Big West regular season women's basketball champion UC Davis will open up first round play in the Women's National Invitational Tournament on Wednesday against California at Haas Pavilion. The Aggies, who fell in the Big West title game, are making their second postseason appearance in three years as Division I program. Both of those appearances have been WNIT bids.

UCD, now 21-10 on the season, received the Big West automatic bid into the 64-team field after winning the regular season title but falling in the league tournament. The winner of Wednesday's game will face either Utah or Saint Mary's who play a first-round game in Moraga on Sunday.

The Aggies are one of the top defensive teams in the nation, allowing just 60.1 points per game and registering 350 steals in their 31 games. The linchpin of the defensive effort is Big West Defensive Player of the Year Haylee Donaghe who led the conference with 76 steals, an average of 2.5 per game. The club is also a balanced offensive outfit led by first team All-Big West standout Paige Mintun (12.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and second team All-Big West selection Heidi Heintz (10.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .856 FT%). Head coach Sandy Simpson has a young but talented squad and he's not afraid to use that depth as eight players average double-digit minutes, while eight players have hit at least 13 three-pointers.

The Golden Bears are 18-13 on the season after a fourth-place finish in the Pac-1o regular campaign and a semifinal showing in the Pac-10 Tournament. California has not played in the WNIT since 1987 but is making its fifth consecutive appearance in the postseason after earning berths into the NCAA Tournament from 2006-09. The Golden Bears hold a 6-2 all-time series lead against UC Davis. The teams last met Nov. 25, 2007 in Berkeley with California winning 67-58.

Seven games on Wednesday begin the WNIT with the remaining first-round matchups scheduled for Thursday through Sunday. All games are played on home sites.