Feb. 18, 2006

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Trailing 50-37 with just over six minutes remaining the Pacific Tigers women's basketball team rallied to take a 53-52 lead, but fell, 55-52, on a last second three by UC Riverside's Amber Cox on Saturday, Feb. 18.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 6-18 on the season and 3-8 in the Big West Conference, while UC Riverside moved to 10-14 overall and 6-7 in the Big West Conference.

Down 50-37 with 7:31 remaining in the game the Tigers ran off 14 consecutive points to take a 51-50 lead with 48 seconds remaining in the game. Back-to-back treys from sophomore Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and freshman Renee Roberts (Lodi, Calif.) got the Tigers off an running. Three other Tigers contributed to the run, led by four points from senior Carolina Ruiz (Paradise, Calif.).

With the Tigers up 51-50, UC Riverside got two free throws from Vanessa Campillo to reclaim the lead at 52-51 with 35 seconds remaining.

Ruiz countered with a layup for the Tigers with 17 seconds remaining to put Pacific back up 53-52.

UC Riverside, however, had the last possession and Cox made it count with a three from the right side of the arc with just one second remaining on the clock.

In the first half the Tigers started quickly out of the blocks as Pacific held a 7-2 lead at the 15:38 mark. The Tigers pushed their lead to as much as seven points at 16-9, but UC Riverside stormed back with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 16-16. Following an 18-18 tie, Pacific did not lead again until late in the second half.

At the break the Tigers trailed 31-26.

Ruiz led all scorers with 23 points, while Lavender was the only other Tiger to reach double figures with 11 points.

Seyram Gbewonyo led UC Riverside with 17 points, while Cox finished with 13.

Pacific will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 25 as the Tigers travel to Northridge, Calif. to take on Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 1420 KSTN and 970 KESP (ESPN Radio), with a pre-game beginning at 6:40 p.m.