Feb. 9, 2006
Box Score
Irvine, Calif. - The Pacific women's basketball team fell at UC Irvine by the score of 79-58 on Thursday, February 9. With the loss the Tigers dropped to 5-16 overall and 2-6 in conference action while the Anteaters improved to 6-16 overall and 4-6 in conference action.
A hot hand by senior Carolina Ruiz (Paradise, Calif.) was not able to overcome sloppy play and poor execution by the Tigers as Pacific dropped another Big West Conference matchup on the road on Thursday night. Ruiz, despite fouling out with just under four minutes to play in the game, notched her fourth conference double-double, scoring 19 points while pulling down 12 rebounds.
A game of missed opportunities for Pacific, the Tigers were never able to take advantage of UC Irvine offensively, even with a hot start. Sophomore Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) began that game on fire, hitting her first three shots including two from behind the arc. She finished with three from distance in the first half and 10 points to open, but cooled off, scoring just three points in the second half. Even with her shot not falling, Lavender continued to thread the needle with excellent passes, but the Tigers were unable to follow through and finish, wasting many opportunities that were setup by their point guard.
Three missed layups at the end of the first half led to a 13 point deficit at the break, a deficit the Tigers never really threatened to overcome. The second half witnessed the Anteaters take control of the game, led by Angie Ned who finished one rebound short of a double-double, notching 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Pacific pulled to within eight points at one point, but also trailed by as much as 23 points before the final 21 point margin.
On the night, the Tigers struggled with foul trouble, witnessing two starters foul out, and struggled form the line, hitting just 8-of-15. On the other end, the Anteaters dropped in 24-of-32 from the charity stripe, shooting 75% for the game.
The Tigers were led by Ruiz and Lavender, the only Tigers to hit double figures for the contest. As a team, Pacific had one of its worst shooting nights, shooting just 37% from the field and a 22.2% from behind the arc.
The Anteaters had three reach double figures with Ned leading the way. The duo of Stephanie Duda and Kelly Cochran each scored 12 points to round out the scoring. UC Irvine shot 42.2% from the field despite shooting just 11.1% from behind the arc for the game.
The loss was Pacific's 17th straight road loss dating back to Dec. 30, 2004.
Pacific will again be in action on the road on Saturday, February 11, as they travel to Long Beach State to take on the 49ers. Game time is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
