Event: Big West Conference Tournament
Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Riverside
Records: Aggies, 18-10 (12-4); Highlanders, 13-15 (10-6)
Where: Anaheim Convention Center Arena – Anaheim, Calif.
When: Today at 2:30 p.m.
Who to watch: On the heels of a stellar senior season, wing Jessica Campbell recently garnered first-team All-Big West Conference honors.
A native of San Marcos, Calif., Campbell leads the Big West in free throw percentage (89.1 percent). She also ranks second in field goal percentage (52.8 percent) and points per game (14.9).
Did you know? The Anaheim Convention Center Arena lies over 400 miles away from the UC Davis campus.
Students, however, can watch the Aggies and the rest of the Big West Tournament by merely venturing to Russell Boulevard.
Aggie Pack will be hosting a viewing party of UC Davis’ semifinal showdown with UC Riverside at The Graduate, located in University Mall. The party is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m., and yes, there will be tube socks.
Preview: Eight days ago, the Aggies beat the Highlanders for the right to the Big West’s No. 2 seed and a quarterfinal bye heading into postseason play.
Now they have to beat them again.
UC Davis and UC Riverside will battle each other today, this time for the right to be a single win away from the NCAA Tournament.
Holding Cal State Fullerton to 16-for-60 (26.7 percent) shooting, the Highlanders earned their way to the quarterfinals with a 59-47 win Thursday.
While the Aggies respect the Highlanders and the teams they may face later on in the tournament, they’re carrying their fair share of expectations with them to Anaheim.
We’re going there to win the tournament, said head coach Sandy Simpson. We feel we’re one of the top three teams in the conference [along with UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside], and we feel we can beat either of those other two teams and anyone else who comes along.
And after besting the Highlanders last time out, 62-41, the Aggies feel that they’re in a good place heading into tournament play.
The tournament kind of rewards the team that’s peaking at the right time – peaking at the end of the season, said junior wing Haylee Donaghe. We’ve talked about that all season. We have a good feeling going into the tournament.
