Teams: UC Davis vs. Saint Mary’s
Records: Aggies, 5-1; Gaels, 3-3
Where: The Pavilion
When: Today at 7 p.m.
Who to watch: Junior Hana Asano has been one of the more unselfish players for the Aggies this season.
The Torrance, Calif. native leads UC Davis with 20 assists. She also has 11 steals on the year.
Did you know? When the Aggies have the ball on Wednesday, they will have to be conscious of the presence of Gaels forward Louella Tomlinson.
Tomlinson, from Melbourne, Australia, holds the NCAA Division I records for career blocks and blocks in a season with 512 and 195, respectively.
Tomlinson is also a force on the offensive end. The senior led the West Coast Conference in points per-game last season with 16.9.
Preview: The Aggies will have to deal with more than just Tomlinson when they face the Gaels.
UC Davis will also need to slow down Saint Mary’s strong backcourt.
Gael guards Jasmine Smith and Kate Gaze lead the team with 17.4 and 11.8 points per game respectively, with Smith scoring 24 in the Gaels’ most recent contest against Wisconsin.
“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” said coach Sandy Simpson. “They’re really tough to match up with defensively.”
The Aggies will need to slow down the Gaels if they hope to keep their current win streak over Saint Mary’s alive.
UC Davis has defeated Saint Mary’s in each of the last three seasons, including a 71-59 victory last season in Moraga, Calif.
Getting another victory this year will not be an easy task, though.
Like the Aggies, the Gaels have started this season by defeating opponents from power-conferences.
Saint Mary’s has wins over both the Pac-10’s Washington State and the Big Ten’s Wisconsin.
To Simpson, however, the game that stands out is one of the Gaels’ losses.
“What impresses me most,” he said, “is their one-point loss to Nebraska on the road. That’s a great game in a tough place to play.”
UC Davis will be hoping that their home court advantage will come into play in this contest.
“This is our place,” said junior Vicky Deely. “We plan on going undefeated on this court.”
– Trevor Cramer
