Dec. 3, 2006
Box Score
Moraga, Calif. - Behind her third straight double-double, sophomore Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the Pacific women's basketball team past the Gaels of St. Mary's, 75-67, on Sunday, December 3. The win moved the Tigers to 3-4 overall on the season and snapped a 25 game road losing streak. The loss dropped the Gaels to 2-5 overall.
Dawkins posted a career-high 26 points on the day and grabbed 13 rebounds to post her fourth double-double of the season. Also getting in on the action at the glass, sophomore Whitney Price (Las Vegas, Nev.) pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds.
After scoring just two points in the opening four minutes of the game, both teams scored just once before the first media timeout, the Tigers made adjustments offensively that spurred on a first half push from which Pacific would never look back. A slower paced, more patient offense became the key for the Tigers in their road win as they were able to take advantage of open holes in the Gaels defense with good ball movement and crisp passing.
Once again, just as the Tigers did against the Toreros two nights before, Pacific fed the Gaels a steady dose of inside post offense complimented by an outside, midrange game. Working hard for position down low and being rewarded for it from her guards throughout the entire game, Dawkins nearly single-handedly outscored the Gaels in the first half, scoring 16 points while as a team the Tigers held St. Mary's to just 18 opening half points.
Not much changed for the Tigers in the second half, continuing to go inside to Dawkins to the tune of 10 second half points. In addition to low post scoring, the Tigers hit 4-of-8 from distance to break open the game and extend their lead to as much as 19 points at 69-50 with just over five minutes to play in the half.
The Gaels made a push at the end to cut the final deficit to eight points, taking advantage of the absence of freshman point guard Jake Kelly (Sacramento, Calif.) who fouled out of the contest with 4:21 remaining in the contest. Kelly was held under 10 points for only the second time this season, scoring eight points as she was saddled with foul trouble for much of the day. Even without scoring, Kelly put her stamp on the game as she tallied five assists, most on feeds to Dawkins as the duo spurred on the opening half run that pushed Pacific to the win.
Junior Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) showed signs of her coming out of her shooting funk as she posted 16 points in the contest, hitting 5-of-13 shots including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Senior Jerise Freeman (Wichita, Kan.) continued her hot streak from the free-throw line hitting both of her attempts on the day as she finished with eight points while also adding three rebounds, two assists and three steals. Price also added five points and two steals.
For the Gaels, three players reached double-figures led by Eghosa Obaiza who posted 14 points on the day, including 12 second half points before fouling out of the contest. Obaiza was one rebound short of a double-double herself as she finished with nine rebounds. Joining her on the score sheet were Jontelle Smith and Lauren Shaughnessy who each added 11 points.
The Tigers experienced their best shooting game of the season hitting on 45.3% of their attempts from the field. More importantly, Pacific was nearly perfect from the line, converting on 11-of-13 attempts for an .846 clip. On the other side, the Gaels shot 41.7% including hitting 18-of-26 shots in the second half.
The Tigers will next be in action on Thursday, December 7 as they take on Northern Arizona at 6:30 pm.
