Jan. 17, 2008
Box Score
Irvine, Calif. - Despite starting the game with a 17-1 deficit and trailing UC Irvine by a margin 17 early in the first half, the Tigers defeated the Anteaters by a final score of 69-59 on Jan. 17 in Irvine, Calif. Freshman Beckett Brennan (Littleton, Colo.) led the team with 17 points in the game, netting a season high five three pointers in the contest, while Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) and Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) each recorded double doubles.
With the win, the Tigers improved their record to 7-10 on the year and 2-2 in the Big West, while UC Irvine fell to 4-14 on the season with the loss. The Anteaters are now 0-4 in Big West action.
In a game that could not have started any worse, the Tigers persevered to turn the game upside down to finish with one of their biggest wins in recent years as Pacific picked up its first road conference road win in over two years with their defeat of UC Irvine.
Out of the gate the Tigers found themselves in a 16 point hole as the Anteaters were able to put together a 17-1 run to start the game over the first five minutes of the contest. UC Irvine was able to push their lead to a much as 17 points in the opening 13 minutes of the contest as they led 31-14 with 7:46 to play in the half.
Despite the large deficit, the Tigers never quit on the game as they locked down defensively from that point on, stirring their greatest comeback of the season. For the final nine minutes of the half, UC Irvine was held to just one made field goal as Pacific's perimeter pressure increased led by sophomore Jasmine Dana (Bakersfield, Calif.). With the defenses pressure, the Tigers were able to get their offense into rhythm with juniors Young, Dawkins and Amy VanHollebeke (San Deigo, Calif.) leading the charge. The trio combined for 17 of the Tigers' final 20 points of the half as Pacific went on a 21-4 run to end the half. Pacific's comeback was capped off by Brennan who knocked down an open look from distance in the waning seconds of the half to knot the game at 35-35 heading into the halftime break.
With confidence and momentum on their side, the Tigers came out firing in the second half, taking their first lead of the game :14 seconds into the final half and never giving it back. The junior trio picked up where they left off in the first half, scoring the Tigers' and the half's first nine points before Brennan took over with an aerial show from outside to break the game open for Pacific.
In the second half, Brennan knocked down four three-pointers to finish the game with a career-best five shots from distance, surpassing her previous best set a game ago of three. Her 17 points, including 12 in the second half alone, led all scorers on the night and marked the first time the freshman marksman hit the 10+ point plateau in her young career.
Behind Brennan and VanHollebeke's outside shooting and Dawkins and Young in the paint, the Tigers were able to build a lead by as much as 14 points in the half defore finally settling on the 10 point margin of victory.
An emphasis on crashing the glass gave the Tigers the edge in the contest as Pacific ripped down 48 rebounds in the contest including a season-high 22 boards on the offensive glass. Young and Dawkins led the way with 14 and 11 rebounds, respectively. The duo each posted their second double-doubles of the season as Young added 14 points to go along with her career-high 14 rebounds while Dawkins scored 12 points as she came on strong in the second half after a slow start to the game.
From the outside, Brennan posted 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting including hitting 5-of-9 from behind the arc. VanHollebeke continued to score well in conference action as the junior point guard added 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting for the Tigers.
The Anteaters got just one player in double-figures for the night in Miranda Forry, who posted 13 points and eight rebounds in the loss. The conference's leading rebounder, Stephanie Duda posted nine rebounds and nine points in the game before fouling out with 10 minutes to go in the second half after picking up a personal foul and a technical foul on the same play..
For the game, the Anteaters outshot the Tigers 41.5% to 37.5% from the floor behind a 51.7% shooting effort in the first half. The plus 50% shooting in the first half marked the third of four opponents in Big West play to reach that mark this season.
The Tigers were 7-of-19 from behind the arc while the Anteaters were just 3-of-9.
Pacific will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 19 as they take on Cal State Fullerton on the road at 5:00 pm.
