Feb. 24, 2007

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific women's basketball team fell to 8-19 overall and 2-10 in Big West Conference action with a 72-51 loss to Cal State Northridge (12-14, 8-4 Big West) on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

After hitting the opening basket, a three-pointer by junior Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.), Pacific quickly found itself trying to climb out of a deep hole as the Matadors jumped out front of the Tigers 19-5. Cal State Northridge shot lights out from the field to start the game, topping the 60% threshold for much of the first half including shooting over 70% from distance. The Tigers found themselves down by as much as 19 points in the first half at 31-12 before slowly chipping away at the Matadors lead to cut the deficit to 12 points at the break.

Despite taking the momentum into the locker room at halftime, the Tigers were unable to capitalize on back-to-back possessions to open the second half which opened the door for the Matadors to push their lead back up to 19 points within the first five minutes of the half. From there, the Tigers would get no closer as Cal State Northridge was able to increase its lead to as much as 26 points at 72-46 before finally settling on the final score of 72-51.

Despite the loss the Tigers got a good showing out of freshman Emma Head (San Diego, Calif.) as she posted her first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Head also added two blocks in the defensive effort while not committing a single turnover before fouling out of the contest with just under four minutes to play in the game. Lavender finished the game with 12 points, all coming from behind the arc, while freshman Jake Kelly (Sacramento, Calif.) added 10 points.

For the Matadors, LaJoyce King and Jazelle Burries led the way with 17 points each. King also finished the game with a double-double as she pulled down 10 rebounds in the game. Two other players hit double-digits in scoring as Krizstina Fuleki put up 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting including 4-of-9 from behind the arc. Jamie McCaa added 11 points in the contest. As a team the Matadors were nearly perfect from the line as they hit 19-of-20 attempts for 95% shooting.

The Tigers will take on UC Santa Barbara in Big West Conference action on Thursday, March 1 as they start the final weekend of the regular season. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm.