PORTLAND, Ore. – It came down the final minute and the free throw line, but Pacific (11-5, 4-1 WCC) improved to its best opening mark of conference play since the 2014-15 season with a 77-73 win over Portland (8-7, 1-3 WCC) Saturday night at the Chiles Center in Portland. It was Pacific's fourth road win in a row. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 
 
First Half

• Randhawa accounted for four of Pacific's first six points, including an easy layup resulting from a Lianna Tillman steal. 
• The Tigers forced eight Portland turnovers in the first quarter, scoring four points off those takeaways. 
• Brooklyn McDavid scored nine straight points in the second quarter for Pacific – including a three-point play – to give the Tigers a 22-17 lead. 
• The Tigers scored just 11 points in the first quarter, but reached the 11-point mark for the second quarter at the 5:02 mark with nine of those going to McDavid en route to a 11-4 scoring advantage halfway through the quarter.
• Valerie Higgins reached double figures in scoring for the 12^thtime this season with a bucket at the 1:50 mark of the second quarter, but not without a little muscling inside.
• Pacific held a 20-8 advantage in points in the paint going into the half.

Second Half

• McDavid entered double figures scoring for the 13^thtime this year out of the halftime gate, scoring both of Pacific's first two buckets of the third quarter.­
• Jordan Cruz buried a corner three in front of the Tiger bench at the 5:22 mark of the third quarter to cut Portland's lead to 46-42, the closest Tiger deficit since 1:50 of the second quarter (32-28). 
• The same intensity shown in the Tigers' win over San Francisco in the last game of calendar year 2019 was shown in the later stages of the third quarter, as Tillman drilled a three from the same spot as Cruz. Jessica Blakeslee then drew a foul on the ensuing Tiger possession and sank both free throws to pull Pacific within one, 50-49. 
• Savannah Whitehead sank free throws two and three on the year for a season high to tie the game at 53 in the final seconds of the third quarter.
• Tillman tied the game with a lay-in at the 7:12 point of the fourth quarter off Portland's 21^st turnover. Randhawa gave the Tigers the lead with a three on the ensuing Tiger possession, then after Portland punched back, McDavid took the lead back with a midrange jumper.
• The game turned into a matter of who could carry the momentum the farthest, and Pacific was well willing of the challenge with multiple key plays down the stretch on the both ends of the floor, going 8 of 10 from the stripe in the final minute to ice the game as well as holding the Pilots to 25 percent from the field in the fourth quarter.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Higgins' 16 points was augmented by 10 rebounds for her WCC-leading sixth double double on the year on 6-of-12 shooting.
• McDavid was clutch down the stretch en route to a 21-point night on 9-of-22 shooting in 30 minutes to earn City of Stockton Human Resources Hardworking Player of the Game honors. McDavid reached 20 points for just the third time this season and first since dropping a career-high 32 at Oregon State on November 11 in the Preseason WNIT.
• Tillman scored in double figures for just the third time this season, connecting on 5 of 8 shots for 13 points, two shy of a season high.
• Blakeslee notched a career-high six free throws on as many attempts to ice the game in the final minute.

UP NEXT: 

• Pacific faces its first major conference test of the year against No. 16/15 Gonzaga on Saturday from the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane. 

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• For more updates and more information on the 2019-20 Pacific women's basketball team, be sure to follow @Pacific_Hoops on Twitter, @pacificwbb on Instagram and @PacificWomensBasketball on Facebook.