DAVIS, Calif. — The two-time defending Big West Conference champion UC Davis women's basketball team opens the season against NCAA Tournament participant Stanford on Nov. 7 — part of a 29-game regular season schedule announced by Head Coach Jennifer Gross on Friday.

Season ticket plans for this year's campaign are now on sale, starting as low as $110 for the 13-game home schedule at The Pavilion. Get yours now by contacting the UC Davis athletic ticket office at (530) 752-AGS1 or online at UCDavisAggies.com.

Fresh off a run into the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, the Aggies finished 28-7 overall — the second-most wins in school history — set, or tied, 10 different school single-season team records, and ranked among the top 50 in the nation in 12 different categories. The Aggies are scheduled to face three NCAA Tournament opponents from a season ago starting with their season opener against the Cardinal, who reached the third round before falling to Final Four participant Louisville. Stanford is joined by Western Athletic Conference champion Seattle (Dec. 9) and Big West tournament champion CSUN (Jan. 24 and Feb. 2) on this year's slate.

In all, UC Davis will face six teams that advanced to some sort of postseason play and has the opportunity to face preseason WNIT participant Northern Illinois should the results of an early December tournament play out. In addition, eight of the Aggies' 2018-19 foes finished among the top 150 teams in last year's RPI — a ranking that had UC Davis at No. 73 in the nation at the end of the year.

The season opener against Stanford is preceded by an exhibition against Cal State East Bay on Nov. 1, and opens a non-conference slate that sees the Aggies play eight of their first 11 games on the road. Local rival Pacific serves as the home opener on Nov. 11, before UC Davis takes flight for the Pacific Northwest to take on Portland State (Nov. 16) and familiar foe Washington State (Nov. 18) — the latter the third such meeting between the two programs in as many years.

A home game against Southern Utah follows on the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 23), before the Aggies pack their bags once again for four straight games away from The Pavilion. UC Davis opens the trip at Loyola Marymount on Nov. 27, followed by a trek to Missoula, Mont., to take part in the Lady Griz Classic. The tournament field features the Aggies, host Grizzlies, Nevada, and Northern Illinois.

The Aggies return home for their annual Causeway Cup clash with Sacramento State on Dec. 7 before a home game against Seattle. Local Bay Area rivals San Francisco (Dec. 15) and Saint Mary's (Dec. 17) follow on the road and at The Pavilion, respectively, prior to finals week, as UC Davis won't return to the court until Dec. 29, when it hosts Dominican to close out the non-conference schedule.

After posting a 28-4 mark in Big West play over the last two seasons, the Aggies tip-off league play on the road for the fifth consecutive season, heading to Southern California to take on UC Riverside on Jan. 5. UC Davis hosts Cal State Fullerton in a doubleheader on Jan. 17 to tip-off the conference home schedule, all of which comes together at the Big West Tournament on March 12-16 in Irvine and Anaheim, Calif.

The NCAA Tournament begins on March 22, with the Final Four held in Tampa, Fla., on April 5-7.

UC Davis returns eight letter winners and two starters of off last season's squad, led by three-time All-Big West selection Morgan Bertsch, who averaged 20.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game a season ago. The record-setting biomedical engineering senior set six single-season school records in 2017-18, and enters her senior season just 43 points shy of Carol Rische's all-time scoring record that has stood since 1983.

Senior point guard Kourtney Eaton also returns to captain the backcourt after posting 154 assists as a junior — the second-highest single-season total in school history. Eaton, who ranked among the top 100 players in the nation in both assists (No. 62), assists per game (No. 83), and assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 40), enters the year ranked second on the all-time assist list with 409 — just 39 short of Gross' career record.

2018-19 UC DAVIS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS AT-A-GLANCE
Thurs., Nov. 1 — CAL STATE EAST BAY: The Pioneers finished 16-13 overall and 12-10 in CCAA play, falling in the first round of the conference tournament to Humboldt State by a single point… Cal State East Bay is slated to return its top two scorers in junior forward Morgan Greene and senior guard Elayshia Woolridge, who averaged 16.0 ppg and 13.0 ppg, respectively, a season ago… Greene also was a beast on the boards, averaging 12.7 rpg (No. 2 in the nation) as part of 21 double-doubles en route to first team All-CCAA honors.

Wed., Nov. 7 — AT STANFORD: The Cardinal, who ranked No. 15 in the nation according to the final Associated Press poll and No. 13 by the coaches at the end of the 2017-18 season, returns 12 letter winners off last year's squad that finished 24-11 overall and advanced to its 11th consecutive "Sweet 16"… Stanford returns four of its top five scorers from last season, led by senior forward Alanna Smith, who averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while standing as the only Cardinal player to start all 35 games.

Sun. Nov. 11 — PACIFIC: The Tigers finished the year 15-17 overall and 7-11 in the West Coast Conference, advancing to the semifinals of the league tournament before falling to San Diego… Senior guard Ameela Li was one of four double-digit scorers for Pacific last season and leads the returning group on offense after averaging 12.1 ppg and shooting 44 percent from the floor.

Fri., Nov. 16 — AT PORTLAND STATE: The Vikings finished 19-13 overall and 11-7 in the Big Sky Conference, ending the year with a run to the conference semifinals before falling to Idaho… Portland State returns nearly their entire squad from last season, led by senior guards Ashley Bolston (16.6 ppg) and Sidney Rielly (16.2 ppg), who helped pace an offense that averaged 72.5 ppg and shot just under 44 percent from the field as a team.

Sun., Nov. 18 — AT WASHINGTON STATE: For the third time in as many seasons, the Aggies and the Cougars will meet on the court as UC Davis visits Pullman for the first time since the two met in the third round of the WNIT in 2017… Washington State finished 10-20 overall and 3-14 in the Pac-12 last season and is under the direction of first-year head coach Kamie Ethridge, who spent the last four years as the head coach at Northern Colorado, leading the Bears to the NCAA Tournament in 2018… The Cougars return their top three scorers from last season, led by junior forward Borislava Hristova, who averaged 17.8 ppg and shot 45 percent from the field.

Fri., Nov. 23 — SOUTHERN UTAH: Under the direction of first-year head coach Tracy Sanders — formerly the associate head coach at Saint Mary's — the Thunderbirds are looking to bounce back from a 2017-18 campaign that saw them finish just 3-27 overall and 2-16 in Big Sky Conference play… Southern Utah loses three of its top five scorers from a season ago, but retains the services of leading scorer Breanu Reid, who averaged 9.8 points and 2.6 rebounds last year.

Tues., Nov. 27 — AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: For the first time in the history of the two programs, UC Davis and Loyola Marymount will take the court against one another — one of three possible first-time opponents for the Aggies this season along with Montana and Northern Illinois… The Lions finished 20-11 overall and 11-7 in West Coast Conference play last season before being ousted in the first round of the league tournament by San Francisco… Senior guard Gabby Green leads the charge after finishing second on the team in scoring at 13.0 ppg, while tacking on 6.6 rpg, 4.7 apg, and leading the team with 93 steals and 36 blocks.

Sat. Dec. 1-2 — AT LADY GRIZ CLASSIC: The Aggies are joined by host Montana, Nevada, and Northern Arizona, in this tournament to kick-off the month of December… The event is the ninth regular season tournament that UC Davis has competed in at the Division I level, posting a 12-6 mark in games — including a 4-1 record against the host school… UC Davis has never faced Montana or Northern Illinois, but will travel 908 miles (as the Google Maps flies) to face a Nevada team that is located only 146 miles from the UC Davis campus… The Aggies have won nine of the 10 all-time meetings with the Wolf Pack, but the two programs haven't faced one another since 1981 — a 79-55 UC Davis victory in Reno.

Fri., Dec. 7 — AT SACRAMENTO STATE: The high-powered Hornets finished 7-23 overall and 5-13 in Big Sky Conference play, falling to Montana in the opening round of the league tournament… Sacramento State returns nine letter winners off of last season's squad and welcomes eight new faces to the fold, paced by junior guard Hannah Friend, who led the team in scoring at 17.5 ppg.

Sun., Dec. 9 — SEATTLE: The reigning Western Athletic Conference tournament champion Redhawks finished 18-15 overall and 9-5 in conference play, earning the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to Oregon in the opening round… Seattle is without its top two scorers from a season ago, but junior guard Kamira Sanders returns to lead the way after averaging 11.5 ppg and 5.6 rpg, shooting just over 44 percent from the field.

Sat., Dec. 15 — AT SAN FRANCISCO: The Dons finished 16-15 overall with a 10-8 mark in West Coast Conference play a season ago, returning just five players and welcoming eight new faces to the roster — seven of those international signees… USF loses three of its top four scorers as senior guard Shannon Powell leads the returning group on offense after averaging 12.2 ppg and 5.3 rpg, while shooting 43 percent from the floor overall.

Mon., Dec. 17 — SAINT MARY'S: The Gaels wrapped up the 2017-18 season with a 20-11 overall record and a 13-5 mark in West Coast Conference play, falling to Pacific in the quarterfinals of the league tournament… Saint Mary's advanced to the WNIT for the ninth consecutive season, falling at New Mexico in the first round… The Gaels lost the services of leading scorer Stella Beck (15.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg), but return a pair of double-digit scorers in senior forwards Megan McKay (15.3 ppg) and Sydney Raggio (14.0 ppg).

Thurs., Dec. 29 — DOMINICAN: The Penguins — Division II members of the PacWest Conference — finished 18-12 overall and 11-9 in league play last season, falling to Hawai'i Pacific in the tournament semifinal… Dominican returns two of their top three scorers led by senior guard Natalie Diaz, who led the team in scoring at 24.1 ppg to go with 9.0 rpg, while shooting just under 49 percent from the floor on 285 made baskets.

ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 6-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.

AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.