NEXT GAME…
Cal Poly (6-20, 3-12) at UC Davis (21-6, 13-1)
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 | 6:00 p.m. PT | The Pavilion | Davis, Calif.
RADIO: KDVS 90.3 FM (PxP: Greg Wong)
TV: None
UC Santa Barbara (8-20, 5-10) at UC Davis (21-6, 13-1)
Saturday, March 9, 2019 | 2:30 p.m. PT | The Pavilion | Davis, Calif.
RADIO: KDVS 90.3 FM (PxP: Greg Wong)
TV: None
OPENING TIP: With its third consecutive Big West Conference title and, with it, the top seed in next week's league tournament, already wrapped up, the UC Davis women's basketball closes out its regular season at home this week, welcoming Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara to The Pavilion. The Aggies and Mustangs meet on Wednesday (March 6) at 6 p.m., before the Gauchos pay a visit on "Senior Day" Saturday (March 9) at 2:30 p.m.
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.
ANOTHER RECORD FOR PLAYER OF THE WEEK BERTSCH: Another record has fallen for senior biomedical engineering major
Morgan Bertsch, who was named the Big West Player of the Week for a sixth time this season and the ninth time in her prestigious career on March 4. Bertsch's sixth award this season ties a conference record set by Cal State Fullerton's Genia Miller and UC Riverside's Brittany Crain, who each won six awards during the 1990-91 and 2015-16 seasons, respectively. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native's nine career awards moved her into a tie for seventh on the list, sitting alongside Miller and UC Santa Barbara's Lindsay Taylor. Read the complete release:
https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/3/4/womens-basketball-another-record-for-big-west-player-of-the-week-bertsch.aspx.
IN THE POLLS: After four straight weeks among those receiving votes, UC Davis is among the top 25 in the March 5 College Insider Mid-Major poll for the second consecutive week, up one spot to No. 22 in the nation. The Aggies are among the top 25 in that poll for the first time since the preseason rankings had UC Davis at No. 19 in the country back on Nov. 1. Neither Cal Poly, nor UC Santa Barbara, are ranked entering this week.
THE CHAMP IS HERE (AGAIN): A pair of victories last week in Southern California gave UC Davis its third consecutive outright Big West Conference title -- the first program to "three-peat" since UC Santa Barbara won 10 consecutive crowns from 1996-2005. With it, the Aggies earned the No. 1 seed in next week's Big West Tournament and a bye into the semifinals on Friday (March 15) facing the lowest remaining seed following the first two rounds.
"SEMI"-SWEET: By virtue of locking down the tournament's top seed, the 2019 season marks the fifth straight year -- and the eighth time in 12 seasons overall (2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) -- that the Aggies have gained the semifinal round of the Big West Tournament, winning five of their seven previous chances and posting an 5-2 all-time record in the semifinals, advancing to the tournament championship game twice in the last three seasons.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!: The Aggies clinched their third consecutive Big West regular season title -- and the program's fourth overall -- claiming the first back-to-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 16th overall regular season conference title dating back to 1978.
POSTSEASON BOUND: While the team has its sights set a little higher, the Aggies have clinched at least a berth into the Women's National Invitation Tournament for the third consecutive season and the program's seventh postseason berth overall at the Division I level. UC Davis advanced to the NCAA Tournament following a Big West Tournament victory in 2011, and has earned WNIT berths in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2017, and 2018 -- making a run to the "Sweet 16" in 2017 and an "Elite Eight" run last season before falling to eventual tournament champion Indiana at historic Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
BRACKETOLOGY: As the postseason draws near, ESPN's Charlie Creme has UC Davis projected as a No. 14 seed for the NCAA Tournament (as of March 3), one of four teams headed to Corvallis, Ore., and facing host and No. 3-seeded Oregon State. No. 6 Drake and No. 11 Rice join the Aggies and Beavers in the "Beaver State" to round out the foursome. You can view the entire bracket at
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: Cal Poly enters the week with a 6-20 overall record and a 3-12 mark in Big West play... The Mustangs enter their season finale against UC Davis having lost two straight -- and six of their last seven -- posting a, 69-58, win over Cal State Fullerton as the only hiccup in that stretch... Cal Poly is just 1-11 away from home, losing its last eight dating back to a 60-50 win at SeattleU on Dec. 17... Hana Vesela (11.5 ppg) and Devin Stanback (10.9 ppg) are both in double figures, while Alicia Roufosse is the team's leader on the glass, averaging 5.5 rpg.
SERIES NOTES: UC Davis leads the all-time series with Cal Poly by a 32-23 count, having won the last seven straight following an 85-61 triumph back on Feb. 9 in San Luis Obispo... The Aggies have topped the 80-point plateau in each of the last four meetings with the Mustangs, including 85 points in each of the last two meetings and five times during their seven-game winning streak... UC Davis is 7-9 at home against Cal Poly, winning the last three meetings at The Pavilion after an 85-77 victory last year.
ABOUT THE GAUCHOS: UC Santa Barbara enters the week with an 8-20 overall record and a 5-10 mark in Big West play... The Gauchos enter their season finale against UC Davis having won two straight with victories over Cal Poly (44-42) and UC Riverside (61-44)... UC Santa Barbara is just 1-12 away from home this season, having lost its last seven straight since a 63-58 win at San Diego State on Dec. 21... Junior Coco Miller leads the team in scoring at 12.7 ppg and shoots just under 35 percent from the floor, while junior Natalia Bruening paces the squad on the glass, averaging 6.0 rpg.
SERIES NOTES: UC Davis leads the all-time series with UC Santa Barbara by a 20-18 count, having won the last three meetings -- and the last six regular season meetings overall -- following a 70-44 victory in Santa Barbara back on Feb. 7... The Aggies are 8-6 against the Gauchos at home, winning the last three meetings between the two at The Pavilion.
ALL SHE DOES IS WIN: With her team riding a 12-game winning streak, the winningest player in UC Davis history has now been a part of five of the 10 longest single-season winning streaks in school history. Head Coach
Jennifer Gross helped guide her team to the top three winning streaks in school history as the Aggies' point guard -- including a record 23 consecutive wins from Nov. 24, 1995 to Feb. 22, 1996 -- while coaching UC Davis to a 10-game run from Jan. 26-March 4, 2017, in addition to its current streak, which is the longest in the program's Division I history.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING!: The Aggies' two wins at Long Beach State and UC Irvine last weekend marked the team's 11th and 12th consecutive victories -- a new program Division I record and tied for the sixth-longest in a season in the history of the program, tied with the 1971-72 squad.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING... PART II: UC Davis' 12 straight wins ranks tied for eighth among active winning streaks in the nation along with South Dakota State, New Mexico State, and Radford, while UC Davis' 10 straight wins at home are tied for 12th among active streaks in the NCAA, and the 12 straight Big West wins are tied for ninth among longest conference winning streaks in the country. During their current streak, the Aggies have won each of their 12 games by double-digit margins -- seven of those by 20-or-more points -- and an average of 21.3 ppg.
NOT A MATTER OF IF, BUT "WIN": The Aggies' win over Long Beach State got the team to 20 wins for the third consecutive season -- the longest such run since the Aggies won 20-or-more games in six straight seasons from 1993-99. UC Davis' 21 victories this year ranks tied for 13th on the school's single-season wins list, eight shy of the record of 29 wins set in 1996-97.
BE QUICK, BUT DON'T HURRY: UC Davis reached 20 wins in 26 games, tied for the second-fastest to 20 victories in school history, matching the 2016-17 squad. Last season, the Aggies did so in only 24 games to set the program's Division I record, while the all-time record was just 22 games set in 1991-92 and matched by the 1995-96, 1996-97, and 1998-99, teams.
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?: The Aggies' defense has been stifling this season, but probably no more so than last Saturday at UC Irvine, when UC Davis held the Anteaters to just 21.7 percent shooting from the field, including 3-for-32 and 13 points combined (seven in the third and sixth in the fourth) in the second half alone. The overall field goal percentage was the lowest by an opponent since they held Irvine to 16.9 percent (10-for-59) from the floor on Feb. 12, 2009, in Orange County.
SMOTHERED: With the Anteaters shooting just 22 percent from the floor on Saturday, UC Davis held an opponent to under 30 percent shooting for the sixth time this season -- the most in the program's Division I history.
DE-FENSE (CLAP, CLAP): UC Davis enters the week as the Big West's stingiest defense, holding opponents to just 57.3 ppg (which would be the lowest by a Big West school since UC Santa Barbara's 52.9 ppg in 2012-13), .345 shooting from the field, and .277 shooting from beyond the arc, to stand atop the league standings in all three categories. The Aggies, who are allowing an even tinier 51.9 ppg in 14 Big West contests, rank among the nation's best in field goal percentage defense (6th) and three-point percentage defense (21st), while ranking 35th in scoring defense.
I'LL TAKE THE UNDER: The UC Davis defense has limited 11 of its last 12 opponents to fewer than 60 points -- including 49 at Long Beach State and 44 at UC Irvine last week -- with the only hiccup coming when Cal Poly eked out 61 points on Feb. 9. Still an impressive feat, the Aggies are allowing just 47.8 ppg during their 12-game winning streak, while averaging 71.5 ppg of their own at the other end.
WINNING IN THE BIG WEST: UC Davis enters the final week of conference play with a 13-1 mark against league foes, needing two more victories to set a school record for Big West wins after setting and matching the current mark with identical 14-2 records in each of the last two seasons.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A POINT MAKES: UC Davis is 21-2 this season when it scores 60-or-more points, but is 0-4 when scoring 59 points or fewer.
SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS: UC Davis has hit at least 40 percent from the field in each of its last nine contests and has hit the mark 22 times in its 27 contests this year. During its recent 12-game winning streak, the Aggies are shooting just under 47 percent (303-for-654) overall, including 41 percent (109-for-266) from three.
NO, THANKS, I'LL PASS: With her three assists at UC Irvine, senior psychology major
Kourtney Eaton moved into eighth place on the Big West Conference's career list with 533, passing New Mexico State's Connie Vau (1991-95). Eaton is only the third player in conference history to break into the top 10 since 1999-00, joining the 49ers' Reta Sula (1997-01) and CSUN's Ashlee Guay (2011-15), who is next on the list with 541 assists.
WON'T YOU PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME?: Kourtney Eaton's 124 assists this season are just one shy of
Jennifer Gross' 1994-95 total for 10th place on the school's single-season list, one the Longview, Wash., native is already very familiar with. Kourtney already ranks second on the list with 154 assists in 2017-18, and third with 142 helpers in 2016-17, while Sara Lillevand holds the all-time season record with 159 assists in 1990-91.
2K-19: Thanks to a pair of free throws with 4:32 remaining in the Aggies' contest at UC Riverside on Jan. 5, Bertsch became the first student-athlete since the Highlanders' Brittany Crain in 2016 to reach (and surpass) 2,000 points in a career, finishing with a game-high 31 points in front of an ESPN3 audience. Thanks to her 26 points at UC Irvine, Bertsch is a close fifth on the Big West's all-time scoring list with 2,313 points, standing just 13 points behind Crain for fourth, and 102 back of Cal State Fullerton's Genia Miller (1987-91) for third.
MORGAN ON A ROLL: Hold the mayo. Following her two 20-point performances at Long Beach State and UC Irvine last week, Bertsch has now scored in double figures in her last 62 consecutive contests dating back to last season -- and 112 of 127 games overall in her career. The high-scoring Santa Rosa, Calif., native has not been held to single digits since March 23, 2017, in a WNIT "Sweet 16" match-up against Washington State (six points), and has been held without a point in a game only once in her career – at Colorado State on March 19, 2017, in the second round of the WNIT.
STAYING ACTIVE: With her 2,313 career points, Bertsch ranks seventh among active players in the NCAA in that category (as of March 3) while also standing third in career field goals (930).
SENIOR MOMENT: Already the highest scoring sophomore (520 points) and junior (702 points) in the history of the program, Bertsch's 25 points at Long Beach State officially made her the highest-scoring senior in the history of the school, passing Staci Stevens' 600 points during the 1987-88 campaign. Carol Rische, whom Bertsch passed to become the all-time leading scorer in women's basketball history, is the highest-scoring freshman in the program, scoring 459 points in 1979-80.
EIGHT IS NOT ENOUGH: With 20-point nights in wins at Long Beach State and UC Irvine, Bertsch extended her 20-point scoring streak to eight straight contests -- this after posting a six-game run of such performances earlier in the year -- averaging 24.1 ppg over the last month. It marked the 19th and 20th games with at least 20 points this season for the senior and the 57th and 58th such performances of her career, extending her school record. Having reached double figures in 112 of her 127 career contests, that means she is pretty much assured to hit the 20-point plateau every other time she takes the court.
MAKING HER POINT: Currently leading the Aggies with the nation's sixth-highest point total (645) -- and the second-highest single season scoring mark in school history behind her own school record of 702 points set last season -- Bertsch is on track to pace UC Davis in scoring for a fourth time, something only one other player has done in the program's history, joining former school scoring champ Carol Rische, who accomplished the feat from 1979-83.
QUEEN OF THE QUARTER: Thanks to her 11-point first quarter at UC Irvine, Bertsch has now tallied 11 of the team's 16 double-digit scoring quarters this season -- including a school-record 16-point third quarter in a win at Washington State back on Nov. 18.
IN THE MARGINS: Eighteen of the team's 21 wins this season have come via double-digit margins (including 10 of those by 20 points or more and three more of 30 points or more), while four of the team's six defeats have come by seven points or fewer this season.
SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALRIGHT FOR WINNING: The Aggies have played more games on Saturday than any other day this season and that has proved to be a good thing, improving to 10-1 on that day of the week following its win over UC Irvine last week. UC Davis is also not too shabby on Thursdays, going 6-0 on that day.
WORKING BEYOND THE ARC: UC Davis has made a three-pointer in 491 consecutive games dating back to Feb. 15, 2003, at Cal State San Bernardino. Since then, UC Davis has hit .349 from beyond the arc (3,354-for-9,616).
START ME UP: Of her 127 career appearances in an Aggie uniform, Bertsch has missed only six starts -- all coming during her freshman year -- and enters the week having started the team's last 100 consecutive contests dating back to the "Senior Day" game against CSUN in 2015-16. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native is one of only five players in the program's Division I history to start more than 100 games, joining Kasey Riecks (120), Alyson Doherty (113),
Celia Marfone (109), and Hana Asano (102), and stands just four appearances shy of matching
Pele Gianotti's school record for both games played and consecutive games played.
ROOM TO BOARD: Sophomore
Cierra Hall has followed up a stellar freshman season on the glass with an even better one this year with at least four games remaining in the season, grabbing a career-high 168 rebounds -- including 55 on the offensive end. Just five rebounds shy of breaking into the top 10 on the program's Division I single-season list, Hall would need 32 more to become only the fourth Division I Aggie to reach 200 for a season, joining
Celia Marfone (a record 208 in 2014-15 and 202 in 2015-16) and Alyson Doherty (200 in 2015-16).
SPLASH SISTERS: Bertsch may be doing work inside, but that hasn't stopped the UC Davis sharpshooters from doing their thing from beyond the arc. In all, Aggies make up half of the league's top 10 in three-point percentage: senior psychology major
Kourtney Eaton (1st - .458), senior psychology major
Karley Eaton (4th - .410), junior biological sciences major
Sophia Song (6th - .385), junior communication major
Nina Bessolo (8th - .348), and junior human development major
Cierra McKeown (9th - .322).
SHE CAN SHOOT FROM THERE TOO: As if the Aggies needed another sharpshooter, Bertsch can hit from beyond the arc as well, making 20-of-38 (.526) from distance and 12-of-22 (.545) from long range in Big West play. Lofty numbers when you take into account the Santa Rosa, Calif., native was just 4-for-11 in her previous three seasons combined from three-point range.
WHAT'S A FEW MORE FEET?: UC Davis enters the week pacing the Big West in three-point percentage (.362), three pointers made (224), and three-pointers per game (8.3), while standing among the top 50 teams in the nation in percentage (34th), three's made (46th), and three-pointers per game (32nd).
POURING IT ON: With their 10 three's made at Long Beach State last weekend, the Aggies have hit double figures in seven of their 11 contests, and 11 times overall. The 224 three-pointers made rank sixth in a single season in the program's Division I history, but are a little off the pace of last year's Division I school record of 289.
BLOCK YOU VERY MUCH: The Aggies need only four more blocks this season to become only the fifth team in the program's Division I history to reach the century mark in blocked shots. If they can accomplish the feat, it would mark the fourth consecutive season that a UC Davis squad has blocked 100-or-more shots following on the heels of the 2015-16 (3rd with 125), 2016-17 (2nd with 129), and 2017-18 (1st with 145) teams.
NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH: But there are such things as free points... from the free throw line, if you will. After hitting 8-of-12 from the line against Long Beach State and UC Irvine, Bertsch's 143 free throw makes are third on the school single-season list, moving past Sydnee Fipps (138 in 2012-13), while her 175 attempts put her past Lisa Jo Kellogg (158 in 1989), Jackie Turpin (159 in 2006), and Sydnee Fipps (169 in 2013), for fourth. She needs only 10 more makes to catch Kellogg (153 in 1990) for the No. 2 spot, while needing 10 more attempts to match Fipps (185 in 2014) for No. 3 on the list.
A LOT FOR US, LITTLE FOR YOU: Senior psychology major
Karley Eaton has been stingy with the ball... when it comes to the opposition. Karley has dished out a career-high 84 assists against only 23 turnovers, leading the Big West and ranking No. 5 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.65 entering the week. Overall, UC Davis leads the Big West -- and ranks No. 34 in the nation -- in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.16 as a squad.
SISTER ACT: If
Karley Eaton can hand out 16 more assists this season, she would join younger sister Kourtney with 100 assists on the year, becoming the first Aggie duo to reach the century mark in the category since Kourtney (113) and
Dani Nafekh (130) did so during the 2015-16 season.
THE RIGHT COMBINATION: The starting lineup of seniors Kourtney and
Karley Eaton, junior
Sophia Song, sophomore
Cierra Hall, and senior
Morgan Bertsch, has proved to be the right combination for Head Coach
Jennifer Gross this season, as that quintet has been the most successful of seven different starting lineups for the Aggies this season, posting a perfect 8-0 record.
THE 600 CLUB: Bertsch is just the fifth player in the program's Division I history to reach the 600-rebound plateau, joining Alyson Doherty (708),
Celia Marfone (682),
Pele Gianotti (616), and Paige Mintun (606), and became only the fifth player in that same span to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in a career along with Doherty, Gianotti, Mintun, and Sydnee Fipps. With four rebounds last week, Bertsch stands ninth on the all-time list with 649, passing current associate head coach
Des Abeyta (636) and standing 13 back of Aimee Conner (1989-93) for eighth.
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.
