DAVIS, Calif. -- Following a win over Cal State East Bay in its only exhibition of the year, the defending Big West Conference champion UC Davis women's basketball team officially opens this year's schedule at home against Academy of Art on Tuesday (Nov. 9) at 6 p.m. at the University Credit Union Center. Admission to the game is free.
GAME 1
WHAT: Academy of Art (0-0) at UC Davis (0-0)
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021
TIME: 6 p.m.
WHERE: Davis, Calif.
ARENA: University Credit Union Center (6,003)
WATCH: ESPN+ (Subscription Required)
LISTEN: KDVS 90.3 FM
STATS: UCDavisAggies.com
GAME PROGRAM: UC Davis Women's Basketball Game Program - November
UC DAVIS BASKETBALL GAMEDAY POLICIES: https://ucdavisaggies.com/feature/basketballgameday
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.
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 186-113 (.622) overall and 107-49 (.686) in the Big West.
ACADEMY OF ART: Krystle Evans is in her third season as head coach (fourth overall) with a record of 14-26 overall and a 12-24 mark in PacWest Conference play.
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 URBAN KNIGHTS: The Academy of Art enters the year off an abbreviated seven-game campaign in 2020-21 when the Urban Knights finished 3-4 with wins over Fresno Pacific and Dominican (twice). Academy of Art was picked to finish seventh in the NCAA Division II PacWest Conference preseason poll under third-year head coach Krystle Evans, returning all eight players who competed a season ago, adding five true freshman and graduate transfer Joy Krupa, who scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds against the Aggies last year in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament while a senior at Cal State Fullerton.
SERIES NOTES: Tuesday marks the first-ever official meeting between the two programs in women's basketball. The Aggies and Urban Knights have met in an exhibition game, with UC Davis posting a 77-34 victory back on Nov. 3, 2017.
FOR OPENERS...: According to records dating back to 1977-78, UC Davis is 26-21 all time in season opening contests, snapping a two-game skid with its 82-75 victory over San Francisco last year. The Aggies open at home for the second straight season and are 32-12 in home openers in that same span, including a 4-4 mark as a Division I program when opening the season at home.
A LOOK BACK - UC DAVIS 62, CAL STATE EAST BAY 53: Second-year freshman
Bria Shine finished with a team-high 17 points to lead three UC Davis players in double figures, helping lift the host Aggies to an exhibition victory over visiting Cal State East Bay. Shine finished 6-of-7 from the floor in just under 14 minutes, hitting all four of her shots from the line and grabbing three rebounds. Senior
Sage Stobbart added 14 points and three blocks, while second-year sophomore
Evanne Turner added 12 points on a quartet of three-pointers.
TO BE THE BEST...: You have to beat the best. The Aggies will get their chance in the month of December scheduled to face four schools either ranked or receiving votes in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll: Stanford (No. 3/2), Oregon (No. 10/9), Washington State (receiving votes in both), and Gonzaga (receiving votes in the USA Today poll).
THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR: The five-time defending Big West champions were picked to win their sixth consecutive league title in 2021-22, unanimous selections by both the head coaches and the media according to a vote released on Nov. 2 by the conference office. UC Davis received nine of the 11 first-place votes and 99 points overall from the coaches, while picking up six of the 11 first-place nods from the media and 104 points overall.
HALL EARNS PRESEASON NOD: Back for a fifth season in an Aggie uniform after the NCAA granted 2020-21 winter sports student-athletes an additional year of eligibility due to the pandemic, senior forward
Cierra Hall was one of five unanimous selections to both the coach's and media's preseason All-Big West teams for the second straight season. One of only three players in league history to win both the conference player and defensive player of the year awards in a career, Hall averaged 14.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last season while shooting .463 from the field.
CHASING 1,000: While there are milestones abound in Hall's career, the Cypress, Calif., native stands poised to add yet another in 2021-22. Hall needs just 93 points to become the 21st player in school history to reach 1,000 for her career, while also standing 332 rebounds shy of becoming only the second player in school history to reach that lofty mark, joining Carol Rische, who grabbed 1,028 boards from 1978-83.
SAGE ADVICE: Don't come into the paint when
Sage Stobbart is around. In what is, hopefully, a sign of good things to come (unless you're an opposing shooter), Stobbart finished with three blocks in the Aggies' exhibition win over Cal State East Bay last week, picking up right where she left off of a 2020-21 season that saw her block 43 shots in only 16 games, leading the Big West and ranking No. 17 in the NCAA at 2.69 blocks per game. One of 15 players named to last season's Naismith Women's National Defensive Player of the Year Watch List a season ago, her 43 blocks ranked ninth on the school's single-season list and she stands just two swats away from becoming the sixth player in school history to reach 100 for a career.
PUT A LID ON IT: There wasn't much for opposing offenses agaisnt the UC Davis defense last season as the Aggies finished the 2020-21 campaign ranked among the top 10 in the nation in field goal percentage defense (No. 3) and three-point percentage defense (No. 9), while standing among the top 25 in the NCAA in scoring defense at 56.8 ppg (No. 24). UC Davis has led the Big West in scoring defense in four of the last five seasons and in field goal percentage defense in each of the last five years. In fact, the 56.8 ppg allowed by the Aggies in 2020-21 was the lowest for a league leader since UC Santa Barbara allowed just 52.9 ppg in 2012-13, while the .332 field goal percentage by the opposition was the lowest in league history.
A WHOLE LOTTA WINNING: Hall has a chance to join a league of her own if UC Davis has the good fortune to repeat as conference champions in 2021-22, becoming the first Aggie to be on the floor for five consecutive conference titles in a career. Last year, Hall became the sixth UC Davis player to be a part of four straight conference titles on the floor, joining Nicole Dubriel (1994-98), Elizabeth Doud (1994-98), Karyn Castro (1995-98), Sophia Song (2016-20), and Nina Bessolo (2016-20). Teammates
Kayla Konrad and
Sage Stobbart have the chance to join that club in 2021-22, having been a part of all five titles during the team's run, but each taking a redshirt year in 2017-18.
HOME, SWEET HOME: After finishing a perfect 5-0 at home last season, the Aggies are 58-7 on their home floor over the past five years, winning 14 of their last 15 and posting a winning record at home in each of the last eight campaigns.
THREE FOR ALL: Having led the Big West in three-point shooting in each of the last four years (and five of the last six), the Aggies carry a significant streak into the 2021-22 season thanks to their prowess beyond the arc. UC Davis has hit at least one three-pointer in 539 consecutive games dating back to Feb. 15, 2003, at Cal State San Bernardino, shooting .351 (3,782-for-10,770) during that span. It is believed to be the fourth-longest active streak of its kind in the nation, trailing only Iowa State (835 games since 1995), Chattanooga (682 games since 1999), and Milwaukee (585 games since 2002) entering the year.
A TALL ORDER: The UC Davis roster measures as one of the tallest in school history in 2021-22, with five players measuring at 6-foor-3 or taller -- the most in the history of the program.
Lena Svanholm, who stands 6-foot-6, is believed to be the second-tallest in the history of the program, trailing only 6-foot-8 Kelly Ditto, who was a three-year letter winner for the Aggies in 1999 and 2001-02, while 6-foot-5
Kenedy Lilly is close behind.
MILESTONE WATCHES
• Head Coach
Jennifer Gross needs 14 more wins for 200 career
•
Cierra Hall needs 93 more points to reach 1,000 for her career (21st in program history)
•
Cierra Hall needs 12 more rebounds to tie Kendall Greene (1992-96) for 8th on the all-time list
•
Cierra Hall needs 40 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 two more blocks to become the sixth player in school history to reach 100 for a career and only the fourth in the program's Division I history
•
Sage Stobbart needs 11 more blocks to tie Janae Henning (1998-2002) for fifth on the all-time list
ABEYTA GOES INTERNATIONAL: Entering her 14th year on the sidelines of her alma mater, Associate Head Coach
Des Abeyta seized an opportunity to take her coaching talents to the international stage this past summer, serving as an assistant coach for the South Sudan Women's Senior National team for the FIBA AfroBasket Zone 5 qualifiers in July in Rwanda. Read more at
https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2021/7/7/womens-basketball-abeyta-joins-south-sudan-womens-national-team-staff.aspx.
A "GOLDEN" OPPORTUNITY: This year's Causeway battle with rival Sacramento State will have a slightly different look to it as the Aggies and Hornets will take the floor at the Golden 1 Center -- home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings -- on Nov. 23 at 5 p.m. It will be the first opportunity for the two women's programs to compete at the venue after the men's programs have had their annual rivalry game held at the arena since the 2016-17 season.
A NUMBER OF THINGS: Same faces, new numbers for two Aggies in 2021-22. Third-year sophomore
Megan Jones is now wearing No. 2 after spending the last two years as No. 24. Second-year freshman
Mazatlan Harris now sports No. 33 after spending last year as No. 13 on the UC Davis roster.
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 14 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' 186 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).
