Jan. 10, 2008
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Playing their first home Big West Conference game of the season, the Pacific women's basketball team could never get their offense in rhythm throughout the night as Long Beach State was able to pick up a 62-56 win over the Tigers on Thursday, January 10.
With the loss the Tigers dropped to 5-10 overall on the season while they remain in search of their first conference win of the season at 0-2 in Big West play. The 49ers improved to 3-11 on the year while they got into the conference win column for the first time in 2008, improving to 1-2.
In a game open for the taking by either team, the 49ers were able to lay claim to the victory with strong shooting (49.0% from the field) despite 28 team turnovers in the contest. Holding the advantage in the turnover department despite giving the ball away 23 times in the contest, Pacific was never able to take full advantage of Long Beach State's mistakes as the shots refused to fall for the Tigers, shooting just 35.6% from the floor (21-of-59).
The first half started well for the Tigers despite the mistakes as they were able to capture an early lead on the 49ers, holding a six point advantage at the 14:05 mark in the game after giving up the game's opening points. Throughout the half, the game ebbed and flowed in Pacific's favor with the Tigers building leads of nine points and eight points on separate occasions, hinting that they might pull away from their opponent.
However, With an eight point lead with 3:12 to play in the half, Pacific's offense stalled allowing Long Beach State to score the final nine points of the half. The 49ers, who only led at the very beginning of the game after scoring the contests first points, recaptured the lead with :25 seconds to play in the half and never looked back.
Out of the break the 49ers built upon their lead, pushing the Tigers' deficit to as five points four separate times in the first eight minutes of the second half. Down five time 12 minutes to play, Pacific mounted a small run over their own, finally evening the score at 44-44 with just under 11 minutes to play in the game. The momentum would not last as a spurt of turnovers and missed shots ended the Tigers rally and gave the game back to the 49ers. Long Beach State would lead by as much as nine before finally settling on the final margin of six points.
Junior Amy VanHollebeke (San Diego, Calif.) led the way for the Tigers with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting including 4-of-8 shooting from behind the arc. 11 of VanHollebeke's points came in the first half of play. Two other Tigers hit the double-figure mark with junior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) adding 12 points and six rebounds while freshman Jennifer Fath (Carrollton, Texas) came off the bench to score 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor.
The 49ers were led by Kaiti O'Brien's double-double as she posted 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and a game-high 10 rebounds. Ally Wade led all scorers with 16 points while Tyresha Calhoun and Lynea Williams tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Long Beach State won the rebounding battle 38-29 despite giving up 15 offensive rebounds to the Tigers.
Pacific will be back in action on Saturday, January 12, as they play host to Cal State Northridge. Game time is 4:00 pm.
