DAVIS, Calif. — Packed inside Woodstock’s Pizza in downtown Davis on Monday afternoon, the UC Davis women’s basketball team, joined by coaches, fans and even intrigued on-lookers celebrated their entry into the NCAA Tournament.
The team was originally planning the event as a viewing party, where their opponent would be revealed to the nation in surprising fashion on ESPN’s Selection Monday broadcast. But, an error on the network’s end spoiled the surprise, as the bracket leaked earlier than expected, causing the shine to wear-off the gathering.
Luckily there was pizza.
Despite the gaffe, UC Davis earned the 15th seed and will head to Palo Alto to face No. 2 Stanford on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the Chicago region bracket. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. from Maples Pavilion and will be televised on ESPN2.
Facing the Cardinal will be nothing new for these Aggies.
UC Davis (25-6) met Stanford (28-4) to open the season back on Nov. 7. In that game, the Cardinal outscored the Aggies 35-19 to cruise to a 71-43 victory.
Despite the loss, the Aggies feel that they’re a much different team after securing the Big West title and rallying from 17 points down last Saturday to secure the conference championship.
Rallying from 17 points down in Anaheim last weekend, Davis edged Hawaii 58-50 to take home the conference championship trophy.
For senior Morgan Bertsch, the Big West Conference Player of the Year, it will be the fourth time facing Stanford in her career at Davis.
UC Davis returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011, while Stanford settles in for its 32nd consecutive trip to the Big Dance.
