Teams: UC Davis vs. Long Beach State; vs. UC Irvine
Records: Aggies, 8-10 (3-4); 49ers, 11-8 (4-3); Anteaters 4-15 (0-7)
Where: The Pavilion — Davis, Calif.
When: Thursday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m.
Who to watch: As the Aggies continue their quest to back up sophomore Sydnee Fipps’ shooting, freshman Aniya Baker has emerged as a consistent scorer for the UC Davis women’s basketball team.
Baker dropped 16 points in the Aggies’ destruction of Cal State Fullerton, then followed that up with five points in UC Davis’ victory over UC Riverside.
The Perris, Calif. native has scored in every game she has appeared in except the match-ups against Stanford and UC Santa Barbara, and has been credited as one of the quickest players on the team by head coach Jennifer Gross.
Did you know? UC Davis has three veteran players eating up minutes for the Aggies. Fipps, along with seniors Cortney French and Blair Shinoda have been leading the young team.
Yet, aside from these three players that make up the tripod for the team to stand on, the Aggies have also been leaning on the young talent of the freshmen. Celia Marfone and Molly Greubel have appearances in every game, and have started most of them. Baker has missed just one game.
Greubel, Marfone and Baker have the next most minutes, in order, behind Shinoda, Fipps and French.
Preview: With two recent victories under their belt, the Aggies have momentum on their side entering the weekend games.
UC Davis catapulted themselves up two spots from ninth in conference to seventh after victories over the Titans and the Highlanders. This weekend will not be easy, but being at home can’t hurt. Despite the Aggies’ 2-5 record at home this year, they were 9-4 at the Pavilion and can be depended upon to play well.
First against Long Beach State, UC Davis will have quite a challenge. The 49ers are currently in fourth place in conference with an 11-8 overall record. Last season when the Aggies hosted LBSU, they took them down by a 16 point margin.
Still, when UC Davis traveled over to Long Beach, they dropped a 67-55 decision. There are no guarantees going into this game, as the Aggies only have six players returning this season who saw action against the 49ers in last year’s game at the Pavilion.
Most recently, the 49ers took down UC Irvine by a 71-61 mark. The Aggies will enter their contest with the last place Anteater team with caution, as they dropped both games against UCI last season.
When they hosted the Anteaters, UCI shocked them with a 68-59 flouncing at the Pavilion.
The Anteaters are 0-7 in conference but should not be overlooked, as they have played several close games in their Big West match ups.
The Aggies will look for two wins this weekend, which could propel them even higher in their climb in the conference standings.
—Matthew Yuen
