THIS WEEK: Long-time regional rivals clash in Davis on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 13) as the UC Davis women's basketball team welcomes Saint Mary's to the University Credit Union Center for a "High Noon" showdown.
GAME 2
WHAT: Saint Mary's (1-0) at UC Davis (1-0)
WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021
TIME: Noon
WHERE: Davis, Calif.
ARENA: University Credit Union Center (6,003)
WATCH: ESPN+ (Subscription Required)
LISTEN: KDVS 90.3 FM
STATS: UCDavisAggies.com
GAME PROGRAM: https://ucdavisaggies.com/publications/uc-davis-wbb-1
UC DAVIS BASKETBALL GAMEDAY POLICIES: https://ucdavisaggies.com/feature/basketballgameday
Â
WELCOME BACK FANS!...
For the first time since the end of the 2019-20 regular season, fans will be welcomed back into the seats at the newly renamed University Credit Union Center for both men's and women's basketball in 2021-22. In order to provide a healthy and safe event for fans, student-athletes, coaches, and staff, UC Davis will require either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event upon entry to the UCU Center for all fans over the age of 12. A valid CDC vaccination card, a State of California digital COVID-19 record, or proof of a negative test, will be required, as well as a photo ID matching the name on the vaccine record or negative test. CDC approved face coverings that cover both the nose and mouth must be worn at all times while inside the arena unless actively eating or drinking in your seat. For more information, please visit:
https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2021/10/30/mens-basketball-gameday-policies-for-mens-and-womens-basketball.aspx.
Â
COACHES...
UC DAVIS: Five-time reigning Big West Conference Coach of the Year
Jennifer Gross is in her 11th year (18th overall at UC Davis) with a record of 187-113 (.623) overall and 107-49 (.686) in the Big West.
SAINT MARY'S: Paul Thomas is in his 16th season at Saint Mary's and 30th overall as a head coach, posting a 275-198 (.581) record with the Gaels and a 511-356 (.590) mark overall.
IN THE RANKINGS: UC Davis opens the season ranked No. 9 in the nation according to the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll, just a few months after finishing the 2020-21 campaign ranked No. 13 in the country. The No. 9 ranking marks the highest for the program in that poll since the Aggies stood at No. 8 in the Feb. 27, 2018, poll, and has been ranked every week dating back to the final poll of the 2019-20 season.
ABOUT THE GAELS: Saint Mary's enters Saturday's game with a 1-0 record after posting a 66-61 win on the road at Nevada on Wednesday to tip-off its season. The Gaels are coming off a 2020-21 campaign that saw them finish 7-19 overall and 4-14 in the West Coast Conference, ending their year in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. Senior guard Taycee Wedin (12.5 ppg) and fifth-year guard Madeline Holland (11.5 ppg) averaged double figures for Saint Mary's a season ago to lead the offense.
SERIES NOTES: UC Davis narrowly leads the all-time series with Saint Mary's by a 14-13 count, with the Gaels snapping the Aggies' four-game winning streak in the series after an 83-74 win in Moraga, Calif., back in 2019... UC Davis is 7-6 at home against Saint Mary's, winning the last two meetings at the University Credit Union Center -- the last a 76-74 triumph on Morgan Bertsch's buzzer-beater in 2018... The Gaels last win on the Aggies' home floor came in 2014 with a 57-55 victory... Five of the last six meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, with three of those by a single bucket.
MILESTONE WATCHES
• Head Coach
Jennifer Gross needs 13 more wins for 200 career
•
Cierra Hall needs 83 more points to reach 1,000 for her career (21st in program history)
•
Cierra Hall needs 4 more rebounds to tie Kendall Greene (1992-96) for 8th on the all-time list
•
Cierra Hall needs 32 more rebounds to tie Alyson Doherty's (2012-16) Division I program record for career rebounds
•
Cierra Hall needs 15 steals to tie Blair Shinoda (2009-13) for ninth on the program's Division I list
•
Sage Stobbart needs 9 more blocks to tie Janae Henning (1998-2002) for fifth on the all-time list
AGGIE STORYLINES...
• UC Davis returns 11 letter winners and four starters off of last season's squad that finished 13-3 overall -- it's sixth consecutive winning season -- and 9-1 in Big West Conference play during a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign that featured a two-month layoff due to Yolo County health restrictions.
• The Aggies have won the last five consecutive Big West regular season titles, making them one of only two schools in league history to accomplish such a feat (UC Santa Barbara from 1996-2005).
• Last year marked the first time in school history that UC Davis won five consecutive OUTRIGHT league titles. The Aggies did win five straight league crowns during their Division II days -- four in the Northern California Athletic Conference and one in the California Collegiate Athletic Association -- from 1994-99, but shared the 1997-98 NCAC title.
• UC Davis is one of four active schools to have won at least five straight conference regular season titles: UConn (7 in the American Athletic Conference, 1 in the BIG EAST), Baylor (11 in the Big 12), and Gonzaga (5 in the West Coast Conference).
• UC Davis is a combined 64-10 in Big West play over the last five years entering the 2021-22 season, with the next-closest school, in terms of wins, being Long Beach State at 42-40 in conference play.
• UC Davis became the sixth program in conference history to win at least three Big West Tournament titles and the first repeat champion since 2014-15.
• Head Coach JENNIFER GROSS has won the last five consecutive Big West Coach of the Year awards -- the first time in conference history that has happened -- and stands behind only Mark French of UCSB (7) for the most in league history.
• Together for 11 years, Gross, Associate Head Coaches JOE TERAMOTO and DES ABEYTA, and Assistant Coach MATT KLEMIN make up the longest-tenured Division I coaching staff in the nation.
• With her 11 years at the helm, Gross is the third-longest tenured head coach in school history behind only Sandy Simpson (14 years) and Pam Gill-Fisher (12 years).
• Gross stands 13 wins shy of 200 overall for her career, and clinched her 100th career Big West win on Jan. 23 at home against UC San Diego.
• Gross' 187 wins ranks third in school history and fifth in league history, while her 107 league wins stand seventh in the Big West annals. She trails only Simpson (251) and Jorja Hoehn (205) in school lore.
• UC Davis' trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 marked the program's eighth postseason appearance in 14 years as a Division I program.
• The team's No. 12 seed in the tournament was the highest in program history and the highest for any Big West school since 2004 ( UC Santa Barbara - No. 11).
Â
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.Â
Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO System helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.Â
