DAVIS, Calif. -- After getting back into the win column on Monday, the UC Davis women's basketball team continues to run its gauntlet to close out non-conference play, traveling to the Bay Area to take on reigning NCAA national champion No. 3 Stanford on Wednesday (Dec. 15) at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavilion.

GAME 9
WHAT: UC Davis (5-3) at #3/3 Stanford (6-2)
WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021
TIME: 7 p.m. PT
WHERE: Stanford, Calif.
ARENA: Maples Pavilion (7,233)
WATCH: Stanford Live Stream
LISTEN: KDVS 90.3 FM
STATS: GoStanford.com
GAME NOTES: UC Davis Weekly Release

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 191-116 (.622) overall and 107-49 (.686) in the Big West.
STANFORD: Tara VanDerveer, the winningest coach in women's college basketball history, is 1,131-257 (.815) overall in her 43rd year as a head coach, with a mark of 979-206 in her 36th year at Stanford.

IN THE RANKINGS: Thanks, in large part, to their upset over nationally ranked Oregon, the Aggies jumped two spots to No. 16 in the Dec. 7 College Insider mid-major poll after hanging tough at No. 18 for two straight weeks. UC Davis opened the year at No. 9 in the preseason rankings -- marking the highest for the program in that poll since the Aggies stood at No. 8 in the Feb. 27, 2018, poll. UC Davis has been ranked every week dating back to the final poll of the 2019-20 season. Stanford, meanwhile, enters this week's games as the consensus No. 3 team in the nation in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls.

THAT'S RANK: The No. 3-ranked Cardinal are the highest ranked opponent that the Aggies have faced since UC Davis took on No. 1 UConn on Nov. 14, 2014.

ABOUT THE CARDINAL: Stanford enters Wednesday night's contest with a 6-2 overall record, winning its last two straight against then-No. 2 Maryland (86-68) and Pacific (91-62)... Four of the Cardinal's eight contests thus far have come against nationally ranked opponents... Sophomore forward Cameron Brink leads the team in both scoring and rebounding at 15.9 ppg and 8.1 rpg, while junior guard Haley Jones (10.7 ppg) and senior guard Lexie Hull (10.3 ppg) are also in double figures.. Stanford is averaging 73.8 ppg as a team and shooting .467 from the field, while holding opponents to just 58.4 ppg and .344 from the floor.

SERIES NOTES: According to records dating back to the 1971-72 campaign, Stanford leads the all-time series with UC Davis by a 15-10 count, having won the last 14 in a row dating back to a 61-54 Aggie victory in 1978... This year marks the fourth straight regular season meeting -- and the fifth straight when you include the 2019 NCAA Tournament contest -- at Maples Pavilion, with the Cardinal winning, 67-55, in the last trip to Stanford in 2019... The Cardinal have won the last 12 meetings at Maples Pavilion, with UC Davis' last win in Stanford on Jan. 15, 1977, by the score of 71-35.

MILLENNIUM MILESTONE: The Aggies did more than celebrate the end of final exams with a win on Monday, taking time to honor one of their own reaching a milestone against Stanislaus State. With a free throw late in the third quarter, senior Cierra Hall became the 21st player in school history to reach the 1,000 career point mark, hitting the milestone on the nose after finishing with 11 points. She is the first player to hit the mark since Morgan Bertsch accomplished the feat during Hall's freshman year in 2017. Next up for Hall? Kendall Greene, who scored 1,027 career points from 1992-96, for 20th on the all-time list.

SAGE HAS COMPANY: Reaching 1,000 career points wasn't the only milestone Hall reached on Monday night, joining teammate Sage Stobbart atop another record list with her career high 16 rebounds against Stanislaus State. Hall's 16 boards matched Stobbart's 16 rebounds against Saint Mary's earlier this year for the most by an Aggie in a single game in the program's Division I history, giving the Cypress, Calif., native 738 career rebounds and moving her to within 13 of Staci Stevens (1984-88) for third on the school's all-time list. Already the program's Division I career record holder, Hall is only the fifth player to reach the 700-rebound plateau for a career in school history, joining Carol Rische (1,028), Colleen Turnbull (790), Stevens, and Alyson Doherty (708).

RECYCLED NOTES
AGGIES INK EPPS: Nya Epps, a 5-foot-10 wing from El Cerrito, Calif., has signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her academic and athletic career at UC Davis beginning in 2022-23. Epps is entering her senior season at Carondelet HS, fresh off a 2020-21 campaign that saw her average 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists, for the Cougars as a junior, earning her a slew of awards for her performance. For more on the signing, visit: https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2021/11/11/womens-basketball-aggies-ink-epps-to-national-letter-of-intent.aspx.

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.

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 nine 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' 191 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).
 

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ABOUT UC DAVIS
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