March 3, 2009
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
GAME 27
UC Davis (10-17, 6-9) at Cal State Northridge (6-21, 3-11)
Mar. 4, 7 p.m. • The Matadome (1,600) • KDVS (90.3. FM) • www.ucdavisaggies.com • Big West TV
OPENING TIPS
UC Davis concludes regular-season action on Wednesday when the Aggies travel to Cal State Northridge with hopes of securing fifth place in the league and the accompanying No.5 seed for next week's Big West Conference Tournament... If the Aggies win, they will clinch the fifth spot... They can still secure the No. 5 seed with a loss but would be dependent on other teams' action the rest of the week... Matchups will be determined after league play finishes on Saturday... UC Davis finished second at last year's Big West Tournament after earning the No. 2 seed... It subsequently advanced to the Women's National Invitational Tournament... Head coach Sandy Simpson earned his 205th career last Saturday, tying former coach JORJA HOEHN for the most wins in program history... He picked up milestone victory No. 200 against Cal State Northridge in January... With a win, UC Davis will finish with more wins away from its home court than on it for the second consecutive season (9-3 home and 10-9 away in 2007-08)... The Aggies continue to lead the Big West in both three-point percentage (.354) and treys made (6.5 pg).
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
An 86-66 win over the Matadors on Jan. 4 at The Pavilion ended a five-game losing streak for the Aggies through the holidays while extending their winning streak over Cal State Northridge to three games... The series is tied 9-9 overall... P Paige Mintun enjoyed one of her finest games as an Aggie, posting her first career double-double with 25 pts and 10 rebounds to go with seven assists, six steals and three blocks... UC Davis led just 36-33 at halftime before outscoring the Matadors by a 50-33 count after the break... The Aggies have won five of the past six games in the series including an 86-48 game in Northridge last year.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE MATADORS
Cal State Northridge has not secured a spot for the Big West Tournament and is among three teams vying for two spots... With two games remaining, two wins would clinch a bid for the Matadors while one win and some help could also do it... They have enjoyed an improved season over last year and have posted a 5-6 mark at home... Cal State Northridge is currently second in the league in assists (13.9) and turnover margin (+2.63) and is fourth in steals (8.6)... G TONICIA TADEMY is the Big West leader in assists (6.7)... WHITNEY LIGON leads the team in scoring (11.0) while JASMINE ERVING is second in scoring (9.5) and rebounds (6.0)... KATRINA THOMPSON's 6.3 rpg paces the team... The Matadors are being outscored an average of 70.0-59.4 ppg and outrebounded by nearly 10 pg (45.3-36.0)... ASHLEY BLAKE leads the three-point attack with 46 while Ligon is the only other Matador in double figures with 30.
UC DAVIS 58, PACIFIC 39
Freshman Kasey Riecks led three UC Davis players in double figures by scoring a game-high 16 points as the Aggie women's basketball team beat Pacific 58-39 on Saturday night at The Pavilion, ending a three-game losing streak to remain in fifth place in the Big West Conference... The victory was also the 205th for 12th-year head coach Sandy Simpson, tying him with former coach Jorja Hoehn for the most in program history. It was also the final game at home for senior Genevieve Costello who was recognized prior to the start for her contriibutions to the program. Costello finished with eight points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the first half... UC Davis held an opponent to fewer than 40 points for the second time this season and to less than 50 for the sixth time... UC Davis led 30-18 at halftime... The Tigers got to within nine points just under three minutes into the second half but an 11-3 run by UC Davis made it 43-26 at the midway point. The Aggies weren't threatened the rest of the way, opening a pair of 23-point leads down the stretch.
CONFERENCE AND NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS:
UC Davis ranks among the top half in 10 Big West Conference statistical rankings including eight in the top three... Here's where they rank among the top three: 3-pters made (1st, 6.5 pg), steals (2nd, 9.5 pg), FG pct. (2nd, .417), 3-pt percentage (2nd, .354), scoring defense (3rd, 59.4 ppg), FT pct. (3rd, .743), FG% pct. defense (3rd, .384), rebounds allowed (3rd, 35.7 pg), 3-pt percentage defense (4th, .316) and scoring margin (4th, -1.1)... Nationally, UC Davis ranks among the top 100 teams in six stat areas: FT pct. (25th, .743), 3-pt pct. (39th, .354), 3-pters made (43rd, 6.5 pg), FG percentage (78th, 41.7), steals (84th, 9.5) and scoring defense (90th, 59.4 ppg)... Individually, P Paige Mintun is 92nd among Div. I players for free throws (.802).
DOUBLE-DOUBLES:
UC Davis has three double-doubles this season, including two by redshirt freshman P Lauren Juric... Juric tallied 14 points and 11 boards at Sacramento State on Dec. 13 while adding another against visiting UC Riverside on Feb. 7 when she went for 14 points and 12 rebounds... Sophomore P Paige Mintun had the other double-double when she had 25 points and 10 rebounds against Cal State Northridge on Jan. 4... It was the first of her career and came on a night when she added seven assists, three blocks and six steals.
COSTELLO DRAINS FIVE THREE'S TWICE
When G Genevieve Costello gets on a roll, she gets on a roll... The Aggie senior has twice nailed five three-pointers in a game, doing so at Stanford on Dec. 28 while also doing so against Cal State Bakersfield on Feb. 25... Costello, whose trey at the halftime buzzer gave the Aggies a 30-18 halftime lead against Pacific on Saturday, has 96 for her career.
MINTUN ENJOYING STANDOUT YEAR
P Paige Mintun is making the most of her third year in the program... She currently leads the team in scoring (12.8), rebounding (6.2), assists (65), blocks (30), steals (43), field goals (122) and is shooting .802 from the line... She surpassed 500 career points last weekend and is just 26 rebounds away from 300... She is No. 7 all-time in blocks with 58.
COSTELLO ENDING STANDOUT CAREER
G Genevieve Costello is the lone senior on this year's Aggie squad and was honored during pregame activities last Saturday before UC Davis' matchup with Pacific... Costello enters this week with 646 career points, 199 assists, 111 steals and 96 three-pointers.... She is also shooting .833 from the line... Costello enjoyed perhaps her finest game as an Aggie last season when she went for a career-high 21 points at Cal State Northridge, scoring 18 in the first half when she tallied the team's final 14 before intermission.
YOUTHFUL BUT GETTING MORE EXPERIENCE
The Aggies have just nine active players due to injuries with six of them either true freshmen or redshirt freshmen... The group has combined to start 76 games while accounting for 58 percent of the scoring (915 pts) and 49 percent of the rebounding (422 total)... W Kasey Riecks has started all 27 games - the only player to do so - and is averaging 31.1 min/game while three others are averaging at least 20 minutes.
SHOOTING THE THREE
UC Davis leads the league in made three-pointer at 6.5 per game but it's difficult to key on just one player... Six Aggies have made at least 13 apiece with four at 23 or more including a pair at least 30... Individually they are: G Genevieve Costello (37), W Lauren Juric (31), W Cortney French (31), W Kasey Riecks (31), P Paige Mintun (15) and W Samantha Meggison (13)... Mintun entered the year with just six total while French's total represents 78 percent of her total field goals made... Of her 106 attempts, 83 have been from beyond the arc... Juric has been the most successful from long distance, making 39.7 percent, second-best in the Big West.
TOP 10 IMPACTS
P Paige Mintun has 58 career blocks, pushing her to No. 7 on the all-time list... W Haylee Donaghe had a career-high nine steals in the season-opener at Southern Utah, tying her with current associate head coach Jennifer Gross who had nine against Humbold State in 1996.
RAINING THREES
UC Davis has had three games where it's made at least 11 three-pointers... The Aggies had a season-high 12 during an 85-69 win at Saint Mary's on Dec. 6, then had 11 against both Stanford on Dec. 28 (L, 84-49) and UC Irvine on Jan. 17 (W, 68-56)... The school record is 17 made against Cal Poly last on Jan. 11, 2007.
DEFENSIVE STRETCH RIVALS ALL-TIME BEST
UC Davis went 2-1 over a recent three-game stretch against UC Riverside (Feb. 7), UC Irvine (Feb. 12) and Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 21) and much of the reason can be attributed to good defense... The Aggies didn't allow more than 47 points, including holding UC Irvine to just 24 points, the fewest by an opponent since a 108-24 win over Patten College during the 1996-97 season... Opponents combined to average just 39.3 ppg and shoot only .234, including .155 from three-point territory... The first half was especially tough for opponents who averaged just 13 points... Included were just seven points from UC Irvine... The last time the Aggies had a better three-game defensive stretch was in the 1996-97 season when they beat Chico State (62-35), Notre Dame de Namur (87-28) and San Francisco State (67-47) for an average of 36.7 ppg allowed.
INJURIES SIDELINE AGGIES
UC Davis has been hampered with injuries throughout the season with players combining to miss 54 games so far this season... All-Big West W Haylee Donaghe (knee) became injured against South Dakota State in mid-December and will be sidelined the remainder of the season... Donaghe, who already had two seasons impacted due to unrelated injuries, received an NCAA clock extension in October and will be eligible to play in 2009-10... W Vicky Deely (leg) has played just three games, most recently the first two games of the Big West season, and will not play the rest of this season... P Lisa Peterson missed six games while four others have also been sidelined.
SIMPSON TIES HOEHN FOR ALL-TIME WINS LEAD
Last weekend's win against Pacific delivered head coach Sandy Simpson the 205th of his career, tying him with former coach JORJA HOEHN (1988-95, 96-97) who amassed a 205-51 (.801) record during her impressive tenure... Simpson, now 205-132 (.608) served as an assistant coach under Hoehn as well as mentor PAM GILL-FISHER (1975-79, 81-86, 87-88) who posted 164 career victories... His first year in 1996-97, when he assumed interim leadership duties while Hoehn took a one-year absence, resulted in a 29-3 record and third-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships.
