Dec. 28, 2008
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Tested by a tough Iona team, the Pacific women's basketball team stayed perfect in the Alex G. Spanos Center, defeating the Gaels 66-62 on Sunday, December 28. The win moved the Tigers over .500 for the first time this season at 6-5 while the Gaels fell to 8-4 overall.
Pacific is 6-0 at home this season.
Led by their senior forward Amber Simmons (Chico, Calif.) the Tigers were able to push past the Gaels and overcome poor shooting at the line to come away with their sixth win of the season. For the seventh time this season, Simmons reached the 20 point plateau, tallying 21 hard fought points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Clamped down by a zone defense that took away the paint, the Tigers had to get their offense going from the outside. Pacific's first three shots of the contest were from distance with sophomore Gretchen Tiernan (Roseville, Calif.) starting the game off with a pair of three-pointers while senior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.). Senior Amy VanHollebeke (Carlsbad, Calif.) got into the mix as well scoring an unconventional triple with a layup and a free-throw.
However, even with the Tigers converting from deep early, the Gaels continued their interior pressure, on both ends of the court, to keep Pacific within reach in the half. Inside, Anda Ivkovic paced the Gaels with 10 first half points scoring both at the basket and at the free-throw line. Defensively, the Gaels were able to hold Simmons with out a point through the first seven minutes of the contest, but the Big West's leading scorer still managed to post eight hard fought points before heading to the locker room.
Pacific led by as much as five points just six minutes into the game and as much as six with 1:35 to play, but the Tigers were unable to pull away from the Gaels anymore. In the half, the game's advantage would switch hands five times with Pacific taking a two point advantage into the break. The Gaels largest advantage in the half came on the glass as Iona outrebounded Pacific 21-16 in the half. The Gaels would end up with six rebound advantage for the game, grabbing 45 rebounds to the Tigers' 39.
After a balanced attack in the first half netted Pacific a two point advantage, the Tigers' two leading scorers, Simmons and Young, went to work in the second half to ensure the Tigers' would hold their home court advantage. In the final 20 minutes, Simmons posted 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting while also posting three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.
Young sidekicked her way to seven second half points while grabbing three rebounds and two steals in the half. None of her points were bigger than her layup with :49 seconds to play as Simmons and she had a two-on-one transition break that started after a defensive rebound by senior Whitney Price (Las Vegas, Nev.). Price finished the contest with five rebounds and three points. On top of her scoring, Young came away with a game saving steal in the contest's final seconds after the Gaels had a fastbreak opportunity with seven seconds to play, only trailing by three.
Even with Pacific's top duo rounding into form in the second half, the Gaels would not go away as Thazina Cook shouldered the scoring responsibilities for Iona, scoring 15 of her game-high 22 points in the second half. Cook hit 5-of-11 shots in the half while also posting a perfect 4-of-4 effort from the line to get to 15 points. Additionally, Cook added to the rebounding effort five second half rebounds, ending the contest with eight rebounds total.
Overall, Pacific shot 44.4% (22-of-54) from the floor in the game while Iona hit 35.1% (20-of-57) of its shots. Neither team held control of the ball very well as the two teams combined for 53 total turnovers and 24 total steals.
Simmons' 21 points marked the 11th time in as many games the senior forward has hit double-figures in scoring. Young finished the game with 12 points and six rebounds. Pacific's starting backcourt both hit the double-figure mark in scoring for the first time this season as Tiernan and VanHollebeke each finished the contest with 11 points. VanHollebeke was just three assists shy of her first career double-double as she tied a career-high with seven assists.
The Tigers were just 17-of-32 from the line in the game while the Gaels were 18-of-28.
For the Gaels, Ivkovic joined Cook in double-figures with 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting. She also grabbed eight rebounds. Tomica Bacic led the way with a game-best nine rebounds but was 0-for-1 from the floor.
The Tigers begin their quest for the Big West regular season crown on Friday, January 2 when they host the Matadors of Cal State Northridge at the Spanos Center. The game is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
