The numbers don’t lie.
As she leaves the UC Davis women’s basketball team, senior Paige Mintun will certainly go down as one of the greatest players in Aggie history.
The Valley Center, Calif. native averaged a team-high 14 points and six rebounds per-game this season.
Mintun also had four 20-point matches and was held under double-figures just four times this year.
The 6-foot-2 senior finished her career with 1,382 points, good for fourth-best in program history.
Despite her incredible offensive production, however, Mintun’s biggest contributions may have come on the defensive end.
She set the school records for blocks in a season and in a career with 55 and 149, respectively.
“That career mark is a feather in her cap,” said coach Sandy Simpson. “She’s been very consistent over her career, and her timing [when blocking shots] is great. She’s always able to get a big block when we need it.”
Mintun also finished in the top-10 in UC Davis history in career steals and career rebounds.
Those numbers earned Mintun a spot on the All Big West Conference First-Team at the end of the regular season, but her work was not over at that point.
Mintun led the Aggies in scoring in all four of the team’s post-season games, never finishing below 14 during that span.
For her efforts she was named the MVP of the Big West Tournament.
While Mintun clearly has the numbers of a great player, her value to the UC Davis team extends even beyond the statistics.
“She’s just a steady player and teams have to game-plan for her. That opens things up for other players on our team,” Simpson said. “Paige [Mintun’s] worth doesn’t completely show up in the stats, because she makes things easier for everyone around her.”
Mintun’s leadership and play on the court was good for her second straight California Aggie Women’s Athlete of the Quarter honors.
TREVOR CRAMER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
