Jan. 21, 2006
Box Score
Davis, Calif. - The Pacific women's basketball team fell for the fifth straight game, dropping a 77-62 decision to UC Davis on Saturday, January 21. With the loss the Tigers dropped to 4-13 overall while the Aggies improved to 9-9.
On the brink of taking control of the game, down one at 26-25, with 5:27 remaining in the first half, the Tigers were unable to get over the hump, committing one of their 24 turnovers in the game. From that point, the Aggies ran away with the contest, outscoring the Tigers 10-2 the rest of the half to take a nine point lead at the break. The Tigers had erased a 10 point deficit to get to that point, coming back from double digits for the fifth time in as many games.
With a nine point lead, the Aggies continued to pressure the Tigers throughout the second half, building their lead to as much as 24 points before Pacific made a late run to cut the final margin to 15 points.
The story of the game was very similar to most of the Tigers' losses this season as the Aggies took advantage of every missed opportunity for Pacific and converted on every Tigers' mistake. UC Davis capitalized on 24 Tigers turnovers, turning them into 32 points.
Pacific was led by sophomore Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) who scored 13 points despite shooting just 4-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-11 from behind the arc. Even though her shot was not falling, Lavender kept herself in the game, dishing out a career-high eight assists. Junior Jerise Freeman (Wichita, Kan.) added 11 points, but was taken out of the game early in the second half due to foul trouble. Rounding out the top, redshirt freshman Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds.
For the Aggies, five players hit double digits led by Jessica Campbell and Heather Bates with 17 points apiece. Bates did her damage off the bench and behind the arc, knocking down 5-of-9 from downtown. Lara Gray tallied 11 while Kimberly Smith and Jackie Turpin each finished with 10 points.
Pacific was outshot for the first time in its five game losing streak as the Aggies shot 44.1% to Pacific's 41.1%. Suprisingly, the nation's top free-throw shooting team shot just 64.3% from the line while the Tigers knocked down 81.8%.
The Tigers are still looking for their first road win of the season and in 16 attempts dating back to Dec. 30, 2004 after dropping today's road contest.
Pacific will be back in action on January 26 as the pickup Big West action against Cal Poly at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
