Feb. 5, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - For the first time in the 2008-09 season, the Pacific women's basketball team tasted defeat at the Alex G. Spanos Center, falling 74-55 to UC Riverside on Thursday, February 5. The loss snapped a 10 game home winning streak and dropped Pacific to 11-10 overall and 5-4 in Big West play. The Highlanders pushed their winning streak to seven straight with the win, improving to 12-9 overall and 8-1 in the conference.
In a game decided by run, the Tigers struggled to find answers for the Highlanders offense, suffering from UC Riverside's versatility both on the perimeter and in the paint.
Starting out well, Pacific broke out of the gates early, cruising out to a 12-6 lead through the first eight minutes of play behind the play of sophomore Gretchen Tiernan (Roseville, Calif.) who scored seven of the Tigers' first 12 points. Defensively, the Tigers played to stop the Highlanders' inside game, daring their opponents to hit from the outside. Unfortunately, UC Riverside came ready to shoot, pouring it on from distance by hitting six of its first eight baskets from behind the arc.
With the Highlanders hitting from distance the Tigers' hit a dry spell from the field, allowing UC Riverside to roll off a 26-to-3 run over a seven minute span to break the first half open and take an 11 point lead. The halftime lead would settle on 10 points as the teams headed to their locker rooms.
Out of the break, Pacific again started hot, mounting a comeback that immediately had the Highlanders' lead to just three, four minutes into the half. Behind the strength of a 19-to-9 run through the first eight minutes of the half, Pacific erased UC Riverside's lead, tying the game at 42-42 with 12:06 to play in the contest. Tiernan kick started the run for the Tigers' with a second three-pointer of the contest, she added her third later in the rally. Senior Amber Simmons (Chico, Calif.), who had nine points at the break, took the team on her shoulders during the eight minute stretch, scoring nine of the Tigers' 19 points.
However, just as quickly as the Tigers had gotten back into the contest, the Highlanders counter punched to create distance once again, pushing their lead to 49-42 with seven unanswered points, capped by yet another three-pointer. Pacific would close to within two at 53-51 with 7:02 remaining in the game, but UC Riverside would not be denied its seventh straight win, closing the game on a 21-to-4 run to come away with the win. During the run, the Tigers, as they had done in Riverside one month before, went scoreless for almost five minutes, not scoring from the 5:09 mark until their was only :29 seconds remaining in the game.
In the loss, Simmons and Tiernan attempted to push the Tigers to victory as the duo posted 20 and 17 points, respectively. Simmons' 20 point performance was her ninth 20+ point game of the year as she hit 9-of-15 shots while grabbing six rebounds. Tiernan knocked down 6-of-10 from the field while hitting 3-of-5 from distance. Senior Janae Young (Sacramento, Calif.) continued to struggle in the scoring column against UC Riverside, scoring five points on 1-of-5 shooting, however, the team's leading rebounder did grab 11 rebounds as Pacific outrebounded the Highlanders, 39-to-32.
Leading the way for UC Riverside was Seyram Gbewonyo and Kemie Nkele who each tallied 21 points in the win. The duo combined for seven of the Highlanders' season-high 11 three-pointers with Gbewonyo knocking down 3-of-6 while Nkele hit 4-of-8 in the game. Jessie Schmuckal netted 12 points for the Highlanders, hitting 3-of-7 from distance. Roney Friend fell one point short of tallying a double-double scoring nine points while grabbing 10 rebounds.
Pacific will be back in action on Saturday, February 7, when Long Beach State comes to the Spanos Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 pm.
