Jan. 13, 2006
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific women's basketball team dropped its third straight Big West conference game, falling to the visiting 49ers of Long Beach State on Friday, January 13, 74-61, at the Alex G. Spanos Center. With the loss the Tigers fell to 4-11 overall and 1-3 in conference action while the 49ers improved to 10-5 overall and a perfect 3-0 in Big West play.
For the first time under interim head coach Karen Weitz, the Tigers were not able to hold court, falling at home for the first time in four games at the Spanos Center.
After finding themselves in a nine point hole midway through the opening half, the Tigers found their offensive flow, picking away at the 49ers defense to climb back into the game. Behind a 17-6 run, sparked by the hot hands of sophomore Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and freshman Renee Roberts (Lodi, Calif.), who combined to score 11 of the 17 points, including three from downtown, the Tigers took over the lead at 31-30 with :44 second to play in the half. However, this would be the final time Pacific would hold the advantage as the 49ers used a late push to claim a 34-31 halftime lead.
With a three-point lead, Long Beach State steadily increased their advantage throughout the second half, holding off Pacific's strong shooting with offensive bursts of their own. The Tigers never were able to climb closer than the three point halftime deficit and at one point found themselves down 18. Long Beach State was able to break the game open with just over eight minutes to play and with a six point lead using a 10-0 run to balloon the lead out to 16 points at 63-47 with 5:12 to play in the game.
On the night the Tigers were led by Lavender's 20 points as she recorded a career-high six three-pointers. She also added three rebounds and three assists on the night. Three other Tigers scored in double figures for the game with senior Carolina Ruiz (Paradise, Calif.) narrowly missing her third conference double-double, as she finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Two Tigers' scored 10 points as Roberts finished going 3-for-10 from behind the arc and senior Tina Sanerivi (Waipuha, Hawaii) added five rebounds.
Long Beach State dominated Pacific in the paint throughout the game, outrebounding the Tigers 47-to-35, including 20 offensive rebounds that resulted in 19 second chance points. Two Long Beach players hit double digits in rebounding with Jayme Connors recording 11 boards and Meghan Griffith finishing with 10. Three 49ers' scorers reached double figures led by Karina Figueroa with 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting. Fernanda Santos added 11 while Crystal McCutcheon tallied 10 points.
The Tigers again outshot their opponents, .418-to.412, but gave up 20 points off of 21 turnovers and were outscored 36-to-22 in the paint.
Pacific will next be in action on Sunday, January 15, as they play host to UC Irvine at the Spanos Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 pm.
