Feb. 19, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Avenging an earlier loss on the road, the Pacific women's basketball team played to the top of its potential, toppling UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), 59-50, in the Spanos Center for the first time since 2003 on Thursday, Feb. 19. The loss snapped a Big West Conference undefeated 11-game streak for the Gauchos.
With the win, Pacific improved to 14-11 overall and 8-5 in the Big West, as UC Santa Barbara fell to 16-8 and 11-1 in league play.
Senior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) led all players on the night with 20 points and nine rebounds. Senior Amy VanHollebeke (Carlsbad, Calif.) was right behind her with 15 points and five rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
From the outset of the contest to the final horn, the Tigers played their most aggressive style of basketball in years, forcing the tempo on both ends of the court to come away with their biggest upset of the season their biggest upset of the Lynne Roberts era.
Sparked by their defense, the Tigers' offense got out running in the first half of play, most notably in the opening minute of the game as the Tigers won the opening tip and parlayed the early momentum into back-to-back buckets forcing an early :30 second timeout from UCSB. However, with the early push by the Tigers, the Gauchos responded with a push of their own, erasing the Tigers' quick punch with a 12-0 run in a two minute span to take a 19-10 lead over the Tigers with 11:09 to play in the half. Despite the sudden deficit, the Tigers continued with their game plan of pressing the Gauchos on defense and running on offense, closing back to within two over the next nine minutes of play, led by Young who netted nine of her 13 first half points during that span.
Back to within two with just under 1:40 to play in the half, the Gauchos again surged with a pair of big shots at the end of the half, including Emilie Johnson hitting her third three-pointer of the half to push UCSB's lead back to seven with just :30 seconds to play. Pacific would add a final basket, a turn-around jumper by Young, to close the half out and head to the locker room, trailing 28-23.
Down five at the break, the Tigers again looked towards their swarming defense to spark them in the second half and propel them to what would be just their third come-from-behind win of the season. With the defense flying around to contest shots and block out rebounders, Pacific mounted their staunchest defensive stand of the season over the final 20 minutes of play, relinquishing just five second half field goals while forcing eight second half turnovers.
Before the Tigers really got running on defense in the half, the Gauchos were able to extend their lead back up to seven points, hitting the mark twice in the first few minutes of the half with the final time coming at 34-27 with 16:46 to play in the contest. From that point on, the Tigers gave up just three more field goals in the half and just 16 points.
Behind their own 10-0 over the next two minutes, the Tigers captured back the lead from UCSB, 37-34, a lead they would never give back enroute to the victory. VanHollebeke posted five of the Tigers' 10 points as Pacific recaptured the lead while sophomore Gretchen Tiernan (Roseville, Calif.) finally got on the board for the Tigers in the contest, hitting her first shot of the game five minutes into the second half, a layup that gave the Tigers their first lead since the 13:10 mark in the opening half.
With the lead, the Tigers staved off every advance made by the Gauchos throughout the remainder of the half as the trio of Young, VanHollebeke and Tiernan had every answer on the offensive end for Pacific in the second half. The trio combined for 29 of Pacific's 36 second half points with Tiernan scoring all 13 of her points in the final 15 minutes of play. She finished the contest with a pair of three-pointers, her first coming when the Gauchos had closed to within one at 39-38 while her second kicked off an 8-0 run that put the game away for the Tigers in the final four minutes of play.
With the trio of Tigers leading the way from the floor, Pacific closed the game out at the line, a nemsis for the Tigers the entire year, hitting 17-of-24 second half free-throws. For the game the Tigers were 18-of-25 from the line led by their backcourt as VanHollebeke and Tiernan each hit 5-of-6 from the line in the game.
From the floor, Young scored 19 of her 20 points from the field, hitting 9-of-17 overall including 1-of-3 from distance. The senior also added nine rebound and two steals to the Tigers' cause. For VanHollebeke, the senior point guard played all 40 minutes for the Tigers hitting 4-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-4 from behind the arc. She also dished out a team-high four assists while grabbing two steals. Tiernan, who began the game 0-of-3 from the field in the first half, finished the contest 3-of-8 including posting 2-of-5 from three-point range.
For the second time this season against the Gauchos, Pacific's leading scorer, senior Amber Simmons (Chico, Calif.) was held to just six points as the senior hit just 1-of-13 shots in the contest. Overall, the Tigers finished the game shooting 33.3% (18-of-54) from the field, hitting 33.3% of their shots in each half.
The Gauchos, on the other side, had two completely opposite halves shooting hitting 52.2% (12-of-23) from the floor in the first half before being held to just 17.2% (5-of-29) from the field in the second half. Overall, UCSB finished the game at 32.7% (17-of-52) shooting. Emilie Johnson led the way for teh Gauchos with 14 points, however the freshman scored just three in the second half of action before fouling out of the game late. Jenna Green posted a double-double in the game scoring 11 points while grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds as the Gauchos outrebounded the Tigers by the slight edge of 41-to-37 including a 15-to-14 offensive rebound edge.
The Tigers next return to action, hosting Cal Poly in the "Pacific Plays Pink" game to benefit breast cancer research, on Saturday, Feb. 21. That night will also be the final home game of the year, marking the 2009 senior day for five players. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.
