Nov. 19, 2006
Box Score
STOCKTON, Calif. - Sophomore Karen Dawkins scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Pacific women's basketball team (1-1) to a 71-59 victory over Colorado State (1-2) in its 2006-07 home opener on Sunday, Nov. 19, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Pacific would never trail in front of their home crowd as the Tigers started the game off with a 12-6 run before the first media timeout. Freshman Jake Kelly (Sacramento, Calif.) and junior Tyler Moran (Carmel, Calif.) led the charge for the Tigers, each posting five points in the first four minutes of play.
A small run by the Rams brought Colorado State to with in two points at 15-13, but that would be a close as the Rams would get as Pacific ran their lead to as much as 12 points before settling for an eight point lead at the break.
Out of the locker room, the Tigers pushed the lead to 16 points over the first 13 minutes of the half, primarily on the back of Dawkins in the paint. Of her career-best 24 points, 15 came in the second half, all in the paint and all during the opening stretch of the second half. As a team the Tigers outscored the Rams inside, 32-to-12.
At 62-46, the Rams scored the next eight points to cut the Tigers lead back to the eight point half time deficit as Kelly Jo Mullaney scored five of her 16 second half points throughout the run. Despite the streak, Pacific held off the late rally by Colorado State as the Tigers made some key defensive stops in the final minutes that enabled them to push the lead back up to 12 points by the final buzzer.
Overall, Dawkins led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting including 6-of-8 from the free throw line. In addition, she pulled down six rebounds and dished out two assists while committing just one turnover. Moran finished the game with 10 points and tallied career-highs with eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocks (doubling her career total of three blocks).
Joining the duo in double figures was Kelly who posted 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Pacific's point guard also dished out four assists and had two steals.
For the Rams, Mullaney led the team with 21 points on 9-of-22 shooting. Molly Nohr scored 19 points on 7-of-23 shooting before fouling out of the game in the final minutes.
Despite posting a 12 point win, the Tigers struggled from the line shooting just 45.8% on 11-of-24 shooting. The Rams held a +10 rebounding edge over the Tigers, pulling down 21 offensive rebounds.
The Tigers will next be in action on Friday, November 24 as they travel to Stillwater, Okla. to take on the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 5:00 pm (PT)
