Teams: UC Davis at Pacific; vs. UC Irvine
Records: Aggies, 15-7 (7-2); Tigers, 3-18 (1-9); Anteaters, 8-15 (5-5)
Where: Alex G. Spanos Center – Stockton, Calif.; The Pavilion
When: Today at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 7 p.m.
Who to watch: Everybody knows that the Aggies are deep.
What some people don’t know is how versatile they are.
A prime example of this versatility is sophomore Vicky Deely who has made her presence felt in all facets of the game.
Despite being ranked ninth on the team in minutes per game (11.5), she has the best field goal percentage at .476, ranks fifth in points per game with 4.9 and places fourth with 2.7 rebounds per game.
Did you know? Pacific ranks last in 14 out of the 21 statistical categories recorded by the Big West Conference including field goal percentage (.350), assist-to-turnover ratio (.5), scoring margin per game (-14.6) and rebounding margin per game (-11.9).
Preview: UC Davis has beaten both Pacific and UC Irvine this season by a combined total of 42 points.
The Aggies remain unsatisfied.
When they travel to Stockton today to take on the Tigers, the Aggies will be facing a team that took them to overtime in the Pavilion. Despite the on-paper mismatch, UC Davis knows not to take Pacific or UC Irvine lightly.
“Every matchup is different,” said coach Sandy Simpson. “Some teams just have problems with others. What we’ve done so far is nice but we’re only half way through the conference schedule.”
When the Tigers came to Davis in January, they gave the Aggies all they could handle as a pair of Paige Mintun free throws with 36 seconds left sent the game into overtime.
The Aggies then took charge, pulling out the 68-59 victory.
Their struggles against Pacific notwithstanding, UC Davis believes the victory shows what their team is made of.
“It was a really exciting game to play in and to watch,” said guard Haylee Donaghe. “One of our strengths as a team is how much we trust each other. To pull out a win like that says a lot about how close we are as a team.”
The Aggies will need to stick together in order to beat the Tigers and the Anteaters in a span of two days.
Since UC Davis annihilated UC Irvine on the road a month ago by a score of 77-44, repeating the feat at home should be an easy task.
That doesn’t keep the Aggies from staying on their toes.
“If we want to keep winning,” Simpson said, “we have to take our game up a notch.”
– Mark Ling
