Nov. 28, 2005
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific Tigers women's basketball team dropped a 65-64 contest to Southern Utah on Monday, Nov. 28. With the loss, Pacific fell to 1-4 on the season, while Southern Utah moved to 3-1.
In what began as a grind it out type of game, the Tigers and Thunderbirds opened up the floor and their offenses, exchanging blows throughout the game all the way until the end.
With Pacific down seven points at 15-8 with 8:35 left on the clock in the first half, the Tigers mounted an 18-11 push to close out the half and to knot the game at 26-26 at the break. The Tigers' push was led by sophomore Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) as she dropped eight points in 1:46 span, spurred on by two buckets from behind the arc. Lavender would finish the game with 11 points including 3-of-9 three-point shooting.
The Tigers quickly pushed out front of the Thunderbirds out of the break on a three-point play by senior Tina Sanerivi (Waipahu, Hawaii). Sanerivi finished the contest with 11 points while pulling down six rebounds. Yet, with every basket the Tigers scored the Thunderbirds were there to answer back. Pacific was able to gain a three point advantage with 7:30 left to play, its largest lead of the half. However, Southern Utah took back the lead with just over four minutes to play, growing its own three point advantage with 3:29 left in the game.
Heading into the final minute of play with the score knotted at 62-62, the Tigers took back the lead and what looked like the game on a lay-up by redshirt-freshman Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Dawkins continued her strong play for the Tigers in her first season of action, scoring 10 points and grabbing three rebounds in 27 minutes of work. With a two point lead, the Tigers had a chance to ice the game with a 1-and-1 opportunity with :22 seconds remaining in the game, but the front end of the chance was missed giving the Thunderbirds the opening they needed to steal the game. With just under :10 seconds to play in the game, Emily Mothershed played the part of the hero for Southern Utah as she found herself open deep in the corner. Mothershed promptly dropped the dagger, hitting her first three-pointer of the game after missing her earlier attempt. The Tigers were unable to get off a final shot as time expired.
On the night, the Tigers posted four players in double figures as three players hit 11 points led by Lavender, Sanerivi and junior Jerise Freeman (Wichita, Kan.). Freeman found her offense swagger in the second half, penetrating the Thunderbirds' defense for all of her 11 points in the half. Senior Carolina Ruiz (Paradise, Calif.) continued to lead the Tigers' in rebounding, pulling down eight boards and scoring eight points after beginning the game a perfect 4-of-4. As a team the Tigers shot an impressive 53.6% from the field in the second half, finishing the game at 44.4% to Southern Utah's 37.5%.
The Thunderbirds had three player reach double digits in scoring led by Cassie Hahl who scored a game-high 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting. Charmine Piula netted 13 while Cheryl Grant added 12 points and seven rebounds on the night. Mothershed finished with seven points on just 1-of-7 shooting, 1-of-2 from three-point range.
Pacific will be back in action on Thursday, Dec. 1, as the Tigers host No. 13 Stanford at 7 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center.
