Jan. 13, 2007
Box Score
Irvine, Calif. - The Pacific women's basketball team battled back to send their contest into overtime but in the end could not pull out the victory, falling 76-64 to UC Irvine on the road on Saturday, January 13. The loss dropped the Tigers to 7-11 overall and 1-4 in conference action while the Anteaters improved to 5-13 overall and 2-2 in Big West play.
The first half started slow for the Tigers as the Anteaters were able to open up a 12 point lead midway through the first half. Despite the deficit, the Tigers continued to battle with UC Irvine, cutting the lead to just six points by the halftime break.
Uncharacteristically, the Tigers had a very unbalanced offensive attack in the opening half as sophomore Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and junior Tyler Moran (Carmel, Calif.) scored 26 of Pacific's 30 first half points. Dawkins poured in 16 points and grabbed five rebounds while Moran dropped in 10 points while also grabbing five rebounds.
Out of the break, the Tigers continued to press the Anteaters, climbing to with in three points on multiple occasions but struggling to break the three point seal. Finally, with 9:35 remaining in the second half, sophomore Renee Roberts (Lodi, Calif.) broke the Tigers through, hitting a three pointer to give the Tigers their first lead since the opening second of the game at 51-50. Much of the Tigers' comeback was led by senior Jerise Freeman (Wichita, Kan.) who scored 12 second half points after being held to just one first half point.
Not to be outdone, the Anteaters pushed back, reclaiming the lead and pushing it to as much as five points on two occasions, the last coming with :58 seconds remaining in the game.
Despite being held without a field goal for most of the game, junior Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) continued to push the action and take shots, finally connecting on a clutch three-pointer with :05 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. Even with out scoring, Lavender made her mark on the game as she dished out six assists, a new season high.
Expending all of their energy on the comeback, the Tigers were unable to match the Anteaters in the overtime period as they scored the first basket of the half and then went scoreless for the final four minutes.
Overall, Dawkins led all scorers with a career-high 27 points and 17 rebounds, one short of her career best. The game marked the seventh double-double of the season for the sophomore guard and the second consecutive conference double-double. Freeman finished with 13 points while Moran ended the game with 11 points.
For the Anteaters, Stephanie Duda took advantage of the free throw line to score 11 of her 23 points while also grabbing 15 points. Angie Ned added 15 points while Annie Mai dropped in 13 points. The Anteaters outshot the Tigers 42.9%-to-32.9% from the field and outrebounded Pacific 51-to-44 on the day.
The loss marked the 18th consecutive road conference game the Tigers have lost dating back to December 30, 2004.
Pacific will next be in action on Saturday, January 20 as they host UC Davis at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
