Dec. 10, 2005

Box Score

Ogden, Utah - The Pacific women's basketball team was unable to break their early season skid, falling to Weber State, 80-62, on Saturday, December 10. With the loss the Tigers dropped to 1-7 on the season while the Wildcats improved to 4-3.

Pacific began the game on fire, opening up an 11-4 lead on the Wildcats before the first media timeout of the contest. The Tigers hit four of their first five shots while putting together an inspired effort on the defensive end to open the game. The Tigers forced the Wildcats into 11 first half turnovers behind five steals and pressure defense. Offensively, freshman Renee Roberts (Lodi, Calif.) had a career half as she put up 12 first half points on 5-of-8 shooting, setting a new career high. Roberts would finish the game with 14 points including two three-pointers, extending her streak from behind the arc to six games as she has hit at least one from behind the arc in every game that she has played in so far in her young career.

Yet, with every thing that went well for Pacific in the half, the Tigers were unable to sustain any major runs against the Wildcats as Weber State's outside shooting (4-of-13 in the half) and Shantee Releford's presence in the paint kept the Wildcats in the game. Releford tallied four blocks and six rebounds in the first half, helping propel the Wildcats to a 38-34 halftime lead.

Behind continued play from behind the arc and Pacific foul trouble, the Wildcats were able to break the game open in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 42-28 in the half. Weber State outshot Pacific from the charity stripe, 20-to-4 in the half, with 14 of their second half points being accounted for from the line. In addition, the Wildcats added four more from behind the arc in the half to finish 8-of-25 from downtown.

On the night, Roberts led the Tigers in scoring with 14 while adding five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the game. Behind Roberts, senior Tina Sanerivi (Waipahu, Hawaii) and redshirt freshman Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) each added 12 points and six rebounds. Sanerivi was hounded the entire night by foul trouble, playing only seven minutes in the first half and playing the majority of her 11 minutes in the second half with four fouls.

For the Wildcats, Chelsey Warburton led all scorers with 23 points as she hit 5-of-13 from behind the arc and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the line. Sara Tuomi added 20 points while Laura Porter tallied 12 points and seven rebounds to round out the double digit scoring for Weber State. Releford ended the game with five blocks, seven points and ten rebounds.

The loss was the Tigers' seventh consecutive defeat after opening the season with a home victory against Texas Southern on Nov. 18.

The Tigers head back to Stockton for six days of practice before continuing their pre-conference schedule with a home game against Wofford on Sunday, December 18. The tip for the game is scheduled for 2:00 pm.