive games streak of 119 from 1993-97, appearing in every game since she stepped foot on campus as a freshman.

MINUTE WOMEN: It hasn't been often that Gianotti and classmate Dani Nafekh haven't been on the floor during their four-year careers. Nafekh, who ranks second on the school's Division I career games list with 126, has played in nearly two-thirds of the minutes in those games (3,290) to stand behind only Kasey Riecks (3,350) on the Division I list, while Gianotti is third in minutes played with 3,213 in her Aggie career.

PELE ON THE BOARDS: Gianotti's seven rebounds on Thursday against Idaho gave the Oregon native 604 rebounds for her career, making her the fourth UC Davis player to reach that plateau in the program's Division I history, joining Alyson Doherty (708), Celia Marfone (682), and Paige Mintun (606). The political science major needs only five rebounds to move into the top 10 on the school's all-time list, while 15 more boards would make Gianotti only the third player in the program's Division I history to reach 200 in a season, joining Celia Marfone (208 in 2014-15 and 202 in 2015-16) and Alyson Doherty (200 in 2015-16).

BOARDING SCHOOL: In addition to her 1,000-point milestone, Gianotti became only the the fourth player in the program's Division I history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in a career, joining Alyson Doherty (2012-16), Paige Mintun (2007-11), and Sydnee Fipps (2011-15). With 476 career rebounds entering Sunday's game against Wyoming, Morgan Bertsch could become the fifth player in that group with 24 more boards.

LEADERS BY EXAMPLE: Bertsch will finish this year's campaign as the team's leading scorer for the third consecutive season, becoming only the fifth Aggie to lead the team in scoring in three consecutive seasons, with a chance to join Carol Rische as the only UC Davis players to do so all four years of their collegiate careers. Staci Stevens in 1985-88, Paige Mintun in 2008-11, and Sydnee Fipps in 2012-15, are the only other three Aggies to accomplish the feat three times. Meanwhile, Gianotti is also on the verge of becoming the third straight Aggie to lead the team in rebounds in back-to-back seasons after Sydnee Fipps in 2012-14 and Celia Marfone in 2014-16.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!: The Aggies clinched their second consecutive Big West regular season title -- and the program's third overall -- claiming the first back-to-back titles for UC Davis since it ended a run of five consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association crowns from 1995-99, and the 15th overall regular season conference title dating back to 1978. The Aggies are the first Big West school to win outright consecutive regular season titles since UC Santa Barbara did the same from 2007-09.

TWIN TITLES: Move over Green Bay. With the men's double overtime win over UC Irvine to clinch their third league title in four years, the city of Davis, Calif., has become the Big West's "Titletown." This year marks the first time that both men's and women's regular season champions hail from the same school since 2008 when UC Santa Barbara swept the titles, and it is the seventh time since 1984 that the same school sports both regular season champions along with the 1984 (UNLV), 1985 (UNLV), 1990 (UNLV), 1991 (UNLV), and 2003 (UCSB), seasons.

ALL-TOURNEY DUO: Senior Pele Gianotti and junior Morgan Bertsch represented the Aggies on the six-woman Big West All-Tournament Team -- the fourth time in the program's history that UC Davis has had two players so honored. For Bertsch, it was her second career all-tournament award after picking up her first as a freshman, joining Heidi Heintz (2010-11), Paige Mintun (2010-11), and Alyson Doherty (2015-16), as two-time honorees for the Aggies.

GROSS REPEATS AS COACH OF THE YEAR: For the second consecutive season, UC Davis Head Coach Jennifer Gross was named the Big West Coach of the Year, joining mentor Sandy Simpson as Aggie women's basketball coaches to have earned that honor twice from the conference in a career. Gross is the first repeat winner of the award in the league since UC Santa Barbara's Mark French shared the award in 1999-00, then won it outright in 2000-01, and marks only the fifth time overall in conference history that a coach has won the award in consecutive seasons.

BERTSCH HEADLINES ALL-BIG WEST HONORS: Junior biomedical engineering major Morgan Bertsch was named to the first team for the second consecutive season, seniors Pele Gianotti (political science) and Rachel Nagel (psychology) earned second team honors, while senior managerial economics major Dani Nafekh was selected to the honorable mention team. For Bertsch and Gianotti, it was their third career All-Big West honors, while Nafekh picked up her second, and Nagel earned the first of her career. Read the complete release online at: http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030518aab.html.

THAT'S FRESH: In addition to the above honors, let's not leave out newcomer Cierra Hall, who became the eighth UC Davis student-athlete named to the Big West All-Freshman Team. Hall, a cell biology major from Cypress, Calif., gives the Aggies one of the league's top freshmen for the fourth consecutive season, joining teammates Nafekh (2014-15), Bertsch (2015-16), and Nina Bessolo (2016-17). The 2009 Big West Freshman of the Year, Lauren Juric, Kasey Riecks (2008-09), Alyson Doherty (2012-13), and Molly Greubel (2012-13), have also been honored.

FIRST!: Bertsch's inclusion on the All-Big West first team marks the 12th such honor in the program's history as the Santa Rosa, Calif., native became the third UC Davis player to earn at least two first-team nods in a career along with Paige Mintun (2009-11) and Sydnee Fipps (2013-15). With her selection, Bertsch gives the Aggies a first-team honoree in every season since joining the Big West -- the only program in the conference to do so in that span.

THAT WAS FAST: UC Davis' victory over CSUN on Feb. 10 made the 2017-18 Aggies the quickest team to 20 wins in the program's Division I history, doing so in just 24 games to beat last year's squad that did so in 26 games. This year's squad now ranks as the seventh-fastest on the all-time list after the Aggies reached 20 wins in 22 games four times in 1991-92, 1995-96, 1996-97, and 1998-99, to set the record.

BACK-TO-BACK: At 25 victories thus far this season, UC Davis has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the second time in the program's Division I history, the fifth time overall, and the first since UC Davis finished 21-11 in 2009-10 and 24-9 in 2010-11. The Aggies also posted back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1979-80 (20-9) and 1980-81 (23-8), four straight years from 1988-92, and a run of six consecutive 20-win seasons from 1993-99.