Feb. 7, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific Tigers women's basketball team used every one of senior Amber Simmons' (Chico, Calif.) career-high 33 points as the Tigers downed Long Beach State, 98-92, in double overtime on Saturday, Feb. 7.
The victory moved the Tigers to 12-10 on the season and 6-4 in the Big West Conference. Long Beach State, meanwhile, fell to 5-17 overall and 2-8 in conference play.
In a game regularly scheduled for 40 minutes of action, the fans in attendance at the Alex G. Spanos Center were treated to 10 extra minutes of play between the two long standing rivals in the Big West as Pacific needed all 10 minutes of the two extra frames to dispatch the 49ers. With Simmons doing all she could in the post for the Tigers, it was the starting backcourt for Pacific that saved the day and provided enough backup to the Tigers' senior forward to push Pacific to victory.
With a 10 point lead for the Tigers and just over eight minutes to play in regulation, the fireworks of the ensuing finish began to ignite as the 49ers staged what amounted to a fourth quarter rally, taking advantage of slowed down pace and Tiger foul trouble to climb back into the contest. Over the final 8:40 of regulation, the Tigers held the 49ers to just three field goals, however, Long Beach State still posted a 16-6 run by hitting 10-of-15 free-throws. In the half the 49ers were 14-of-21 from the line.
Even with the momentum on the 49ers side, the Tigers nearly held off Long Beach State in regulation as they led 70-68 with just seconds to play. However, the 49ers would be bailed out on their last ditch attempt when LaToyra Barbee, with four seconds remaining in the game, was awarded the chance to win the game in regulation for Long Beach State with three free-throws on what was deemed a foul on her three-point attempt. Luckily for the Tigers, Barbee, who finished the game with a career-high 22 points, missed the middle of her three attempts, sending the game into its first extra period.
Still with the momentum on their side, the 49ers continued their run in overtime, opening the five minute period by scoring the first four points of the frame to take their largest lead since the 13:52 mark in the first half when they led by seven points. Despite finding themselves down earlier, the Tigers, led by Simmons, battled back to tie the game at 76-76 with 2:28 to play. Simmons sparked the small rally with Pacific's first four points of overtime while senior Amy VanHollebeke (Carlsbad, Calif.) capped the rally with a pair of free-throws. After trading a pair of 5-0 runs, the teams once again found themselves tied, this time at 81-81 with only 1:02 to play.
Tied in the first overtime, the 49ers appeared as if they were going to steal away the victory from the Tigers, grabbing hold of a three point lead with just :14 second to play, capitalizing on four points from Barbee and a trio of missed free-throws from Simmons and VanHollebeke. With the door slamming shut on Pacific, sophomore Gretchen Tiernan (Roseville, Calif.) came to the rescue for the Tigers, hitting a running, fade away, three-pointer in the right corner of the court as time expired to send the game into a second overtime period. The basket was Tiernan's first made field goal in nearly 20 minutes of play as she went 0-for-4 over the final 14:40 of the second half and 4:59 of the first overtime period before knocking down her third three-pointer of the game.
Rejuvenated with a new life in the game, Pacific finished off the 49ers in the second overtime, holding Long Beach State scoreless for the final 1:54 of the game to pull away with the 98-92 victory. As the 49ers closed the gap from the stripe in the second half of play, Pacific closed out the contest from the stripe in the second overtime period, hitting 9-of-13 free-throws in the second overtime while knocking down 14-of-22 in both overtime periods combined.
From the outset of the contest the battle lines were drawn between the Tigers and 49ers as each team came out firing, starting the contest hitting well over 75% of their shots through the first six minutes of play before settling in for what would be one of the more thrilling games of the 2008-09 season. Overall in the half, the Tigers would hit 50.% (16-of-32) of their shots while the 49ers hit 40.0% (14-of-35) from the field with the two teams combining for 81 first half points.
Overall, Simmons posted one of the top games in program history, tying for 12th on the Tigers' all-time single game scoring list with her first 30+ point performance of the season. Simmons hit 12-of-21 shots in the game while adding 9-of-14 from the line. Additionally, the senior forward grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds to post her sixth double-double of the year. For VanHollebeke, the senior point guard posted a season-best 21 points in the game, hitting four huge three-pointers throughout the game whenever the Tigers needed a spark. She also added five rebounds and three assists as the Tigers dished out a season-best 20 assists on 34 made baskets. For Tiernan, the savior of the first overtime period finished the contest with 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting, hitting 3-of-10 from behind the arc while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out a career-high five assists.
Led by their trio of double-digit scorers, the Tigers would not have been able to hold on for the victory if not for the play of junior Emma Head (San Diego, Calif.) who posted eight points, nine rebounds and two assists in 28 hard fought minutes. Senior Whitney Price (Las Vegas, Nev.) in relief of Head, posted seven points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
On the other side of the ball, the 49ers nearly pulled the upset of the Tigers behind the scoring of Barbee who led the way with 22 pointts on 8-of-19 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 shooting from the line. The sophomore point guard added five assists of the 49ers' 16 assists in the contest. Joining Barbee, Whitney Fields and Lauren Sims each scored 21 points in the game with Fields posting her seventh double-double of the year after grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. Sims led the way from behind the arc, hitting 5-of-8 from distance as the 49ers finished the contest 6-of-21 from long range. Adelle Walton rounded out the scoring for Long Beach State, scoring 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting as the 49ers finished 31-of-75 (41.3%) from the field.
In a battle of the two top rebounding teams in the conference, the Tigers outrebounded the visiting 49ers 53-to-46 on the night.
The double overtime game marked the first time since 1995-96 season the Tigers have played two extra frames in a contest. The last time, on Feb. 23, 1996, the Tigers defeated Long Beach State, 98-95, at the Spanos Center.
Pacific returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 12 as Pacific travels to Fullerton, Calif. to take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans at 7 p.m.
