Jan. 2, 2008

Box Score

Riverside, Calif. - The Pacific women's basketball team suffered an 83-61 loss to UC Riverside in the Big West Conference opener on Wednesday, Jan. 2.

The loss dropped Pacific to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in the Big West Conference, while UC Riverside moved to 3-9 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.

The Tigers bounced out to an early 4-0 lead as junior Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) continued her hot play with four early points. After six straight points from the Highlanders, Pacific reclaimed the lead behind back-to-back buckets from junior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) and sophomore Emma Head (San Diego, Calif.) at 8-6 with 13:40 remaining in the first half.

The two teams battled back and forth through most of the first half, but the game turned with the Tigers leading 22-21 with 5:19 to go. Sophomore Jasmine Dana (Bakersfield, Calif.) gave the Tigers the one point edge with her second three-pointer of the season. Unfortunately that was the last lead of the night for Pacific as UC Riverside closed the half on an 18-7 run and took a 39-29 lead into the locker room.

The Highlanders' run continued at the start of the second period as UC Riverside scored six straight to open the frame, stretching their lead to 45-29. The Tigers got no closer than 15 the rest of the way.

One of the bright spots in the second half was the outside shooting of senior Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.), who was 3-for-6 from behind the arc in the second period.

Lavender finished the game with a team-high 14 points, while Dawkins and junior Amy VanHollebeke (San Diego, Calif.) scored 13 points and 10 points respectively.

UC Riverside's Seyram Gbewonyo led all scorers with 22 points, while Tainoisouti Lott finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Tigers return to the court on Thursday, Jan. 10 as Pacific hosts Long Beach State at the Alex G. Spanos Center at 7 p.m.