Nov. 22, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Playing in front of her home crowd for the first time in her career, senior Amber Simmons (Chico, Calif.) put on a show at the Alex G. Spanos Center, scoring 29 points and grabbing 12 rebounds en route to leading the Tigers past Northern Colorado, 72-64, on Saturday, November 22. The win was the first of the season for the Tigers as they moved to 1-1 on the year while the Bears suffered their first lost, dropping to 2-1 overall.

After starting the season on the road at Oregon, the Tigers came home looking to get in the win column against a very tough Northern Colorado team. Led by their seniors, the Tigers did just that, pouncing on the Bears early and holding off a second half rally to pick up the victory.

In the first half of play, the Bears held two brief leads with their last lead of just one point coming just six minutes into the game. The Bears were unable to break away from the Tigers due to the play of Simmons as the senior post scored 10 of Pacific's first 12 points to keep even with the Bears. With Simmons keeping the Tigers close early, it was the rest of the team that broke the first half open as the Tigers went on a 20-to-8 run to capture a 28-16 lead with 7:21 to go in the first half.

Pacific's 12 point lead was its largest of the half. During the run, six different Tigers put their names in the scorebook. The Tigers would take a nine point lead into the halftime break, capped off by a last second three-pointer by Simmons, one of just two treys in the first half and three for the entire contest.

In the first 20 minutes of the game, Simmons posted 19 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers as only sophomore Gretchen Tiernan (Roseville, Calif.) had more than three points in the half for Pacific as she posted all six of her game's points in the half.

Out of the break, Pacific continued its push, extending its lead to 13 points at 45-37 just two minutes into the second half. From there, the Bears made a push of their own, outscoring the Tigers 14-to-3 over the next six minutes to cut Pacific's lead to just two points with 11:55 remaining in the contest. However, pressed up against the wall the Tigers came back out swinging, using an 8-to-0 run of their own to push their lead back to double-digits. Pacific got points from four different players in its run as Simmons combined with seniors Amy VanHollebeke (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Whitney Price (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Jennifer Fath (Carrollton, Texas) to put the game back in their favor.

Up by 10, Pacific would not be threatened the rest of the contest as the Tigers pushed their lead to as much as 14 twice in the final five minutes of the game and sealed the victory from the line. In the final minutes of the contest, VanHollebeke buried six free-throws for the Tigers while junior Jasmine Dana (Bakersfield, Calif.) hit the final two freebies to close out the game.

Pacific finished the contest 23-of-31 from the line and 8-of-10 from the line in the final minute of the game. Overall, Simmons led all scorers with her 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor and 6-of-9 shooting from the line. Her 12 rebounds was a game-high and gave her her first career double-double. VanHollebeke was the only other Tiger to reach double-digits in scoring as the senior point guard posted 12 points with six points coming from the line. She also added three assists and three steals as the Tigers finished with 13 assists and just 13 turnovers.

The Bears had four players hit double-digits in points led by Jamie Schroeder's 15. Kate Kevorken added 14 while Courtney Stoermer and Whitley Cox posted 13 and 10, respectively.

Overall the Tigers outrebounded their opponents, 43-to-36, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second chance points. Pacific forced 19 turnovers and picked up 11 steals defensively.

Pacific will be back in action on Friday, November 28 at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas. The Tigers will take on the No. 4 North Carolina Tar Heels in the first game of the tournament which will be played at 5:00 pm (PST). Pacific's second opponent of the tournament will be determined by the first day's outcomes.