March 7, 2009
Box Score
Northridge, Calif. - Playing in their final game of the 2008-09 regular season, the Pacific women's basketball team suffered a 70-61 loss at the hands of Cal State Northridge on Saturday, March 7. The loss dropped the Tigers to 14-15 overall and 8-8 in conference play while the Matadors improved to 7-22 overall and 4-12 in conference action.
A game that began with near perfection for the Tigers, ended in near perfection for the Matadors as the Tigers dropped their fourth straight game to end the regular season.
From the opening tip, the Tigers appeared as if they were going to end the road troubles that had plagued them in their previous two games and throughout the 2008-09 regular season as Pacific came out blazing in the opening minutes of the first half. From the tip, the Tigers opened up an 8-0 lead on the Matadors, only seeing their early successes stalled momentarily by a three-pointer that ended Cal State Northridge's nearly four minute scoring drought to start the game.
Despite the first basket of the game for the Matadors, the Tigers could not be stopped early on as Pacific followed up its opening 8-0 run with a similar 8-0 run over the next three minutes of action. In just seven minutes of play to start the contest, the Tigers staked themselves an early 13 point lead, their largest of the game. Early on, senior Amber Simmons (Chico, Calif.) controlled the paint for the Tigers posting a quick eight points on 4-of-4 shooting to lead the way. The senior would finish the half with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
However, the early three-pointer by the Matadors, which at first seemed like only a small bump in the road for Pacific actually showed signs of what was in store for the Tigers as the Matadors mounted a rally over the final 12 minutes of the first half to close the gap to within just three points heading into the halftime break. Over the final 12 minutes, the Matadors would hit three more three-pointers while settling into an offensive rhythm that resulted in no turnovers Cal State Northridge after suffering eight turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game. In addition to the ball security, the Matadors beat the Tigers at their own game, outrebounding the Tigers early and throughout, most notably on the offensive boards where they grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.
Seeing their lead cut to three at the break, the Tigers were unable to stop the bleeding in the second half of play as the Matadors took their momentum from the first half and transferred it to the second half. Only one and a half minutes into the new period, the Matadors evened the score for the first time in the contest since the opening tip before either team had scored. The Tigers would hold off their advances for the next six minutes, staying just ahead of the charging Matadors by trading baskets until finally, with 12:32 remaining in the game, Cal State Northridge took its first lead of the contest. Just as they had done to start the game, the Matadors took their first lead of the game from behind the arc, with Ashley Blake providing the bucket that gave her team their first points of the contest and the bucket that gave them their first lead.
After giving up their first lead of the game, the Tigers immediately responded with a three-pointer of their own out of the hand of senior Amy VanHollebeke (Carlsbad, Calif.). The shot from distance was her only three of the night as the senior point finished the game with five points.
The teams would trade the lead three more times in the nest three minutes of play before a jumper by Blake on the right baseline gave the Matadors the lead their would not relinquish. Whitney Ligon, Cal State Northridge's leading scorer coming into the contest, was held without a point until hitting a free-throw and back-to-back three-pointers that put the Tigers down five, a two possession hole they would not be able to climb out of.
In the final seven minutes of play, the Tigers found themselves down by as much as 10 points twice before finally falling by the final deficit of nine points.
Overall, Simmons led the way for all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Additionally, Simmons grabbed seven rebounds while posting one assist and a pair of steals. Sophomore Jennifer Fath (Carrollton, Texas) was the lone other Tiger to record double-digit scoring as she finished the game with 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting including hitting 2-of-6 from distance. VanHollebeke, who scored five, also added a game-high six assists as the Tigers finished with 12 in the game.
The Matadors, finished off their regular season led by Blake and Tonicia Tedemy who each scored 15 points. Blake finished the game with three three-pointers as the Matadors hit 8-of-23 in the contest, but more importantly, hit 6-of-10 in the second half. Katrina Thompson finished the game with 10 rebounds to lead both teams. Cal State Northridge finished the night with 38 rebounds to the Tigers' 37. 12 of the 38 were offensive rebounds for the Matadors.
With the win, Cal State Northridge enter the Big West tournament as the conference's No. 8 seed after seeing Long Beach State fall in its season finale to UC Santa Barbara.
Pacific will enter the upcoming conference tournament as the No. 4 seed, earning a bye into the second round of action. The Tigers will take on the highest remaining seed of the first day on Thursday, March 12 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
