‘Try me again’: UC Davis returns to NCAA tourney behind its senior scientist
Cierra Hall is a scientist-in-making by day and a scorer and rebounder by night. Or by day, depending on tipoff time.
She is UC Davis’ next sparkling star basketball player and scholar. She manages a full boat of cell biology courses and remains fresh enough to score inside or out and to muscle and maneuver for rebounds amid championship pursuits. The 6-foot senior forward from Cypress of Orange County leads the Aggies with a 14.6 points-per-game average and pulls down just under seven rebounds.
Hall earned conference and Big West Tournament MVP honors as a driving force behind UCD’s 61-42 triumph of UC Irvine in the Big West championship game Saturday in Las Vegas.
UC Davis is now the five-time defending Big West regular season champions repeated as tournament champion, meaning another trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies will play in the Alamo Region in San Antonio, where the No. 12-seeded UC Davis will face No. 5 Missouri State — winners of 17 in a row — on Monday (televised on ESPNU).
The DNA analysis on the Aggies tells us they are united and determined. It starts with Hall, who enjoys a discussion on science as much as athletics, or music (she can play anything from drums to keyboards).
“I was always interested in science, and I considered studying to be an orthopedic surgeon, but then fell in love with science research,” Hall said. “I work at a research lab on campus. I’m interested in pursuing a career as a clinical lab scientist.”
On the topic of COVID-19, Hall has an interesting viewpoint, as any scientist would. She reminds us the virus is every bit real and dangerous. It is also fascinating in a scientific view of how it operates.
“It’s weird to say that its an incredible thing, as horrible as it is, but it’s incredible in how the virus works and how smart the virus is, and what we’re doing to combat it, new things arising, new vaccines,” Hall said. “It’s been super interesting.”
Another stellar UC Davis season
In this shortened, stop-and-start season, UCD has gone 13-2 and 9-1 in the Big West Conference. There is not an ounce of fatigue in the voices of players and longtime coach Jennifer Gross, just the sense of relief to even have a season, and the joy of winning another conference championship.
UCD has reached the postseason eight times in 14 years as a Division I program, including five Women’s National Invitational Tournament bids. COVID-19 has been the one foe no one has a true answer for, any sport at any level in any part of the world.
The Aggies endured nearly two months of a layoff due to a Yolo County health order that stalled team activities. Gross kept the team bonded while winning her fifth successive Big West Coach of the Year honor. UCD also has the Big West Defensive Player of the Year in center Sage Stobbart.
Hall won that honor last season, making her just the third player in conference history to win the defensive player award and the MVP nod. Stobbart, from British Columbia, is a 6-3 redshirt junior studying environmental science and management. She averages 10.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and nearly three blocked shots.
Senior point guard Mackenzie Trpcic of Hamilton, Ontario scores 9.3 a game and studies psychology, and 6-foot forward Kayla Konrad of Valencia puts in 9.5 a game. Konrad is a redshirt junior studying anthropology. Evanne Turner, a 5-9 guard from Fontana of San Bernardino County, averages 11.4 points. She played some of her best ball down the stretch. She is studying neurobiology, physiology and behavior.
Gross can relate to the rigors of the student-athlete grind on campus because she lived it. Gross set school records as an all-time program point guard great, graduating in 1997 with a degree in organizational studies. She was inducted into the Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.
How invested is the coach? She married Joe Teramoto in 2010, when they were assistant coaches on Sandy Simpson’s staff. Joe is now her associate head coach.
“It’s the cream of the crop in students and players here,” Gross said. “These kids are elite in everything. I don’t know how they find the time and the mental energy for everything they do, from all the incredibly difficult and challenging classes to pouring everything they have into basketball. They’re such well-rounded kids. It’s so cool, and they’re so bright and so fun to be with.”
In awe over the season
Gross said it took a collaborative effort to handle the pandemic. She is continuously impressed with how her crew has handled it, and the challenges will continue in San Antonio. This won’t be a sightseeing venture. Players will be pretty much confined to their rooms — one player or coach per room — in an effort to avoid the virus.
Do what it takes, in other words. Every team in the NCAA tournament will follow this policy.
“I can’t imagine a group handling this season better than this one,” Gross said. “I’m still in awe. Early on, when we finally got the green light to play, we’d have an opponent who couldn’t play, and we’d scramble as a staff to get a game, and that team couldn’t play. I felt like I was constantly delivering bad news to our team. It was a constant tease - will we play?
“Then the shut down was the hardest part. We told the girls that if you don’t want to keep doing this, this roller coaster ride of emotions, and if you want to say enough is enough, we understand. It is so mentally draining. But they were all in. They stuck with it. It really brought us closer together. We’re all we have. We can’t see our family and friends like normal and we created our own bubble and had each other.”
Hall said no crowds due to the pandemic meant players created their own energy with their efforts. It also reminded her of her fondness for hoops.
“It’s a love with basketball, and you fall in love with the game and the big moments, the small moments, the wins, dealing with losses,” she said. “You can’t describe the feeling of winning the conference championship, hugging, celebrating, cutting down the nets. It’s amazing. Teammates and coaches become your family, and in our current environment, this is all we really need.”
Mom is the inspiration
Hall is inspired by her mother, Shelley Hall, who set scoring records at Cerritos College and also played at Cal State Los Angeles. Shelley hasn’t been able to attend games in person but watches faithfully online.
“She hasn’t missed a game and she’s my biggest fan and biggest critic,” Hall said. “I talk to her before and after every game. She never sugar coats — ‘Don’t get too many fouls! Keep your arm up on free-throw follow through!’ She’s my rock. A single mother to me and my older brothers (Kyle and Jalen). She has done everything to help us, working two jobs, taking us to a million training sessions, practices and games. She sacrificed so much so we can be where we are. I am incredibly grateful for her knowledge, her love and support. “
Hall said she has similar strong sentiment to her coaching staff, especially Gross.
“The incredible chemistry starts with the coaches,” she said. “It’s a strong family environment. We feel love and support, especially during these times. They’re not just our coaches, but they’re supporting us as young women and athletes. If anything happens in our lives, they’re there to listen. I’m super grateful that I’m here.”
The feelings are mutual for the coach.
“Cierra is honestly the whole package, the true student-athlete,” Gross said. “She’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached, which says a lot coming from this program. And she competes. She’ll hear someone on the other bench say she can’t hit that shot, and she knocks it down, gives a little stare with a look of, ‘Try me again!’”