UC Davis dominated Chico State 74-42 before falling 57-47 to Northern Colorado in nonconference action
By MIKALA SLOTNICK — sports@theaggie.org
Over winter break, the women’s basketball team went 1-1 in home games against non- conference Chico State University and the University of Northern Colorado. Led by Head Coach Jen Gross, the Aggies scored 121 points combined in both matches, with their first game being against Chico State.
Since their last matchup in 2003, the UC Davis Aggies have revived their rivalry with Chico State. UC Davis dominated on Dec. 14, winning 74-42 against the Chico State Wildcats.
Chico State is a Division 2 team with a 6-3 record, led by Head Coach Brian Fogel. Prior to the game against UC Davis, the Wildcats had a five-game winning streak, with their last win being against Saint Martin’s. Fogel led the Wildcats to a lengthy battle against the Aggies, but was unable to catch up to the Aggies offense.
Third-year human development major Tegan Young and second-year psychology major Ryann Bennett led the Aggies with shots, while fifth-year political science major Megan Norris and second-year undeclared major Avery Sussex had multiple rebounds that helped the Aggies maintain the lead. Sussex had her first double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Norris with the same. Norris and Sussex are the first two pairs since the Feb. 6, 2025 game against Long Beach State University to accomplish a pair double-double.
Norris is in her fifth season with the Aggies; she became the 22nd player in program history to score over 1,000 points after the game against Hawaii State on Dec. 4.
The Aggies and Wildcats maintained a similar pace in the first and fourth quarters, with Chico scoring less than two points off Davis. The Aggies dominated the second and third quarter against the Wildcats, only allowing less than six points while scoring over 20 points per quarter.
“We knew that this was going to be a battle,” Gross said. “We weren’t expecting to come out and roll over this team. They came with it in the first quarter; they made a ton of shots. I thought we could’ve been better in terms of our overall urgency, and we seemed fatigued early on. We picked it up in the second quarter and got on a bit of a run, which got a little more energy going, and we were able to maintain that in the second half.”
In the last home game over break, the Aggies fought hard but lost against Northern Colorado 47-57.
The Northern Colorado Bears have a 9-3 record in the Big Sky division, led by Head Coach Kristen Mattio. Previous to the match against Davis, the Bears lost against the University of Colorado 62-79.
The Bears led the first quarter 16-8, but the Aggies managed to score an equal amount of points in the second quarter. Northern Colorado stole back the lead in the third quarter and fought for lead in the fourth quarter, but were unable to gain the win for the match.
Bennett and Sussex both tied for the team lead in points with 13, with this being Sussex’s third game in a row scoring double-digit points. This game also marked Bennett’s 12th straight game scoring more than 10 points in every game this season, helping the team score with four assists. Defensive leader of the game was Norris with 12 rebounds, which added 7 points to the game’s final score.
“Today was a rough day offensively for us,” Gross said. “We did some good things defensively, and we need to continue to celebrate the things we’re doing well. We’re better than what we showed today. Credit to Northern Colorado, they’re a very solid team, and we knew that coming in. They’re tough, they’re physical, they play a different style that challenges us, and we didn’t rise to the occasion today.”
Though the Aggies fell to the Bears, Gunrock uplifted the arena by making an appearance at the game dressed as Santa, spreading holiday spirit and taking pictures with fans.
The Aggies had two away games during the break, both in the Big West Conference. Davis won against California State University Northridge 85-66 on Jan. 1, with Bennett leading the team with 26 points — breaking her previous record of 25 points against Sacramento State. This is the fourth time that Bennett has scored more than 20 points this season. Norris had her seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 16 rebounds, while Sussex had five assists and 16 points. Fourth-year communication major Nya Epps and Young added to the win by scoring double digits. Overall, the Aggies had a successful set of games over the break prior to the beginning of winter quarter.
Written by: Mikala Slotnick — sports@theaggie.org
