Teams: UC Davis vs. No. 2 Stanford
Records: Aggies (2-1); Cardinal (2-0)
Where: The Pavilion
When: Sunday at 2 p.m.
Who to watch: Junior Paige Mintun has been a force down low during her tenure with the Aggies.
After missing most of her rookie year due to injury, Mintun returned to lead the Aggies in blocks despite starting only 13 of the 24 games in which she played during the 2007-08 season.
She followed that up with a breakout year as she led the Aggies with her 13 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Mintun also led UC Davis in assists (69), steals (44) and blocks (31).
Mintun will look to continue her dominant ways when the Aggies take on the Cardinal on Sunday.
Did you know? UC Davis has deep ties to the Stanford basketball program.
Senior Haylee Donaghe has a younger sister who plays guard for the Cardinal, while former UC Davis coach and Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Famer, Jorja Hoen lived with Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer while the two were teammates at Indiana University.
Preview: This Sunday, the Aggies will play host to the highest ranked opponent to ever visit The Pavilion.
Though a daunting task, UC Davis is looking forward to the challenge.
“This is a unique opportunity for us,” said coach Sandy Simpson. “Stanford, along with Uconn, is just on a different level. They have the best big people so if we’re not prepared it will show. But the great thing is that we have no fear.”
The Aggies believe that after dispatching the University of San Francisco, 69-47 on Tuesday, they couldn’t be in a better position to win.
“It’s great to go into the Stanford game with a win,” Mintun said. “Since we’ve played them the last two years we aren’t intimidated by them. They’re really big but this time we get to play them at home. It’s going to be fun.”
In order to combat Stanford’s distinct size advantage, UC Davis plans to keep the Cardinal on their heels.
“It’s like a chess match and their pieces are gigantic,” Simpson said. “It’ll pretty much be smoke and mirrors to get them to think. We have a lot of time to prepare before Sunday and we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”
– Mark Ling
