Jan. 17, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - In one of the fastest-paced games of the season, the Pacific women's basketball team put their top ranked offense to work to topple Cal State Fullerton 72-66 on Saturday, Jan. 17.
After the victory, Pacific's records improved to 10-7 overall and 4-1 in the Big West Conference, as the Titans dropped to 6-9 and 3-2 this season. Additionally, the Tigers remained a perfect 9-0 at home in the Spanos Center this season.
Three Tigers stepped up in the win as senior Amber Simmons (Chico, Calif.) led all players on the night with 28 points. while sophomores Jennifer Fath (Carrollton, Texas) and Gretchen Tiernan (Roseville, Calif.) followed the charge with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Mirror images of one another from their roster to their style of play, the Tigers and the Titans held a slugfest at the Spanos Center with the Tigers winning the final fight at the end to come away with the win that separated the two teams in the conference standings.
From the opening tip, both teams looked to run, using the transition game off of the glass to set up easy buckets on the offensive end. Overall the game was played underneath with the Tigers winning the battle on the boards, 43-to-30 and in the paint, outscoring the Titans 48-to-34.
In the first half alone the lead changed hands five times throughout the opening 20 minutes of play with neither team being able to build a lead larger than two possessions. Cal State Fullerton held its largest lead of the half and the game with 11:05 to play, holding a 25-19 edge on the Tigers. However, the lead would be short lived as the Tigers scored 10 unanswered points to take a four point lead, grabbing the games momentum heading into the locker room. Simmons posted five of the Tigers' 10 points during a run in which Pacific held the Titans scoreless for nearly five minutes.
Simmons led the way in the half, posting her 16th double-digit scoring effort of the season in the first half alone with 17 points en route to leading Pacific to a one point halftime lead. Additionally, the Tiger forward grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists. However, the Titans had two players score 10+ points in the half with Megan Richardson netting 14 points while Lyndsey Grove added 12 points to the Titans' cause. Despite the Tigers' strong first half shooting (16-of-33, however, Pacific spent most of the opening half shooting over 60.0% from the floor), the Titans stayed close to the Tigers by taking care of the ball while committing just two first half turnovers.
Out of the break, the Titans held a pair of brief leads in the first minutes of the half, but with 17:07 to play in the game, Pacific would take the lead on a jumper by senior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) and never look back. Once again, the Tigers used a big run to do their damage, scoring nine unanswered points to push their lead to eight points at 47-39, five minutes into the half. Pacific would hold its eight point lead throughout the next four minutes until the Titans stormed back into the contest.
Behind 55-47 with 12:36 to play, Cal State Fullerton took advantage of the Tigers' transition defense to roll out a 9-2 run that cut Pacific's lead to just one point with 5:50 remaining in the contest. Five different Titan players scored during the run that was capped off by a transition layup by Toni Thomas who finished with 16 points in the game despite having just two at the halftime break.
Back to a one possession game, the Tigers snapped out of their funk with Tiernan and Fath sparking Pacific's late offensive charge. Tiernan drained her second three-point shot of the contest to snap the Titans' run and put Pacific back up four points while Fath responded with the Tigers next seven points, all coming off runners in the lane, to keep the Tigers ahead and back up six points, 67-61, with 2:40 to play in the game.
In the final minutes, Richardson tried her best to put her team on her shoulders, hitting a corner three and a pair of free-throws, two of three after being fouled on a three-point attempt, but her final five points were not enough. Tiernan put the final dagger into the Titans with 1:23 to play, hitting her third three-pointer of the contest, before Pacific's defense clamped down to keep the Titans' off of the scoreboard for the final minute of the game.
After scoring 17 points in the first half, Simmons added 11 points in the second half to post her eighth 20+ point performance of the season, finishing one off of her career high of 29 points. Tiernan added eight second half points while Fath had 11 in the final 20 minutes of play. Young finished the game with eight points and 10 rebounds, scoring six of her eight in the second half to kicks tart the Tigers early. Senior Whitney Price (Las Vegas, Nev.) score seven points, all coming in the first half, while also grabbing seven rebounds. Price took advantage of the Titans' double and sometimes triple teaming Simmons in the first half to slash to the basket for easy looks. She was 3-for-3 in the contest. Pacific finished the game 32-of-61 from the floor and 4-of-15 from behind the arc en route to there six point victory.
The Titans had three players hit double-figures, led by Richardson's 21, a new career-high for the freshman wing. Thomas' 16 was matched by Grove who scored just four second half points to finish with 16. Overall the Titans were 27-of-64 from the floor in the contest while knocking down 4-of-19 from distance. Lauren Chow, the conference's second leading three-point shooter behind Tiernan was just 1-of-7 from behind the arc, she hit her first shot of the contest, and just 1-of-12 from the floor.
Pacific returns to action on the road, Thursday, Jan. 22 at Cal Poly. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
