Dec. 30, 2006

Box Score

Northridge, Calif. - On the road to open conference action, the Pacific women's basketball team fell to Cal State Northridge, 72-50, to fall to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in the Big West while the Matadors improved to 4-9 overall and 1-0 in conference action.

What was a close one point game at the halftime break turned into a 22 point loss for the Tigers as Cal State Northridge pulled away from Pacific with 43 second half points to take home the conference victory. While the Tigers attempted to find their offense, the Matadors could not miss from the field, hitting on 51% of their shots including going 6-of-11 from distance.

The Tigers were able to keep the game close, trailing by as much as six points and as little as two points throughout the first five minutes of the second half as the two teams traded baskets coming out of the break. However, with their leading scorer struggling and their top scorer for the evening on the bench with foul trouble, the Matadors were able to break the contest open scoring 11 unanswered points over the next five minutes to take a 52-39 lead with 10:11 remaining in the contest. Helping Cal State Northridge's cause, the Tigers were unable to get into an offensive rhythm throughout the second half as Pacific scored just three points over an eight minute span, allowing the Matadors to take control of the contest and never look back.

For the game, the Tigers were led by junior Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) with 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from behind the arc. Sophomore Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) dropped in 12 points, 11 coming in the second half. In addition she grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots. Senior Jerise Freeman (Wichita, Kan.) scored 11 points in her second start of the season.

On the other end, LaJoyce King scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as she posted a double-double in the first half alone. Jamie McCaa also added 19 points for the game hitting on 6-of-11 shots including a perfect 3-of-3 from distance. Krisztina Fuleki added 10 points to the effort while Crystal Hahs scored eight points and blocked seven shots, doubling her season total in one effort.

The Tigers will be back in action on Thursday, January 4 as they host UC Riverside at the Spanos Center at 7:00 to continue conference action.