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DAVIS, Calif. — Champions of the Big West Conference regular season and tournament, the UC Davis women's basketball team's NCAA Tournament run begins close to home and against a familiar foe as the No. 15-seeded Aggies will take on No. 2-seeded and host Stanford on Saturday (March 23) at Maples Pavilion. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. PT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
The Aggies and Cardinal will be joined in the four-team sub-regional by West Coast Conference champion No. 7 BYU and SEC at-large No. 10 Auburn, which will clash in the first game of the day at 12:30 p.m. PT. Ticket information will be released on UCDavisAggies.com as soon as it becomes available.
UC Davis is making its second-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a Division I program and its first since the 2011 season when it was a No. 16 seed against No. 1 Stanford.
The Aggies enter the postseason with a 25-6 overall record and a 16-game winning streak after defeating UC Irvine in the Big West Tournament semifinals and mounting an epic comeback from down 17 points in the third quarter to defeat Hawai'i in the championship game, 58-50. UC Davis ran roughshod through the Big West schedule with a 15-1 record, avenging its only regular season conference defeat — a five-point loss in Honolulu in February — with its win over the Rainbow Wahine in the title game.
Led by three-time Big West Coach of the Year
Jennifer Gross, the Aggies are led by senior biomedical engineering major
Morgan Bertsch and the twin sister guard tandem of senior psychology majors Karley and
Kourtney Eaton, who have combined to post a 97-34 (.740) overall record in their four seasons — the most wins of any senior class in the program's Division I history and the fourth-highest win total of any four-year period in the history of the program.
Bertsch, the Big West Player of the Year and conference tournament MVP, enters the NCAA Tournament averaging 23.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, shooting .503 from the field and 83 percent from the line. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native stands fourth in the nation in both points (729) and points per game, while ranking seventh in both field goals (266) and free throws (175) made.
The Eaton sisters have formed one of the top backcourt combos in the nation, keeping the ball in the hands of their teammates all year. Karley enters the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 2 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio with 101 assists against only 25 miscues, while Kourtney — an All-Big West first-team selection and the school's career assist leader — ranks among the top five in the Big West in assists per game (fourth) and assist-to-turnover ratio (third).
Together, the duo is also the top three-point shooting threats in the conference, with Kourtney leading the Big West (.463) while Karley stands second (.440).
UC Davis has also received huge contributions from sophomore cell biology major
Cierra Hall, a Big West All-Tournament Team selection after averaging 14.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg in two tournament games while shooting .565 (13-for-23) from the field en route to the title, as well as All-Big West honorable mention choice in junior communication major
Nina Bessolo (8.9 ppg, 54 three-pointers made) and junior biological sciences major
Sophia Song, a defensive stopper who is averaging 5.8 ppg and hit the go-ahead three-pointer to complete the comeback in the tournament championship game.
Stanford, the champions of the Pacific-12 Conference after finishing second in the regular season, enters NCAA play with a 28-4 overall record and a 15-3 mark in league play, winning its final nine contests — including victories over California, Washington, and Oregon in the conference tournament. Alanna Smith leads a trio of Cardinal in double figures at 19.6 ppg, shooting 51 percent from the field and grabbing 8.6 rpg.
2019 NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
March 23, 2019, at Stanford, Calif. (Maples Pavilion)
First Round
No. 10 Auburn vs. No. 7 BYU, 12:30 p.m. (TV: ESPN2)
No. 15 UC DAVIS vs. No. 2 Stanford, 2:30 p.m. (TV: ESPN2)
Second Round
Auburn/BYU vs. UC Davis/Stanford, TBA (TV: TBA)
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. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, 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.
