Nov. 12, 2006
Box Score
Portland, Ore. - The Pacific women's basketball team opened the 2006-07 regular season with a 74-60 loss at the University of Portland on Sunday, November 12. The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-1 on the season while the Pilots improved to 1-0.
After falling behind 4-0 in the opening moments of the first half, the Tigers scored their first points of the 2006-07 season on a driving layup from freshman Jake Kelly (Sacramento, Calif.) with 18:16 remaining. Kelly's bucket kick-started the Pacific offense as junior Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) drilled back-to-back three pointers on the Tigers' next two possessions to give Pacific an 8-6 lead with 17:10 to play in the half.
The game remained close throughout the rest of the half, but the Tigers grabbed the momentum with a key 9-0 run. Trailing 16-12, Pacific rattled off the next nine points on two layups from Lavender, a three from Kelly and a short jumper from sophomore Whitney Price (Las Vegas, Nev.). Staked to a 21-16 lead with 9:11 remaining, the Tigers went on to take a 32-28 lead into halftime.
The Tigers stretched their lead to its six, 34-28, with the first points in the second half as sophomore Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) turned an offensive rebound in easy deuce. Following a layup by the Pilots, Kelly stretched Pacific's lead to its largest point with a trey, giving the Tigers a 37-30 edge with 17:12 to play.
Portland, however, responded with a 9-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead at 39-37 with 13:25 left. The two teams battled back and forth over the next several minutes.
The turning point in the game came with Pacific trailing 52-49 and just under five minutes to go. The Tigers found Dawkins in the post and she converted a five-footer to pull Pacific within a point. On the play, Portland's Karlie Burris committed her fourth personal foul, sending Dawkins to the line for the potential tying three-point play.
Portland head coach Jim Sollars called a timeout before Dawkin's foul shot. His words seemed to energize the Pilots as Portland executed flawlessly down the stretch, outscoring Pacific, 12-3 over the next four minutes to put the game out of reach.
Kelly led the Tigers with 18 points in the game, while Lavender finished with 16 points. Dawkins, meanwhile, delivered her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.
Portland's Laiken Dollente finished with a game-high 22 points, including 16-of-17 from the free throw line.
The Tigers committed 35 turnovers in the game and finished the night 19-69 from the field (27.5 %).
Pacific will be back in action on Sunday, Nov. 19 as the Tigers open their home schedule at 2 p.m. against the Colorado State Rams.
