Jan. 15, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Despite shooting 29.2 percent from the floor, the Pacific women's basketball team picked up its defense to take a 61-37 victory over UC Irvine on Thursday, Jan. 15.
The win moved the Tigers to a 9-7 overall record and 3-1 in the Big West, while the Anteaters fell to 3-14 and 0-4. The win extended the Tigers' home winning streak to eight games on the year.
Senior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) led Pacific with 16 points and 13 rebounds to record her team-leading fifth double-double of the season. Additionally, Young sparked Pacific's shutdown defense throughout the game recording four steals and a pair of charges taken as the Tigers held the Anteaters to just 37 points.
With the conference's top scoring offense struggling to find its shooting stroke, the Tigers fell back on their defense to rout the Anteaters. After giving up just over 67 points per game throughout the season, the Tigers held the Anteaters 30 points below Pacific's opponents average by forcing UC Irvine into 21 turnovers and just 27.1% (13-of-48) shooting from the floor.
A game after being held to zero points for the first time in her career, Young started the contest off strong for the Tigers, hitting Pacific's first two baskets while scoring eight of the Tigers' first 10 points. With Young slashing to the basket the Tigers built an 11 point lead while holding UC Irvine to just four points nine minutes into the first half. Despite the large lead, the Tigers were unable to blow the game wide open in the first half as their shots would not drop even though Pacific was executing its offense with precision. In the half, the Tigers were just 9-of-37 from the floor while Rebecca Maessen for the Anteaters kept her team close to the Tigers by scoring 11 of UC Irvine's 18 first half points. She would finish the with a game-high 19 points.
With the Anteaters relying solely on Maessen for their scoring, the Tigers took advantage of their overmatched opponents to steadily build their lead up to over 20 points throughout the second half. After finishing the first half with 12 points and seven rebounds, Young relinquished some of the scoring duties to her teammates in the final 20 minutes of the half, netting four second half points while grabbing six rebounds before succumbing to foul trouble with just under five minutes to play in the game.
Held to just two first half points on 1-of-7 shooting, senior Amber Simmons (Chico, Calif.) posted 10 second half points, hitting all three of her attempts from the floor while making 4-of-6 from the line. Simmons finished one rebound short of her fifth double-double of the year, posting nine rebounds including five offensive boards. With Simmons hitting from the outside it was only a matter of time before the sharpshooting sophomore, Gretchen Tiernan (Roseville, Calif.), made her mark on the game. Without a point in the first half, Tiernan finally broke the seal on the basket in the second half with her first of four three-pointers in the half at the 17:56 mark. Tiernan finished the game with 14 points.
All of the Tigers' shooting woes in the contest were laid to rest by their constant pressure on the glass throughout the contest as Pacific outrebounded UC Irvine 51-to-36 on the night including pulling down 26 offensive rebounds. Alongside of Young and Simmons, Pacific's remaining seniors crashed the glass with abandon, Amy VanHollebeke (Carlsbad, Calif.) posted a career-best nine rebounds while Karen Dawkins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Whitney Price (Las Vegas, Nev.) posted seven rebounds a piece. VanHollebeke also added five points and five rebounds to the cause while Dawkins scored five points in just nine minutes of action.
The Tigers committed just 12 turnovers in the game while posting 11 assists and picking up 10 steals.
Pacific will host Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, January 17 at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Big West Conference action. The game is scheduled for 4:00 pm.
