Nov. 29, 2008
Box Score
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island - Playing their second game in less than 24 hours, the Pacific women's basketball team could not overcome its own mistakes en route to suffering a 78-61 loss to Arkansas on Saturday, November 29. The loss was Pacific's second straight of the tournament as they finished the Junkanoo Jam at 0-2 and 1-3 on the season while the Razorbacks improved to 1-1 at the tournament and 5-1 overall.
For the second straight night, the Tigers could not overcome their own turnovers and the pressing defense of their opponents, this time in the form of the Razorback's trap, falling behind early as they suffered another tough defeat.
Out of the gate, the Razorbacks took control of the contest with a swarming defense that forced Pacific into 15 first half turnovers. With the Tigers off balance, Arkansas was able to build a double-digit lead eight minutes into the contest, leading 18-8 with just under 12 minutes to play. Down early, the Tigers responded with a pair of plays on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor by freshman Claire McLeod (Victoria, Australia) posting her first collegiate points on one end and immediately following the play by taking a charge on the other end.
After cutting the Razorback lead to just two possessions at 18-12, the Tigers allowed Arkansas to grab control of the game with three-straight steals, uncontested transition layups and a pair of free-throws to push the lead to 15 points in the half with 7:45 to play, a lead that would only be bested by a point later in the half.
A small push at the end of the half cut the lead to 12 points at the break with the Tigers still in sight of the Razorbacks heading into the locker rooms. Pacific did not shoot well in the first half, hitting just 23.3% of their shots in the opening 20 minutes to allow Arkansas to take and hold its lead. Senior Amber Simmons (Chico, Calif.) was the lone bright spot for the Tigers in the first half, posting 11 of the Tigers' 20 points in the half.
Despite Simmons playing well the Tigers were still unable to overcome its own mistakes in the second half as the Razorbacks used a sharpshooting touch from the outside and continued pressure defense to blow the game wide open in the second half.
In the final 20 minutes of action the Razorbacks pushed their lead to as much as 32 points with just eight minutes to play before the Tigers mounted a push that would cut the final deficit to 17. Simmons continued her stellar night, pouring in 17 second half points to finish with a game-high 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor. In addition, Simmons posted five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals in the loss.
In the second half run, the Razorbacks forced 11 Tiger turnovers resulting in 17 points. From behind the arc, Arkansas hit 7-of-11 three-pointers with Charity Ford hitting a perfect 2-of-2 to lead the way. Overall, the Razorbacks were 10-of-23 from distance while posting 26-of-58 from the floor.
Four Razorbacks went for double-figures with three players hitting the 12 point mark in Whitney Jones, Anyana Brereton and Ceira Ricketts. Lyndsay Harris, the team's leading scorer a night ago, posted 10 points in the contest to round out the scoring.
Pacific will be back in action on Wednesday, December 3 when the Tigers head home to take on Portland State at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Game time is scheduled for 5:00 pm.
