UC Davis Athletics

In her first 15-plus seasons as UC Davis’ head coach, Jennifer Gross has continued the tradition of excellence instilled in her throughout her entire Aggie career first as a school-record setter and one of the greatest point guards to ever don an Aggie uniform, then as an assistant coach and associate head coach when she turned UC Davis into an immediate force by implementing one of the most effective offensive schemes in the game. 

Gross and the Aggies take another step forward in 2026-27 when they join the Mountain West, a deep conference that featured five teams with 21 or more victories a year ago, including three postseason squads in Air Force, Colorado State and San Diego State. The Mountain West has had multiple postseason bids every year since 2000-01 other than 2019-20 when the postseason was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Gross and the Aggies bring an impressive resume to the Mountain West after consistently being in the hunt for NCAA Tournament bids and Big West Conference titles during the first 15 seasons of Gross’ tenure. The Aggies have reached the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big West Championship title twice (2019, ‘21) and under Gross captured five consecutive Big West regular-season crowns (2017, ‘18, ‘19, ‘20, ‘21). They have also boasted six 20-win seasons, including each of the last three campaigns and in 2016-17 won a Division I school-record 28 contests that was also the second-highest win total in school history.

All told, Gross has compiled a 281-177 (.614) overall record that makes her the winningest coach in program history and a 168-83 (.669) Big West mark. Her last 11 Aggie teams have been better than .500 overall, while her past 13 squads have posted a conference mark of .500 or better. Gross was the first women’s basketball coach in the history of the Big West to win five consecutive Coach of the Year awards (2017-21) and a finalist for the WBCA National Coach of the Year in 2018.

In addition to being among the best, Gross has never shied away from competing against challenging opponents, scheduling 14 games in her tenure against top-25 teams including the consensus No. 1 squad in the nation three times. In 2014, UC Davis hosted 11-time national champion UConn at The Pavilion in front of a then-record-setting crowd of 4,712. Under Gross, the Aggies have knocked off “Power Five” teams six times, including five win over Pacific-12 Conference opponents. She also has five have postseason wins in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

Gross signed a contract extension in May of 2021 that could keep her on the UC Davis sidelines through at least the 2030-31 season with an original deal that ran through 2025-26 that included five years of additional automatic renewals beginning in 2026-27. The contract was the longest ever given to a UC Davis head coach.

The Aggies’ most recent season in 2025-26 was also one of its most memorable. In addition to surpassing 20 wins for the third straight campaign for the first time in school history, the 23-11 squad ended its 19-year tenure in the Big West by qualifying for its 19th straight Big West Tournament and ninth all-time postseason bid with a sixth invite to the WNIT. The season also marked a brand new attendance record for the Aggies, as 5,567 poured into the University Credit Union Center on Nov. 7 to watch UC Davis defeat Idaho on Field Trip Day. The attendance numbers reflected the athletic department's commitment to Gross and her team, and it was an experience that Gross described as "a ton of fun".

The Aggies started their current 20-game win seasons streak by going 20-14 in 2023-24 before improving to 21-12 in 2024-25 when Gross became the winningest coach in program history with her 252nd career victory, passing her former mentor Sandy Simpson with a victory over Cal State Fullerton on February 8, 2025. 

In 2022-23, Evanne Turner became the second Aggie to lead the conference in scoring, registering 15.1 ppg to lead the Big West, for a team that was 16-14 overall and 12-7 in the Big West to begin its current run of 10 or more conference wins in four straight seasons.

UC Davis’ five-year run of Big West regular-season titles ran from 2016-17 through 2020-21, when the Aggies persevered through the COVID-19 pandemic and a two-month lay-off from competition to cap the stretch with its fifth consecutive Big West regular-season title and the program’s sixth overall conference title before heading to Las Vegas and running the table en route to its second consecutive tournament crown and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth. Led by Big West Player of the Year and tournament Most Valuable Player Cierra Hall, Big West Defensive Player of the Year Sage Stobbart, and all-conference honorees Mackenzie Trpcic and Kayla Konrad, UC Davis finished the not-so-ordinary 2020-21 season with a 13-3 overall record and a 9-1 mark in conference play. The Aggies were then seeded No. 12 in the postseason — the highest-ever NCAA Tournament seed in the program’s Division I history — facing off against No. 5-seeded Missouri State in the opening round in San Antonio.

In 2019-20, Gross led the Aggies to 17 wins and their fourth consecutive Big West regular season crown before the year was prematurely cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UC Davis finished 13-3 overall and 9-1 in the Big West.

A season earlier, the UC Davis alumna led her team to its third consecutive Big West regular season title, a Big West Tournament championship, and the program’s second-ever and most recent NCAA Division I Tournament berth in 2019. At one point, UC Davis won 16 consecutive games — the third-longest single-season win streak in the history of the program, and the longest since 1996-97 when as a player Gross led the Aggies to 20 straight victories.

Before that, UC Davis finished off a record-setting 2017-18 season with a 28-3 record — the second-highest win total in the history of the program. The Aggies made an appearance in the WNIT’s “Elite Eight”, setting or tying 10 different school single-season team records, earning the program’s first-ever vote in the AP Top 25 on Feb. 26, and ranking among the top 50 in the NCAA in 12 different categories.

That followed a 25-win season in 2016-17 that gave UC Davis its most victories since the 2010-11 campaign when a 24-9 season ended in the NCAA Tournament after a Big West regular season crown

All told, in 18 campaigns on the sidelines as an assistant, associate and head coach since returning to her alma mater in 2004-05, Gross has helped establish the foundation of UC Davis’ successful transition to the Division I level, helping lead the Aggies to a record of 350-250 (.583), three berths in the NCAA Division I Tournament (2011, 2019, 2021), five selections to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (2008, 2010, 2012, 2017, 2018), and a .583 (350-250) winning percentage.

During her head coaching tenure, Gross has mentored a total of 15 All-Big West first-team selections, nine second-team honorees and nine honorable mention choices, as well as 12 Big West all-tournament picks, nine Big West All-Freshman Team members, one Big West Freshman of the Year (Megan Norris) and four Big West All-Defensive Team honorees.

Gross has served as the program’s offensive coordinator throughout her UC Davis coaching career and implemented an offense that is fundamentally sound with sharp cuts, smart passes and an unprecedented level of teamwork that has given opponents fits with precision and execution. UC Davis led the Big West in field goal percentage in six of its last 11 seasons in the conference, while finishing second in 2016, 2020 and 2023. The Aggies have also paced the Big West three-point shooting charts eight times in their last 12 seasons in the conference.

In 2019, Big West Player of the Year Morgan Bertsch became the first UC Davis player to be drafted by the WNBA, selected by the Dallas Wings in the third round with the 29th overall pick. After spending time in training camp with the Wings, Bertsch returned to Davis and graduated with her degree in biomedical engineering before embarking on award-winning stops with powerhouse Sparta&K Vidnoe in the Russian Professional Basketball League — a circuit that has hosted such big names as Breanna Stewart, Brittany Griner, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird — and Pszczolka AZS-UMCS Lublin in Poland, earning her a training camp invite with the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun in 2021. Bertsch later signed with the Chicago Sky prior to the 2023 season and joined the Phoenix Mercury a year later. Bertsch played 39 games over two seasons in the WNBA with Chicago, Phoenix and Dallas, and is currently a free agent. 

Bertsch, who set the school’s scoring record and finished her career ranked third all-time in the history of the Big West with 2,422 career points, led the Aggies in scoring during all four of her collegiate seasons and became the first UC Davis player to lead the Big West in scoring at 23.6 ppg as a 2018-19 senior. She finished her career with 11 career UC Davis records — including the most points ever by a UC Davis basketball player, male or female, with 2,422 — 11 single-season and four single-game marks. She ended her career ranked third on the league’s all-time scoring list.

Bertsch is one of a number of Gross’ former student-athletes who have gone on to professional playing careers in Europe, including Pele Gianotti, who won a league championship with her USC Heidelberg BasCats to earn a promotion to the top division in Germany in 2019, and Sydnee Fipps, who enjoyed an all-star career with the Lakeside Lightning in Australia following a stint in Portugal. Others have included Nina Bessolo (Greece), Alyson Doherty (Germany), Kelsey Harris (Germany), Celia Marfone (Germany), Brianna Salvatore (Switzerland), Sophia Song (Great Britain) and Katie Toole (Spain).

Coaching at one of the nation’s top public academic institutions, Gross has been the recruiting coordinator for the Aggies since her arrival in 2004 and, as a former three-year CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII honoree, Gross knows what it takes both athletically and academically to succeed at UC Davis. Off the court, and in the classroom, the Aggies have shined with some of their top academic accomplishments being brought home by Dani Nafekh and Bertsch. In 2017, Nafekh was honored as the winner of the university's W.P. Lindley Award as the outstanding Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the school's Big West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and in 2018 was a CoSIDA Academic All-District second-team honoree. In 2019, Bertsch was named the co-winner of the school’s Hubert Heitman Award as the top female student-athlete, sharing the honor with track and field’s Erinn Beattie. Gross’ student-athletes have gone on to earn a total of 48 Big West All-Academic Team citations while graduates of the program have launched into a variety of professional careers (expand????). Many alumnae keep in regular touch with Gross and the staff, following the team closely, and act as resources for the current student-athletes to help them in their future endeavors.

As a UC Davis student-athlete from 1993-97, Gross set school records for career assists (448), steals (300) and three-pointers (163). Additionally, she ranks 10th all-time at UC Davis in career scoring, compiling 1,243 points. As a 1996-97 senior, Gross led the Aggies to a school-record for victories (29-3) and the program’s first appearance at the Division II Elite Eight tournament. UC Davis finished third at the national tourney, beating Bentley in the consolation final. For her part, Gross won honorable mention Kodak All-America honors and was selected to the Northern California Athletic Conference first team for the second time. However, arguably her finest achievement was her participation in 101 victories during her four-year career, the winningest span in program history.

Gross graduated from UC Davis in 1997, earning her bachelor’s degree in organizational studies before adding her master’s degree in Sports Coaching from the United States Sports Academy in 2008. After her collegiate career, Gross went on to play professionally in Denmark (July 1997-April 1998) and Israel (July-December 1998). She was inducted into the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

Gross married current UC Davis associate head coach Joe Teramoto in 2010 when they were both assistants on former coach Sandy Simpson’s staff. The couple has a son, Joshua, and a daughter, Amelia.

GROSS’ TROPHY CASE

• 2016-17 Big West Regular Season Champions
• 2017 Big West Coach of the Year
• 2017-18 Big West Regular Season Champions
• 2018 Big West Coach of the Year
• 2018 WBCA National Coach of the Year Finalist
• 2018-19 Big West Regular Season Champion2019 Big West Tournament Champions
• 2019 Big West Coach of the Year
• 2019-20 Big West Regular Season Champions
• 2020 Big West Coach of the Year
• 2020-21 Big West Regular Season Champions
• 2021 Big West Co-Coach of the Year
• 2021 Big West Tournament Champions

GROSS BY THE NUMBERS

• 2 NCAA Tournament Berths (2019, ‘21)
• 4 WNIT Berths (2012, ‘17, ‘18, ‘26)
• 2 Big West Conference Tournament Championships (2019, ‘21)
• 6 20-Plus Win Seasons (2016-17, ‘17-18, ‘18-19, ‘23-24, ‘24-25, ‘25-26)
• 12 Winning Seasons
• 11 Current Consecutive Winning Seasons
• 614 Career Winning Pct. (282-177)
• 669 Career Big West Winning Pct. (168-83)
• 282 Career Victories (1st in school history)
• 38 Big West All-Academic Team Selections
• 17 All-Big West First-Team Honorees
• 15 Big West All-Tournament Team Selections
• 14 Big West Conference Tournament Berths
• 11 All-Big West Second-Team Honorees
• 10 Big West All-Freshman Team Honorees
• 11 All-Big West Honorable Mention Selections
• 5 Conference Coach Of The Year Awards
• 5 Big West Conference Regular-Season Titles (2016-17, ‘17-18, ‘18-19, ‘19-20, ‘20-21)
• 6 Big West All-Defensive Team Players/7 Selections (Morgan Bertsch - 2019; Cierra Hall - 2020, Sage Stobbart - 2021, Kayla Konrad - 2021, Nya Epps - 2025, ‘26, Megan Norris - 2026)
• 2 Big West Players Of The Year (Morgan Bertsch - 2019, Cierra Hall - 2021)2 Big West Defensive Players Of The Year (Cierra Hall - 2020, Sage Stobbart - 2021)
• 2 Big West Tournament Most Valuable Players (Morgan Bertsch - 2019; Cierra Hall - 2021)
• 1 CoSIDA Academic All-District Selection (Dani Nafekh - 2018)
• 1 WNBA Draft Pick (Morgan Bertsch - 3rd Rd, 29th overall, Dallas, 2019)
• 1 Big West Freshman of the Year (Megan Norris, 2022-23)