March 1, 2008
Box Score
STOCKTON, Calif. - Junior Amy VanHollebeke (San Diego, Calif.) buried a half court shot as time expired to lead the Pacific women's basketball team to a 72-71 victory over UC Davis on Saturday, Mar. 1, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Although VanHollebecke's theatrics will be the lasting memory, the Tigers' epic comeback began long before the final shot was heaved.
Trailing 60-52 with 8:52 remaining in the contest, the Tigers began to claw their way to their most defining victory during the Lynne Roberts era on the backs of their defense. Pacific held UC Davis without a field goal for the next 7:28 as the Tigers fought back into contention.
Freshman Jennifer Fath (Carrollton, Texas) started the Tigers charge with a jumper from the left side to make it 60-54. On Pacific's next possession, senior Kelsey Lavender (Lake Oswego, Ore.) splashed in a three-pointer from the right corner to make it a one possession game at 60-57 with 7:03 remaining.
Following a UC Davis free throw, junior Whitney Price (Las Vegas, Nev.) nailed a jumper from the elbow to make it 61-59 with 5:46 left. Another one of two performance from the charity stripe by the Aggies opened the door for VanHollebeke's first clutch shot. She drilled a three from the left wing to tie the game at 62-62 with 3:50 to play.
UC Davis regained the lead with three of four free throws over the next two possessions, but once again the Tigers rose up from beyond the arc. Fath found Lavender open deep in the right corner again and the senior made the Aggies pay with her fifth trey of the night to tie the game at 65-65.
The Aggies pushed ahead again with 1:24 left on a layup from Paige Mintun, but Pacific sophomore Emma Head (San Diego, Calif.) answered with a layup of her own courtesy of a great entry pass from Price.
The back-and-forth battle between the two teams raged on as UC Davis went back up with a layup, only to have Head tie the game for the third time by calmly stroking two free throws with 27 seconds left in the game.
With the ability to hold for the last shot, UC Davis turned to Jessica Campbell. The Aggies' point guard drove the lane with just over 10 seconds remaining and delivered an apparent game winning bucket with 4.2 seconds showing on the clock.
Back-to-back full timeouts from each coach ensued, then Roberts used her final 30 second timeout to design Pacific's final shot.
Needing to go the length of the court, VanHollebecke inbounded the ball to Fath. She dribbled up the right side of the court as VanHollebeke streaked down the left. Fath found VanHollebeke just passed the half court line, then Amy let fly the biggest shot in her career as a Tiger as the final second ticked off the clock.
VanHollebeke's shot cleared the front of the rim by the slimmest of margins and swished through the net to give the Tigers the victory.
Four Tigers finished in double figures in the game, led by 17 points from Lavender. Head posted 16 points, while junior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) had 11 points and VanHollebeke delivered 10.
UC Davis' Haylee Donaghe led all scorers with 19 points, while Campbell had 18.
The Tigers conclude their regular season on Saturday, Mar. 8 as Pacific hosts defending Big West champion UC Riverside at 4 p.m. The contest will be the final game at home for Lavender and fellow senior Tyler Moran (Carmel, Calif.). Lavender and Moran will be honored prior to the game.
