Pretty simple tomorrow - if the Aggies lose to the Anteaters, Davis finishes 3rd in conference, and gets only a single bye in the Big West Tournament. If the Aggies win, it’s a little more complicated. UCD would still need Santa Barbara to upset UCSD on the Tritons’ home court to slide into 2nd place, and get the double bye next week. A 2nd place finish would also assure the Aggies of a spot in one of the postseason tournaments. Expect UCI to come out aggressive and physical, since that style seems to trouble Davis the most.
Hunter Hernandez (19.3 ppg) and Jada Wynn (15.1 ppg) headline the Anteaters’ conference-leading offense (72 ppg). Shirel Nahum and Lauryn Madsen at 7.0 ppg, each, provide additional support. Wynn (7.4 rpg) and Hernandez (6 rpg) also anchor Irvine’s #2 defense which concedes only 58 points a game. As opposed to Davis’ Princeton-style offense which relies on passing and cutting to create open shots, UCI’s motion offense is designed to create 1-1 matchups, which they believe their players will consistently win, or at least get fouled. While Davis and Irvine are comparable from the field, the Anteaters are the best free throw shooting team in the conference and have attempted 200 more free throws than Davis.
UCD continues to have players averaging double figures: Ryann Bennett (15.8), Nya Epps (12.8), Megan Norris (12.3) and Avery Sussex (11.2). Norris also leads the Aggies - and the Big West - in rebounding at 12.8 rpg, followed by Epps and Tegan Young, each collecting 4 boards a game. UCD averages 69 ppg, while conceding 64. With so much at stake, the Aggies need everyone to be on point tomorrow afternoon. A win in the Aggies’ final Big West regular season game would be a great way to go out.
Norris has been bothered by very physical play. That was certainly the case for Hawai'i and Long Beach.
It's funny - there are some teams I take a disliking to for some reason over the course of the game and others that I find myself admiring. UC Irvine is one of the teams I enjoy. I like how they play. UCSD is much the same way. Hawai'i and Poly fall into the "lesser reviled" category. <grin>