Women's Basketball 11/2/2025 11:01:00 AM

Aggies Open The Season At Home Against Warriors and Vandals

DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis women's basketball is back in the University Credit Union Center to tip off the 2025-26 season this week. The Aggies will open their season against Jessup on Monday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. PT before hosting their Field Trip Day game against Idaho on Friday, Nov. 7, at 11:00 a.m. PT.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN/FOLLOW
Nov. 3 — vs. Jessup | ESPN+ | Live Stats | Parking Info | @ucdaviswbb (X/Instagram) 
Nov. 7 — vs. Idaho | ESPN+ | Live Stats | Parking Info | @ucdaviswbb (X/Instagram) 
Game Notes

GAME NOTES

Opening Night: The Aggies open the 2025-26 season at home for the sixth straight year, matching up against Jessup. In the Jen Gross era (since 2011-12), the Aggies are 7-7 in season openers, including winning their opener against Simpson last season 93-36.
Preseason Honors: After landing on the All-Big West Second Team and All-Tournament Team a season ago, redshirt senior Megan Norris was named by the conference as one of seven players to be selected to the Big West Preseason Coaches Team. In 33 games for the blue and gold last season, Norris led the Aggies with 251 rebounds, the most in a single season in school history, while also finishing first on the team with 52 blocked shots.
A Look Back on 2024-25: 2024-25 was a year of milestones for the Aggies, seeing many career and single-season records fall across the board. Against Cal State Fullerton on February 8th, head coach Jen Gross made history by becoming the all-time winningest coach in program history, passing her former mentor, Sandy Simpson. A First-Team All-Big West performer, Tova Sabel made her mark in the program record book by becoming just the 21st player to ever score 1,000 career points as an Aggie. Over the summer, she also signed a professional contract with Fila San Martino Di Lupari in Italy. Long-time Aggie Mazatlan Harris also signed a pro contract during the offseason, joining McEvoy's Cavan Eagles in Ireland.
2024-25 Recap: UC Davis finished 21-12 last season, slotting in as the third seed in the conference tournament before losing in the championship game to UC San Diego.
2025-26 Poll: Aggies were picked third in the Big West preseason coaches' poll, receiving 83 votes and three first-place votes.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

Jessup enters its second season at the Division II level after going 14-14 last year with a 9-11 mark in PacWest play.
Last season, the Warriors were led in scoring by Andrea Jovicevic in the 2024-25 season as the guard averaged 11.4 PPG. Kayla Vieira (8.6) and Natalie Moulos (7.8) were next on the scoring chart.
After graduating ten seniors a year ago, Jessup has also brought in a strong recruiting class for the season, including transfers Keyla Cervantes and Claudia Jiménez.
UC Davis is 3-0 all-time against Jessup, last beating the team at home 79-40 on December 5, 2023.
After going 18-12 last season and 10-8 in Big Sky play, Idaho was picked to finish third in the conference in the 2025-26 preseason poll.
The Vandals are set to play long-time rival Washington State on Monday before making the trip to Davis.
Second-year head coach Arthur Moreira strengthened his team through the transfer portal this offseason, including bringing in former five-star recruit Debora Dos Santos from the University of San Francisco.
The Aggies are 2-0 all-time over the Vandals, winning in a come from behind victory last season up in Moscow.

SEASON NOTES

This season marks year 15 for UC Davis head coach Jennifer Gross. Last season, Gross made Aggie history by becoming the winningest coach in program history, passing her mentor, Sandy Simpson, with 252 wins. She currently sits at 258 wins and counting.
Gross returns all of her coaching staff from last season, including long-time associate head coach Joe Teramoto, now in his 20th year on staff, and 15th-year assistant coach Matt Klemin.
Also returning is former Tennessee Volunteer Vicki Baugh, who works primarily with the post players, Director of Operations Mia Gallo, and Video Coordinator Dejza James.
Despite the departure of names such as Tova Sabel and Sydney Burns, the Aggies bring back a number of big contributors from last season, including 2025 Second-Team All-Big West player Megan Norris, All-Freshman Ryann Bennett, and All-Defense Nya Epps.
Other returners from last season include Sahana Kanagasabay, Ally Fitzgerald, Avery Sussex, Theoni Tsami, and Victoria Baker.
Additionally, the team has also brought in a trio of talented freshmen, Carrington Davis from Rialto, Sophie Lentfer from Anchorage Alaska, and Emmy Ersdala from Sweden, who was also a member of the Swedish National Team.
Transfers Tegan Young and Helen Matthews have also been brought in to strengthen an already experienced Aggie squad. Young comes in after two years at Manhattan University, and Matthews is a graduate transfer who joins the team after five seasons at Wofford.
This is the final season for UC Davis in the Big West before the team transitions to the Mountain West in 2026-27, and the team looks to end its long tenure in the conference on a high note with a championship and another appearance in March Madness.