Dec. 29, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific women's basketball team snapped a seven-game losing streak, as they knocked off the Saint Mary's Gaels, 70-63, on Tuesday, Dec. 29.
With the win, Pacific improved to 2-8, while the Gaels dropped to 9-5 on the season.
Knotted up after the first half, 31-31, the Tigers came out within the first four minutes of the second stanza and secured at one-point lead that they would never relinquish.
A quick trey from freshman Erica McKenzie (Sparks, Nev.) kicked the half off at 19:28, to push Pacific over Saint Mary's 34-31. Jontelle Smith came back and cut down the Tiger lead with a pair of free throws at 18:52 that narrowed Pacific's margin, 34-33. Sophomore Christina Thompson (Sacramento, Calif.), the Tigers' leading scorer with a career-high 17 points, gave Pacific some more breathing room at 18:34 with a successful free throw for a score of 35-33. But nine seconds later, at 18:25, Jasmine Smith rallied for the Gaels' final lead of the contest when she dropped in a trey to help her team lead 36-35.
Louella Tomlinson then gave the Tigers a brief scare over the span of 30 seconds, when she stuffed five back-to-back Pacific shots up until her last at 17:37. Tomlinson led all players on the night with a double-double, 18 points, 11 blocks and eight rebounds, only two rebounds shy of her fourth triple-double of the 2009-10 season.
It wasn't until 16:57 that the Tigers found their stride and claimed their final lead of the contest when a missed three-pointer from McKenzie gave Thompson an offensive board that she dumped back into the hoop, pushing Pacific ahead on the scoreboard, 37-36.
Leading 42-39 at 14:32, freshman Kendall Rodriguez (La Habra, Calif.) chipped in a three-pointer for Pacific after junior Claire McLeod (Melbourne, Australia) grabbed another offensive board seconds prior. Rodriguez's trey gave Pacific its largest lead up until that point, 45-39.
Ashlee Smith responded for the Gaels by converting a transitional play for a fast break layup at 14:15, which cut the lead down to four, 45-41. Another block from Tomlinson with Saint Mary's on defense led the way for another Gael fast break layup at 13:47 to cut down the Tigers' lead, 45-43.
However, Pacific showed a great deal of persistence and climbed back to a seven-point lead over a span of two minutes, when they held the 50-43 advantage over Saint Mary's at 11:49 after a jumper from sophomore Eliza Dy (Chino Hills, Calif.).
The Tigers recorded their largest lead of the contest at 8:51 when senior Jasmine Dana (Bakersfield, Calif.) chipped in one of a game-leading two three pointers to push Pacific up on the scoreboard, 54-46.
After Jontelle Smith split a pair of free throws at 8:26, Saint Mary's trailed 54-47 and the Tigers answered back with another eight-point lead. McKenzie followed suit and also split a pair of free throws at 8:16, to see the Tigers lead 55-47.
During the next four minutes, the Gaels went on a 9-1 run to knot up the score once more at 4:48, when Tomlinson sank a pair of free throws to even the score at 56-56.
Persistence once again paid off for the youthful Tiger squad, as they capitalized off six fouls in the final two minutes of the game, including Tomlinson's fifth and final foul of the contest with nine seconds left on the clock.
In the first half the Gaels opened up the contest in dominant fashion claiming an early 7-0 run until 18:33 left in the first stanza. Santa Clara increased its lead to eight at 14:16, 14-6. The Gaels upped their lead to eight again at 12:56 off a Tomlinson layup to increase the Gael lead, 16-8.
By 7:48 to play in the first half, Pacific came right back into the game, taking a 23-22 lead after a Thompson layup, for the first time of the contest. In the ensuing play, Thompson again padded the Tiger lead, dropping in a layup at 7:35. With the score at 25-22 after that play, the Tigers held on to their largest lead of the first half before Saint Mary's knotted the score back up at 25-25 with just over four minutes to play in the first half.
At 1:55, the Tigers came back for the final largest lead of the first half, 31-26, when Rodriguez tallied a layup after a foul and a turnover from Alex Carbonel. Jontelle Smith tied up the game in the final seconds of the first half, 31-31 with four seconds remaining.
Pacific next returns to action in the new year, when they open Big West Conference play at Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. in Northridge, Calif.
