Feb. 11, 2006
Box Score
Long Beach, Calif. - The Pacific women's basketball team dropped a 77-54 contest at Long Beach State on Saturday, February 11. With the loss the Tigers fell to 5-17 overall and 2-8 in conference action while the 49ers improved to a league best, 15-7 overall and 8-2 in conference action.
A first half full of squandered chances and missed opportunities led the Tigers to an 11 point deficit. After a slow start that witnessed the 49ers open up a 10-0 lead to begin the half, the Tigers settled into rhythm and their game, erasing Long Beach State's lead over the next eight minutes. Pacific pulled with in one point on multiple occasions. The Tigers' best opportunity to take control of the game came with just over four minutes to play in the half, trailing 25-24, but let three separate chances fall by the wayside, after which the 49ers used a 10-0 run to close out the half and take a double digit lead into the break.
From there, the 49ers never looked back, reminiscent of the first meeting between the two teams earlier in the season, pushing their lead to as much as 24 points in the second half before settling for a 23 point win. The Tigers were never able to regain the swagger that saw them cut the lead to just one in the first half, looking out of sorts while giving up easy looks to the 49ers throughout the second half.
The true story of the game however was the dominance on the boards exhibited by the 49ers, outrebounding the Tigers by 20 rebounds, 47-to-27. More surprising however, Long Beach State pulled down 22 offensive rebounds, consistently getting two, three and even four looks every time up the court.
On the night, the Tigers were highlighted by the play of senior forward Carolina Ruiz (Paradise, Calif.) who continued to show that she deserves consideration as a potential Big West Player of the Year candidate. Ruiz notched 24 points, on 10-of-14 shooting, while finishing one rebound short of a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds. Behind her, senior Tina Sanerivi (Waipuha, Hawaii) used a strong second half to finish with 11 points to round out the scoring for the Tigers.
On the other end, Crystal McCutcheon dropped in a game-high 26 points, on 9-of-19 shooting, finishing two boards short of the double-double with eight rebounds. However, two 49ers finished with double-doubles, as Fernanda Santos notched 15 points and 11 boards while Jayme Conners scored 11 and grabbed 12 rebounds. Rounding out the double digit scoring for Long Beach State was Jeannie Saunders who scored 14 points.
Overall the Tigers were outshot by the 49ers, 44.1%-to41.2% from the field but outshot Long Beach State, 29.4%-to-22.2% from behind the arc and 70%-to-65% from the line.
The loss marked the Tigers' 17th straight road loss, a streak dating back to Dec. 30, 2004. On the season, the Tigers are 0-9 away from home.
Pacific will next be in action on Thursday, February 16, as they play host to the Titans of Cal State Fullerton at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
