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First place, rankings at stake for Aggies

The UC Davis men's basketball team enjoyed the energy of a lively home crowd in its 102-71 victory over Chico State last week.

Tonight, the Aggies will play in a hostile environment when they travel to Rohnert Park to meet Sonoma State at 8 in a first-place showdown in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The two share the lead at 10-2.

"I think it's going to be an exciting atmosphere for our players to experience," Aggies coach Brian Fogel said. "But I think our veteran players like Jason Cox, Dante Ross and J.C. Timmons will lead our younger players and help us get through this with no problems."

The game will be a rematch of a Dec. 4 conference opener in Davis, won by the Aggies 67-52. Besides the conference lead, the game will affect the NCAA Division II West Regional rankings. UC Davis and Sonoma State are tied for second in the poll, which determines seedings for the NCAA Regional tournaments.

They aren't as closely ranked in the national poll: UC Davis is fifth and Sonoma State 16th.

Sonoma State (14-2 overall) is the only CCAA team undefeated at home -- 9-0 at Cossack Gym -- and has won four in a row and 11 of 12 since losing to the Aggies (14-3).

The Cossacks are led by 6-foot-2 senior guard Walter Jefferson, who is averaging 15 points. But Fogel is more concerned about 6-9 senior center Travis Duncan, who is averaging 14.3 points and 8.1 rebounds.

"He's extremely tough inside and has the unique ability to shoot three-pointers along the perimeter," Fogel said of Duncan.

The Cossacks' defense is solid, too, allowing 64.6 points a game. Since Davis, only Grand Canyon has scored more than 70 points against Sonoma State.

For the Aggies, Ross is averaging 14.8 points, Cox 11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds, and Timmons 11.1 points and 3.4 rebounds.

Women's basketball

UC Davis (17-1, 11-0) will travel to Sonoma State (15-3, 9-2) for a 5:45 p.m. CCAA game today, and it is expected to be a battle for the Aggies, who are ranked No. 8 in Division II.

The past three games between the teams have been decided by a total of nine points. In this season's first meeting, the Aggies won 70-69 in overtime. Sonoma State rallied from a six-point deficit in the final 39 seconds to force the extra period.

Junior center Des Abeyta leads the Aggies with 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. She has six double doubles this season and is fifth in the CCAA in scoring.

Forward Jann Thorpe is the Cossacks' catalyst. A two-time Northern California Athletic Conference most valuable player, Thorpe is averaging 16.6 points.

Baseball

Sac State opens its season with two games against USF. The Hornets host the Dons at 2 p.m. today and travel to San Francisco at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Hornets return four starters from last season's 25-35 team: shortstop Brandon Marshall, center fielder Aurelio Jackson, third baseman Brian Gilman and catcher Casey Martinez.

The starting rotation will include one veteran and three newcomers. Senior Dustin Tubb, who led the team last season with seven wins and seven complete games, will be joined by Pat Edwards, Chad Elliott and Brian Gates.

Wrestling

UC Davis coach Mike Burch missed Saturday's match against Cal Poly because of health problems. He was home by Sunday after undergoing tests for a respiratory problem. Burch will miss at least a week of practice. Assistant Mike Collier is running the team.