Nov. 20, 2009

Box Score

New Rochelle, N.Y. - Playing on the road for the first time this season, the Pacific women's basketball team could not hold off a late run by the Iona Gaels, falling 76-54 on Friday, November 20.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 1-2 on the young season while the Gaels improved to 2-1.

The Tigers came out firing aggressively in the first half when senior Emma Head (San Diego, Calif.) chipped in the game's first layup less than two minutes in. From there, both teams switched off points until Iona went on a 6-0 run over the course of three minutes, leading by 11-5 at 15:28.

With Pacific back on the offensive, junior Jennifer Fath (Carrollton, Texas) put Pacific back to within three, when her three-pointer closed the gap, 11-8. The Tigers continued to attack the basket with 13:11 remaining in the first half, freshman Jordan Rogers (Sparks, Nev.) contributed a layup in the paint to put the Tigers in striking distance, trailing at the heels of the Gaels, 11-10.

The first half saw seven lead changes, as the Tigers forced turnover after turnover with the Gaels trying to feed Anna McLean in the post. Attempting to feed the ball into McLean and convert into a basket, Kristina Ford instead passed right into the Tiger defense and gave way for Pacific to claim possession before allowing senior Jasmine Dana (Bakersfield, Calif.) to drain a three that gave the Tigers a quick 13-11 lead with 12:58 to play in the first half.

Catherine Lutz responded to Dana's trey at 11:33, bumping Iona ahead on the scoreboard, 14-13. However, the Gaels could only enjoy that momentary lead as freshman Erica McKenzie dropped in another layup less than 20 seconds later. That put the Tigers up by one, with a 15-14 advantage. Yet, that was the last time Pacific held the advantage in the first half, as the Gaels went on to lead by as much as 11 in the final five minutes of the first half.

In that time, the Tigers tried to whittle down the deficit after sinking a perfect 7-of-7 from behind the free throw stripe halfway into the second half.

Entering the second half, last year's leading three-point shooter, junior Gretchen Tiernan (Roseville, Calif.) put the opening punctuation on the stanza at 19:49, after draining her first three to boost Pacific's charge as Iona's lead was reduced to 34-31.

From there, matching fouls by both teams pushed the score up to 35-33 in favor of the Gaels, after sophomore Eliza Dy (Chino Hills, Calif.) earned her two free throw shots at 18:43. With 18:07 to play in the game, Fath increased Pacific's run to 4-0 after her layup knotted the score at 35-35.

At 17:31, the Gaels finally found McLean in the paint and she posted a lay-up that put Iona ahead momentarily, 37-35. After McLean sank another free throw in the next possession, the Tigers were unwilling to go down without a fight.

With just over 17 minutes remaining, Fath tallied a pair of free throws to put the Tigers within one point of Iona, trailing 38-37. Fath followed that up at 15:47 with a huge defensive rebound off a three-point attempt by Catherine Lutz. Fath then streaked down the court and put up a fast break layup that gave Pacific an incredible charge and take the lead, 39-38, after trailing by as much as 11 points towards the end of the first half.

Pacific kept Iona close behind, swapping scores and trailing by only two at 12:55, after Dana knocked down a three-pointer. However, Pacific was backed into a corner after that, recording two costly errors that turned into a nine-point lead by 7:10. Pacific tried to reel Iona back and come back with another huge run as they did carrying over from the first half, but Iona's 10-1 run from 4:54 to 1:37 was too much of a lead for the Tigers to surmount. Trailing 69-52, Tiernan buried a jumper to give Pacific its third point in over three minutes as the Tigers cut the lead to 69-54.

Down to the final seconds of the game, Iona sealed the victory after a 17-3 run carried over from the 4:54 mark to give Iona the final 76-54 advantage.

McLean led all players with a double-double that included 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Fath led the Tiger charge with nine points. Tiernan and Dana were not far behind, as they finished for a tie as the second-highest scorers on the Pacific roster with eight points apiece.

Pacific next returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 22, when they continue their road trip to West Long Branch, N.J., where they will take on Monmouth. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m. locally, 12 p.m. PST.