OPENING TIP: Following a huge win in Honolulu that gave it some breathing room in the Big West Conference standings, the UC Davis women's basketball team closes out the home portion of its 2020 schedule with a single game this week, celebrating its senior class of Nina Bessolo, Sophia Song, and Katie Toole prior to tip-off against UC Riverside on Saturday (Feb. 29) at 2:30 p.m. at The Pavilion.

NEXT UP…
GAME 27: UC Riverside (8-18, 4-8) at UC Davis (15-11, 10-3)
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. PT
WHERE: The Pavilion in Davis, Calif.
RADIO: KDVS 90.3 FM (PxP: Greg Wong)
STREAMING VIDEO: BigWest.TV
LIVE STATS: UCDavisLiveStats.com

BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can get an inside look at UC Davis women's basketball by following them on their many social media accounts. Like or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, at @UCDavisWBB. In-game updates will also be available on the team's Twitter feed.

IN THE POLLS: Neither UC Davis, nor UC Riverside, are ranked among the top 25 entering this week's game.

ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE: The Highlanders enter the week with an 8-18 overall arecord and a 4-8 mark in Big West Conference play, facing Cal State Fullerton on Thursday (Feb. 27) at home before heading north to meet the Aggies... UC Riverside has lost its last two -- dropping both games last week against Cal Poly (L, 62-52) and UC Santa Barbara (L, 65-47)... The Highlanders are just 2-13 away from home this year, losing their last two dating back to a 67-62 win at CSUN on Feb. 6, while defeating only New Mexico State back on Nov. 5 for their only other road triumph... Senior Jannon Otto leads the a trio of Riverside players in double figures at 16.4 ppg, shooting .445 from the field while leading the team with 61 assists... Senior Marina Ewodo (11.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg) and junior Keilanei Cooper (10.4 ppg) are also in double figures... The Highlanders are averaging just 58.2 ppg and shooting .387 from the floor, allowing 67.8 ppg and a .381 field goal percentage.

SERIES NOTES: UC Davis leads the all-time series with UC Riverside by a 39-25 count dating back to the 1971-72 season... The Aggies had their three-game winning streak in the series snapped with a 75-70 loss in the Inland Empire in the Big West opener back on Jan. 9, but have won seven of the last nine... UC Davis leads the series 18-11 in the program's Division I era... The Aggies are also 17-8 against the Highlanders at The Pavilion, having won the last three since 2017.

GUESS WHO'S BACK: The second time is, hopefully, the charm for former UC Davis women's basketball standout Morgan Bertsch, who signed a contract with the WNBA's Dallas Wings and will join them for training camp prior to the 2020 season. She returns to the franchise that selected her in the third round (29th overall) of the 2019 WNBA Draft -- the first Aggie to be drafted and the first from a Big West school since 2011. For the complete release, visit: https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2020/2/11/womens-basketball-bertsch-inks-contract-with-wnbas-dallas-wings.aspx.

ALL SHE DOES IS WIN: Head Coach Jennifer Gross solidified her hold on third place in career coaching victories at UC Davis with her 171st win at Hawai'i, breaking a tie with Pam Gill-Fisher (1975-79, 1981-86, 1987-88) thanks to a Jan. 25 win at Cal Poly. Having won better than 61 percent of her games at the helm since taking over the progam in 2011-12, Gross now sets her sights on Jorja Hoehn, who won 205 games in nine seasons from 1988-97, and Sandy Simpson, who won 251 games in 14 years from 1996-97 and 1998-2011.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE: Ten of the Aggies' 15 victories this season have come at The Pavilion, averaging 69.3 ppg and shooting .437 from the floor, while holding opponents to just 59.1 ppg and .340 from the field. Compare that to the road, where UC Davis is averaging 64.4 ppg to the opposition's 65.1 ppg, shooting .401 to the opposition's .403. Standing 10-3 at home this season, the Aggies are a combined 48-7 at The Pavilion over the last three-plus years and have posted a winning home mark in each of the last seven seasons -- including double-digit wins in each of the last four.

CLOSING ON A MILESTONE: The Aggies are just four wins shy of 250 wins in the program's Division I history, entering the week with a 246-159 (.607) record.

BEAT US ONCE...: Shame on you. Beat us twice? Well, that rarely happens. Courtesy of Aggie play-by-play voice Greg Wong, UC Davis has not lost back-to-back Big West Conference contests since the Aggies lost at Hawai'i (70-50) and at home against UC Riverside (90-76) on Feb. 18-20, 2016.

DIALED IN: UC Davis has made a three-pointer in 520 consecutive games dating back to Feb. 15, 2003, at Cal State San Bernardino. Since then, the Aggies have shot .350 (3,622-for-10,337) from beyond the arc.

DENIED: When the Aggies limited the Rainbow Wahine to just 25 percent shooting from the field in last Saturday's victory, it marked the seventh time this year (and the second time against Hawai'i) that a UC Davis opponent has shot less than 30 percent from the floor and the lowest since CSUN shot just .250 on Jan. 29 at The Pavilion. In two contests this year, the Aggies' defense has clamped down on the Rainbow Wahine, holding them to just .265 (31-for-117) from the floor.

GIVE THEM (ONLY) FIVE: The five points allowed to Hawai'i in the fourth quarter of Saturday's win are the fewest in any quarter surrendered by the UC Davis defense since limiting Cal Poly to five on Jan. 25. The total is tied for the second-fewest in any quarter this year and the fewest since the Rainbow Wahine scored four in the second quarter during the first meeting between the two on Jan. 11 at The Pavilion.

NO THREE FOR ME: UC Davis has held the last four opponents -- and 10 of the last 12 -- to 28 percent or lower from beyond the arc, and the 15th time under 30 percent overall this year.

AWW, SHOOT!: Meanwhile, the Aggies have shot better than 40 percent from the field in seven of their last eight games, shooting .430 (192-for-446) -- including a best of .481 against Cal Poly -- in that stretch.

TURNER IS TOPS: The freshman came up huge for the Aggies in Honolulu, draining a three-pointer to give her team the lead after it had fallen behind by eight and then scoring five points during UC Davis' decisive 13-0 second-quarter run that gave the Aggies the lead for good. Turner finished a career high-tying 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc en route to 13 points -- the fifth time the Fontana, Calif., native has finished in double figures this season and her highest total since scoring 15 at Stanford in December. Ten of her 13 points came in the second quarter -- the 13th time an Aggie has finished in double digits in a quarter this year.

MIGHTY MACK: The 5-foot-7 guard rebounded at a rate the belied her size at Hawai'i, finishing with a career-high seven boards to go with her eight points and two assists in nearly 29 minutes. The performance surpassed her previous best of six set in a double-overtime win over Sacramento State back on Nov. 26.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DIVA: With her 11-point performance at Hawai'i, Hall has now reached double digits in five of her last six games, averaging 13.7 ppg and 8.0 rpg in the process while shooting .526 (30-for-57) from the floor and .555 (10-for-18) from beyond the arc -- shooting better than 50 percent from the field in a game five times.

CAROM QUEEN: Thanks to her 12 rebounds combined in last week's two games, Hall now trails Fipps (2011-15) by only two for sixth place on the school's Division I career list with 539, while her 186 rebounds this year now rank 10th on the program's Division I single-season list -- just 22 behind Marfone's record of 208 set during the 2014-15 campaign. Hall, who is one of only three different Aggies in the program's Division I era to grab 200 rebounds in a season, enters the week ranked No. 6 in the Big West in rebounding.

GIMME A (SECOND) CHANCE: Four of Hall's 12 rebounds last week came on the offensive end, giving her 71 offensive rebounds for the year and breaking her own program single-season Division I record. Her total represents the most in a season since Ellen Porshneva had 71 offensive rebounds in 2003-04, while her next o-board would be the most since Sarah Allen grabbed 85 on the offensive end in 2002-03.

IN THE MARGINS: With their 17-point win over Hawai'i, the Aggies posted their ninth double-digit victory of the season -- and their largest since a 22-point triumph over CSUN at home. On the flip side, eight of UC Davis' 11 defeats this year have come by single digits.

EIGHT IS GREAT: It's been quite a chore for opposing teams to keep sophomore Sage Stobbart off the boards as of last as the North Vancouver, B.C., native finished the win over Hawai'i with 11 rebounds (and eight points) -- her eighth double-digit performance this season, her fifth in the last seven games, and the seventh time in 13 Big West Conference contests.

SAGE STO-BLOCK: Stobbart's 34 blocks this season are just four shy of Staci Stevens' 1988 total for 10th on the program's all-time single-season top 10 list and just one back of a pair of Aggie greats (Alyson Doherty in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and Paige Mintun in 2009-10) on the Division I seaso list. Meanwhile, her 50 career swats rank seventh on the program's Division I list, just six shy of Celia Marfone (2012-16).

PASSING FANCY: Six assists last week has Trpcic moving up the Aggie charts as her 113 helpers this season has her tied with Kourtney Eaton's 2015-16 total for fifth on the program's Division I single-season list and stands just 41 shy of Eaton's record of 154 in 2017-18. The Hamilton, Ontario, native collected only the eighth 100-assist season in the program's Division I history and is only the fifth different player on that 100-assist list joining Kourtney (four times) and her sister Karley (102 in 2018-19), Dani Nafekh (130 in 2015-16), and Molly Greubel (103 in 2013-14).

SEASON OF GIVING...: Junior guard Mackenzie Trpcic is a giver. Her 113 assists and 4.35 assists per game entering the week both rank among the top two in the Big West, and among the top 100 in the NCAA in those categories (No. 86 and No. 91, respectively). It's not uncharted territory for Trpcic, who finished her sophomore year at Albany No. 14 in the nation in assists per game (6.47) following a school sophomore season record 207 helpers in 2017-18 -- which also ranked No. 15 in the country at the end of the year.

THE RIGHT TOOLE FOR THE JOB: Senior Katie Toole has finished in double figures in 22 of 26 contests this season -- a far cry from her 2018-19 season that saw her score just 50 combined points in 23 games. The Farmington, Utah, native continues to enjoy the finest season of her collegiate career, entering the week ranked sixth in the league in scoring (14.1 ppg), while standing among the top 10 in points (5th - 367), field goal percentage (2nd - .513), field goals (6th - 141), and three-point percentage (3rd - .425). Meanwhile, her 367 points stand just 35 shy of breaking onto the program's single-season Division I scoring list, trailing Alyson Doherty (402 in 2014-15) for 10th place.

MAKING THE ADJUSTMENT: UC Davis has outscored the opposition by a combined 38 points over the first two quarters this season, but the third period has been where the Aggies have really done their damage this year, holding a plus-79 (436-357) advantage coming out of the locker room after the break.

GOTTA SHOOT THE THREE: UC Davis enters the week with 229 three-pointers this season -- extending a run that has seen the Aggies hit at least 200 three-pointers in every season since the 2008-09 campaign. UC Davis, however, is still a ways off the single-season record of 289 triples sunk in 2017-18.

ROLLIN' IN THE DEEP: The Aggies enter the week with a Big West-best 229 made three-pointers (41 better than second-place Hawai'i) and 8.81 per game ranking among the top 20 in the nation in both categories at No. 15 and No. 11, respectively, entering the week.

DEEP FROM DEEP: Entering Saturday's clash against UC Riverside, the Aggies feature five of the Big West Conference's top 10 sharpshooters -- and three of the top four overall. Freshman Evanne Turner ranks second in the league at .436 for the year, senior Katie Toole ranks third at .425 for the season, sophomore Makaila Sanders is fourth at .397, junior Mackenzie Trpcic is sixth at .376, and senior Sophia Song is 10th at .346 for the year. Overall, UC Davis ranks No. 16 in the country in three-point percentage as a team (.365) following last week.

SWAT TEAM: Opponents have found little room inside against the Aggies as of late as the UC Davis defense is averaging 4.8 blocks per game over its last five contests, entering the week third in the Big West with 82 blocks overall and averaging 3.15 blocks per game this season.

MINUTE WOMEN: UC Davis has six players averaging better than 20 minutes per game this season -- led by Katie Toole's 28.1 minutes per contest -- showcasing depth that hasn't been seen since the 2015-16 season when the Aggies finished the year with seven players averaging better than 20 minutes per.

BIG WEST BOOST: Since the start of conference play, Stobbart has been a beast on the boards, grabbing more than half (111) of her 177 rebounds in Big West play and averaging 8.5 rpg in 13 games -- the former leading the team since the start of conference play. Stobbart has raised her season average by nearly two full rebounds since the start of Big West play, up from 5.1 rpg to 6.8 rpg entering the week.
 

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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 15 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.

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MARYA WELCH INITIATIVE
Named after the former physical education instructor, coach and Dean of Women who founded women's sports on the campus 25 years before the passage of Title IX, the Marya Welch Initiative for Women's Athletics provides comprehensive support for UC Davis' 16 women's athletics programs. Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year. All gifts to the Marya Welch Initiative are matched 1:1, doubling the impact on our women's programs. Visit https://give.ucdavis.edu/ATHG/324041 for more information.