Game Notes

Stockton, Calif. - The Tigers string of four consecutive challenging road games hits the finish line Thursday, as the Pacific women's basketball team meets Saint Mary's at 7 p.m. in Moraga.

Pacific (7-2) is coming off back-to-back losses, at SEC foe Florida and at No.1 Stanford. Saint Mary's enters at 7-3 with their defeats coming at the hands of No. 12 Cal, No. 14 UCLA and fellow Pac-12 foe Washington.

Last season in Stockton, a jumper by SMC's Jackie Nared with 2.3 seconds remaining gave the Gaels a 68-67 win. Ashley Wakefield and Erica McKenzie each scored 13 points for Pacific and McKenzie also handed out seven assists and recorded six steals. Pacific forced 32 turnovers, and scored 24 points off those SMC miscues, while the Gaels held a 41-31 rebounding advantage.

Nared is SMC's leading scorer this season, averaging 18.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per contest.

"Every game we've played with them has been close," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "They're well coached and we know they will be well prepared for the game. And they are our future WCC travel partner, so we're really looking forward to facing them again."

The Tigers are looking to get back to their winning ways Thursday at McKeon Pavilion and are eager to get back to the court.

"We're excited for another chance to get out there," junior guard Gena Johnson said. "We want to redeem ourselves a little bit and Thursday's going to be a really good matchup. They've beaten some good teams, we've beaten some good teams, so it will be a really good test."

Johnson led Pacific against the top-ranked Cardinal with 13 points on five-of-10 shooting. McKenzie tallied seven points at Stanford as she moved within 75 points of 1000 in her career. Fellow senior Kendall Rodriguez is 28 points shy of 1000 in her career. The duo seeks to become the 17th and 18th members of Pacific's 1,000-point club. Rodriguez also moved into the top 10 in career rebounding at Pacific with her five boards against Stanford. With 613 career rebounds, she sits tied for ninth.

Despite the low out-put at Stanford by the Tigers, Pacific's starting five is all averaging over 8.7 points per game. Wakefield (8.7 points per game) is averaging 9.7 per contest since returning to the Tigers starting lineup after coming off the bench due to injury in the first three games. Rodriguez holds a 9.8 points per game mark, having hit double-figures in scoring in 43 of her 101 career games. McKenzie, who kept her streak of consecutive games hitting a three-pointer alive with her 36th at Stanford, is averaging 9.6 per contest. Johnson's average sits at 11.0 thanks to three straight games hitting double-figures.

The Tigers leading scorer on the year is sophomore Kendall Kenyon, with 11.9 points per game to go with 10.2 rebounds per contest. She is one of 37 players in the NCAA averaging a double-double on the year. Saint Mary's Danielle Mauldin is one of the other 36, with 14.9 points and 11.2 boards per contest.

Pacific will join Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference next season, after the Tigers complete their final year in the Big West. Pacific's next opponent following the contest at SMC will be another WCC foe, as San Francisco visits the Spanos Center on Dec. 29.