Feb. 21, 2008

Box Score

Santa Barbara, Calif. - Despite a strong performance overall led by 17 points from senior Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) the Pacific women's basketball team was unable to topple Big West leader UC Santa Barbara, falling to the Gauchos, 62-51, on Thursday, Feb. 21.

With the loss the Tigers fell to 11-15 on the season and 6-7 in the Big West Conference. UC Santa Barbara, meanwhile, moved to 18-6 overall and remained perfect in the Big West, moving to 12-0.

The Gauchos got off to a 12-4 lead in the opening five minutes, but Pacific answered the bell with consecutive buckets from junior Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.), junior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) and sophomore Emma Head (San Diego, Calif.) to pull within two at 12-10 with 13:05 left in the half.

That pattern followed throughout the first period as the Tigers took UC Santa Barbara's best efforts and matched every one. The final burst for the Tigers, though, may have been their best. Trailing 32-23 with under a minute left, Lavender drained a three from the right side to make it 32-26. After UC Santa Barbara's Jordan Franey was 1-for-2 from the line, Pacific junior Amy VanHollebeke (San Diego, Calif.) drilled a trey with 27 seconds remaining in the half.

Pacific proceeded to force the Gauchos into a quick turnover and VanHollebeke streaked down the court to convert a circus shot as the buzzer sounded, pulling the Tigers with two points at 33-31 at halftime.

Out of the break, Pacific let UC Santa Barbara know they were in for a fight as Lavender drained a three from the top of the key on the first possession to boost the Tigers into their first lead of the game at 34-33.

Unfortunately the Gauchos rose to the challenge, scoring the next 11 points of the game to regain control and a double-digit lead at 44-34 with 16:06 to play.

The Tigers could not recover this time and when on to drop the contest, 62-51, getting no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Lavender led all scorers with 17 points, while VanHollebeke finished with 15.

The Gauchos got 14 points from Sha'Rae Gibbons and 11 points from Jessica Wilson.

Pacific returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 23 as the Tigers battle Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif. at 4 p.m. Earlier this year, the Tigers downed the Mustangs 89-88 in an overtime thriller.