DAVIS, Calif. — The five-time defending Big West Conference champion UC Davis women's basketball team tips-off its third trip to the NCAA Tournament on Monday (March 22) at 4:30 p.m. PT as the No. 12 seed in the Alamo Region, taking on fifth-seeded and No. 20 ranked Missouri State in a first round match-up at Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary's University in San Antonio. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

GAME 16 - NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
WHAT: No. 12 UC Davis (13-2, 9-1 Big West) vs. No. 5 Missouri State (21-2, 16-0 Missouri Valley Conference)
WHEN: Monday, March 22, 2021
TIME: 4:30 p.m. PT
WHERE: San Antonio, Texas
ARENA: Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary's University
TV: ESPNU (PXP: Sam Ravech, ANALYST: Brenda VanLengen)
RADIO: KDVS 90.3 FM (PXP: Greg Wong)
VIDEO STREAMING: WatchESPN.com
AUDIO STREAMING: KDVS.org or TuneIn.com
LIVE STATS: NCAA.com (TBA)
COMPLETE GAME NOTES: UC Davis PDF | Missouri State WBB | Big West WBB
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: NCAA.com
TOURNAMENT PROGRAM: NCAA.com

ABOUT THE COACHES…
UC DAVIS: Jennifer Gross is in her 10th season (17th overall) at UC Davis with a record of 186-112 (.624).
MISSOURI STATE: Amaka Agugua-Hamilton is in her 2nd season at Missouri State and overall with a record of 47-6 (.887)

IN THE RANKINGS…
The Aggies are ranked No. 71 in the NCAA's NET rankings as of March 15 -- the best of any Big West school (Long Beach State is second at No. 152)… UC Davis enters the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 11 in the latest COLLEGE INSIDER mid-major poll released on March 16, moving up four spots from No. 15 the week prior… The No. 11 ranking in the mid-major poll on March 2 is tied for the highest this season (March 2) and the highest for the program since the Aggies were ranked No. 8 in the Feb. 27, 2018 poll… UC Davis has been among the top 20 in that poll every week this season, extending its run to 17 consecutive weeks dating back to the final 2019-20 poll… The Aggies' first-round opponent, Missouri State, is ranked No. 2 in the mid-major poll, receiving eight first-place votes, while standing No. 20 in the Associated Press poll, No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and No. 20 in the NCAA's NET rankings.

SERIES NOTES…
Monday's first round match-up between UC Davis and Missouri State will be the first in women's basketball in the history of the two programs… In it's four-team "pod," the Aggies have not faced the Bears, No. 4-seeded Arkansas, nor No. 13 seeded Wright State… UC Davis is 0-2 against Missouri Valley Conference teams (losses to Bradley and Drake), 1-1 against the SEC (loss to Auburn and a win over South Carolina), and has never faced a Horizon League team.

ABOUT THE BEARS…
Winners of its last 17 straight, Missouri State is ranked No. 20 in the nation according to the Associated Press and No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, claiming the regular season Missouri Valley Conference title with a perfect 16-0 record. Senior guard Brice Calip leads the team in scoring at 13.5 ppg and 4.17 apg, and is joined in double figures by junior forward Jasmine Franklin, who averages 11.8 ppg and shoots 52 percent from the field.

NOTES AND NOTABLES…
• Five-time defending Big West Conference regular season champion UC Davis is making its third NCAA Division I Tournament appearance since 2007-08.
• The Aggies were a No. 16 seed in 2011 and a No. 15 seed in 2019, falling at local rival Stanford in the first round in both years.
• UC Davis No. 12 seed is the highest for a Big West Conference school since UC Santa Barbara was a No. 11 seed in 2004.
• UC Davis is making its eighth postseason appearance in 14 years as a Division I program, adding WNIT trips in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2017, and 2018.
• The Aggies were regulars in the NCAA Tournament at the Division II level, earning 12 trips to the tournament and posting a 12-12 record -- including a run to the "Elite Eight" in 1996-97 during Head Coach Jennifer Gross' senior season.
• In it's four-team "pod," UC Davis has not faced Missouri State, Arkansas, nor Wright State, in women's basketball.
• The Aggies are 0-2 against Missouri Valley Conference teams (losses to Bradley and Drake), 1-1 against the SEC (loss to Auburn, win over South Carolina), and has not faced a Horizon League team.
• The Aggies earned the Big West' automatic berth after claiming their second straight league tournament title -- and the program's third overall (2011, 2019, 2021) -- with a 61-42 victory over No. 2-seeded UC Irvine on March 13.
• The Aggies became the sixth program in Big West history to win at least three tournament titles along with CSUN, Long Beach State, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and former member UNLV.
• UC Davis is the first repeat Big West tournament champion since CSUN in 2014-15.
• UC Davis is the first Big West team in appear in three straight tournament title games since UC Santa Barbara made 13 consecutive from 1997-2009.
• UC Davis' seven tournament championship game appearances (in only 14 years as a league member) already rank fourth all-time in Big West history and third among active members.
• The 42 points surrendered by the Aggie defense are the fewest allowed in a championship game in the 38-year history of the tournament, and the fewest by any team in any round since UC Santa Barbara defeated CSUN, 45-31, in the 2013 quarterfinals.
• The UC Davis defense is Big West Tournament ready, holding opponents to a combined .276 (89-for-322) field goal percentage and a .209 (27-for-129) three-point percentage during its back-to-back tournament title runs.
• The Aggies have held eight of their last nine opponents overall to under 32 percent from the floor, and under 30 percent from beyond the arc in nine of their last 10 contests.
• UC Davis held opponents to single-digit points in five of its 12 Big West Tournament quarters.

AGGIE AWARDS…
• Senior Cierra Hall became the second Aggie in the last three seasons to be named the Big West Conference Player of the Year, joining former teammate Morgan Bertsch (2019).
• After winning the league's defensive player of the year award as a junior in 2020, Hall becomes only the third player to win both awards in a career in Big West history, joining CSUN's Channon Fluker and UC Riverside's Kemie Nkele.
• Junior Sage Stobbart gave UC Davis the league's defensive player of the year for the second straight season, joining Hall and Haylee Donaghe (2010) as Aggie winners of the award.
• Stobbart was one of 15 student-athletes from across the country named to the initial watch list for the 2021 NAISMITH WOMEN'S DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD on Jan. 26.
• Hall and Stobbart were named to the All-Big West First Team -- the third time in the history of the program that UC Davis has landed a pair on the first team in the same season: Morgan Bertsch and Pele Gianotti were on the first team in 2017, and Bertsch and Kourtney Eaton accomplished the feat in 2019.
• Following the Big West Tournament championship game, Hall was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Stobbart and Evanne Turner joined her on the 2021 all-tournament team.
• Hall joined former Aggies Paige Mintun (2011) and Morgan Bertsch (2019) as UC Davis players named tournament MVP
• 2021 marked the sixth time that UC Davis has had multiple all-tournament honorees and the first time a school has had three players selected to the all-tournament team since UC Santa Barbara in 2017.
• It was Hall's second all-tournament honor, becoming the fifth Aggie named to multiple all-tournament teams, joining Bertsch (three times), Alyson Doherty (twice), Heidi Heintz (twice), and Mintun (twice).
• Turner and Stobbart became the eighth and ninth different UC Davis players to be named to the all-tournament team, each earning their first career awards.
• Senior Mackenzie Trpcic picked up her first All-Big West honor after being named to the honorable mention team.
• Junior Kayla Konrad joined Stobbart on the league's all-defensive team, becoming the third and fourth UC Davis players named to that list along with Bertsch (2019) and Hall (2020).
• Hall has also been named the Big West Player of the Week twice this season (Feb. 1 and Feb. 15), while Stobbart took home the last honor of the regular season's (March 8).
• The tradition continues. Hall becomes 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). Konrad and Stobbart have been a part of the last four titles, with each taking a redshirt year in 2017-18, while Emma Gibb has been a part of all five championship runs with a redshirt year in 2016-17.
• The tradition lives on with the coaching staff as well as Head Coach Jennifer Gross and associate head coach Des Abeyta won three straight titles during the Aggies' five straight crowns fom 1995-99, while director of operations Stephanie Shadwell was part of five Big West titles (when you include a medical redshirt year) at UC Santa Barbara when the Gauchos won 10 straight from 1995-05).
 

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ABOUT UC DAVIS
Over 700 student-athletes across 25 intercollegiate athletics teams, following the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation.

Centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and the Napa Valley, UC Davis is known nationwide as a leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, ranks annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.

UC Davis is uncommonly committed to preparing student-athletes for life after graduation with Aggie EVO — an innovative student-athlete outcomes program that helps young women and men develop passions, gain real-world experience, and enjoy a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school. Through Aggie EVO, Intercollegiate Athletics provides unmatched resources and a vast network of working professionals to ensure post-graduation success for its student-athletes.