STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific women's basketball team (11-6, 4-2 WCC) is back at the Alex G. Spanos Center this week as West Coast Conference play rolls on, going up against BYU on Thursday, January 16 and San Diego on Saturday, January 18. Both of this weekend's contests will also feature promotions: the first 250 fans in attendance on Thursday will receive a free pair of Powercat socks, while the first 250 fans in the door on Saturday will receive a free pair of Pacific Tigers sunglasses.
GAME INFO
Matchup: Pacific (11-6, 4-2 WCC) vs. BYU (8-7, 3-2 WCC)
Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020
Location: Stockton, Calif.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Venue: Alex G. Spanos Center
Links: Tickets |
Live Stats |
Live Stream |
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Matchup: Pacific (11-6, 4-2 WCC) vs. San Diego (8-8, 2-3 WCC)
Date: Saturday, January 18, 2020
Location: Stockton, Calif.
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Venue: Alex G. Spanos Center
Links: Tickets |
Live Stats |
Live Stream |
Listen
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Tigers are led down low by Katrina McClane Award Watch List honoree Brooklyn McDavid, who has registered a double-digit scoring performance in 13 of the Tigers' 16 outings this year while averaging 15.1 points per game this season.
- Valerie Higgins became the first player this season to win two WCC Player of the Week awards after chasing a triple double (29 points, 11 rebounds, nine steals) against San Francisco on December 30. Higgins, a Preseason All-WCC selection and the reigning WCC Defensive Player of the Year, is tied for second in the WCC with six double doubles, four of which have come in conference play.
- McDavid is the seventh Tiger all-time to grab 200 offensive rebounds, doing so in just 71 career games. She enters the week at 218 for her career, three shy of tying Kate McAllister (1993-97) for fifth all-time. McDavid also became the 24th Tiger in program history to score 1,000 career points with her first two buckets in Pacific's 64-63 win over Pepperdine on January 4.
- Pacific ranks 21st in the country with 174 steals, with a WCC-leading 59 going to Higgins. The Granada Hills native is tied for fifth in the nation in total takeaways. Her 59 after 17 games this season are similar in comparison to last season, when she logged 61 takeaways through the Tigers' first 17 contests.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 59 - Steals for Valerie Higgins this season, fifth in Division I and first in the WCC
- 13 - Double-digit scoring performances for Brooklyn McDavid this season
- 1,000 - Career point scored by McDavid against Pepperdine on January 4
- 3 - WCC Player of the Week awards for Pacific this year (Higgins 2, McDavid 1)
- 218 - Career offensive rebounds for McDavid, sixth all-time in program history
LAST TIME OUT
- Pacific grueled through a road trip as tough as the Pacific Northwest weather last weekend, going 1-1 in close games at Portland and Gonzaga.
- The Tigers sank eight of 10 free throws in the final minute on Thursday to clinch a hard-fought 77-73 road victory over Portland, their fourth straight away from the Alex G. Spanos Center. Jessica Blakeslee accounted for a career-high six of those game-winning free throws on as many attempts.
- Pacific nearly pulled the road upset over No. 16/13 Gonzaga, falling 68-67 at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
- Higgins scored a team-high 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting against the Bulldogs, as Pacific held GU to just 28.6 percent from downtown.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
- BYU enters Thursday with an 8-7 record, a rare occurrence one year removed from a WCC Tournament title.
- The Cougars don't shoot the ball well from the free throw line, clocking in at just 69.0 percent. The same goes for shots from the field, where BYU scores just 60.3 points per outing, ranked last in the WCC. Their 38.2 field goal percentage is also eighth among conference foes.
- BYU excels in defending the shot though, holding opponents to a WCC-leading 33.4 field goal percentage defense that also comes in at ninth in Division I. Much of that is due to Sara Hamson, whose 3.93 blocked shots per game rank first in the conference and third in Division I.
SCOUTING THE TOREROS
- The Toreros come to Stockton as perhaps the only team that can match Pacific in steals. San Diego ranks 29th in the country and second in the conference with 171 total takeaways, with 55 going to Myah Pace. Higgins (59) and Pace (55) are ranked first and second, respectively, in the conference.
- San Diego will make the opposition give up the ball quite often, forcing 20.63 turnovers per contest.
- The Toreros' struggles, however lie in their offensive game - particularly from the perimeter. San Diego is clocking in with just a 36.9 percent field goal clip and just 23.5 percent from the three-point line.
TRACK THE ACTION
- Both contests will stream live on the WCC Network.
- Don Gubbins will have both audio calls from Stockton on Pacific All-Access.
- Live stats for both contests can be found at pacifictigers.com.
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