Long layoff doesn’t slow down top-seeded UC Davis women

UC Davis opened its women’s basketball season Nov. 25 with a seven-point victory over San Francisco.

And then? Nothing.

The Aggies didn’t play again until Jan. 22, returning to the court and beating UC San Diego by 18 points. Nearly two months without games, 13 canceled mostly because of strict county COVID-19 restrictions for the area near Sacramento, California.

“It wasn’t like we’re shut down for 10 days or 14 days, and we’ll just be back,” UC Davis coach Jennifer Gross said. “We didn’t know if we would get to play at any point.”

That long layoff makes UC Davis’ fifth consecutive regular-season Big West Conference championship even more impressive. UC Santa Barbara, which won 10 consecutive conference titles from 1996 t0 2005, is the only other conference school to achieve that many in a row.

The top-seeded Aggies (11-2) ousted No. 9 Cal State Fullerton (4-18) 61-54 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals of the conference tournament. UC Davis next plays at noon Friday against No. 5 Hawaii (9-7) at Michelob Ultra Arena in Mandalay Bay.

UC Davis also qualified for the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The Aggies didn’t get a chance to repeat last season because the conference and NCAA tournaments were canceled because of the COVID outbreak.

Among the games canceled this season was a Dec. 11 trip to then-No. 1 Stanford, so Gross worked the phones to find opponents when the Aggies got the clearance to return.

No. 12 Oregon agreed to host UC Davis on Feb. 6. The Aggies took a 46-42 lead into the fourth quarter before Oregon went on an 11-point run to win 63-57.

Though a disappointing loss for the Aggies, their performance showed they could stand with some of the nation’s best teams.

“We were calling everybody to try to get games,” Gross said. “We struck out at every turn, and it didn’t seem like there were many games available. It was very last minute (with Oregon). All week, I said (to the players), ‘We’re trying to find games. Stay ready.’ If we don’t, we’ll just practice. If we do, great.

“I like to put our teams in situations where you’ve got to step up and you’ve got to see what you’re made of a little bit. I was really proud of our team.”

Now UC Davis is just two victories from a trip to San Antonio, which will host the entire NCAA Tournament, a journey that has been most unusual.

“I can’t believe we made it to March,” Gross said. “I’m really proud of our team for overcoming challenges and sticking together and using the adversity to bring us closer.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.