Teams: UC Davis vs. San Jose State; vs. Wichita State
Records: Aggies 2-0; Spartans 0-1; Shockers 1-0
Where: The Pavilion
When: Today at 7 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.
Who to watch: After sitting out all of last season due to injury, Cortney French made her first appearance since the 2009-10 season last week. The Aggies happily welcome her and her touch from the outside.
The redshirt junior wasted no time getting her stroke back, draining seven three-pointers this weekend to help the Aggies in their two victories.
These buckets accounted for all of French’s points, who has only taken shots from behind the arc so far this season.
Did you know? The Aggies have a history of starting their season strong. They have not lost their season debut since dropping its first game to Boise State back in 2006.
After kicking off the 2011-12 campaign with two wins this past week, UC Davis will hold its home opener today. The Aggies have not lost their first game at home since falling to Radford in 2005.
Preview: Ever since their impressive run to the NCAA tournament last season, the Aggies have been anxious to get back on the court for another shot.
Now, having won two grueling games on the road, UC Davis will return for its home opener and begin a three game home stand on Wednesday.
First up will be San Jose State University. UC Davis pulled out a lopsided win on the Spartan’s home court last year, and after playing in two close contests this past weekend, the Aggies could use a win like their 102-62 victory last December.
Yet, one thing the Aggies learned this weekend was that nothing comes easy, as they squandered a 15-point lead and almost the game in Sunday’s close 66-62 win over Seattle University.
Head Coach Jennifer Gross took a lot of positive lessons from this weekend’s outcomes, but knows the team has much to work on.
“It feels really great to get those wins, obviously we’ve been working really hard just trying to prepare ourselves for the start of the season,” she said. “The energy we maintained throughout both games helped us get through both games.”
Having stated that this year’s team will have a faster playing style than last, Gross mentioned that the entire team will have to contribute in order to earn a victory.
“We have a lot of veterans this year, but they’re playing different roles and they’re ready to step up and do whatever they need to for us,” Gross said.
Playing in front of the home crowd for the first time this season, and for Gross as head coach, the Aggies hope to continue their winning ways this week.
“I’m hoping there’s a good buzz over our program after the success of last year and the good start this year,” Gross said. “We’re a good team that’s fun to watch — we battle hard and hopefully the fans will come out and help us pull out some wins this week.”
— Matthew Yuen
