STOCKTON, Calif.- Following a two-week hiatus that saw the original season opener get postponed due to COVID-19, the Pacific women's basketball team will officially begin their 2020-21 season when they welcome No. 1 Stanford to the Alex G. Spanos Center on Tuesday evening.
 
Aiming to start to on the right foot, the Tigers will welcome the nation's number one team to Stockton for the first time since Pacific hosted Maya Moore and No. 1 UConn on Dec, 28, 2010.
 
GAME DETAILS:
 
Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Matchup: #1 Stanford (4-0) vs. Pacific (0-0)
 
Location: Stockton, California

Venue: Alex G. Spanos Arena 
 
Time: 6:00 p.m. PST

Links: Watch (ESPN 2) | Listen (Fox Sports 1280 AM Stockton )| Live Stats
 
 
MEET THE NEWCOMERS:

• Pacific welcomes four new student-athletes to the program after the offseason: Erica Adams (San Ramon, Calif.), Mia Fleming-Mullins (Sacramento, Calif.), Rosie Schweizer (Canberra, Australia/George Mason) and Liz Smith (Dallas, Texas).
• While Adams, Mullins and Smith join the Tigers from the high school ranks, Schweizer transferred to the Orange & Black after time at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Recently, Schweizer's waiver was granted as she will be immediately eligible to compete.
• Adams- Comes to the Tigers after four years at California High School in San Ramon...During her time with the Grizzlies, the 5'10" guard was a two-time Jim Capoot Heart and Hustle Award winner, Second Team All-EBAL selection and the SoCal Holiday Classic NCAA Division MVP...Adams also averaged 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals while shooting 41% from behind-the-arc in 2018-19
• Flemming-Mullins- A highly-recruited prospect out of Sacramento, Flemming-Mullins joins the Tigers after an impressive career at St. Francis High School in her hometown... This past season (2019-20), the 5'11" shooting guard was named the Delta League Player of the Year after finishing with 45 blocks (most in Delta League) and 7 double-doubles (second-most in Delta League)... She was also selected to the 4th Annual All NorCal Games and Optimist All-Star Games in 2020
• Schweizer- Was an astounding six-sport athlete at the state (ACT) level in Australia, competing for Canberra Girls Grammar School (CGGS), where she was a three-time team MVP, two-time team captain and the 2018 CGGS Captain of Sports as a member of the Senior Council...Schweizer graduated from CGGS in December of 2018 before enrolling at George Mason
• Smith- Smith joins the Tigers after four years at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla...While with the Ascenders, Smith tallied 900+ points, 250+ assists and 200+ steals...She was also named the team's Most Improved Player in 2018

 
LEADING THE ATTACK:

• After finishing 17-14 overall in 2019-20 and notching a win over Santa Clara in the WCC Tournament, Pacific will return 10 letter winners from last year's squad, including three seniors- Brooklyn McDavid, Valerie Higgins and Lianna Tillman.
• As they round out their careers in Stockton, McDavid and Higgins look to build on their impressive resumes as both eclipsed the 1,000-point mark last season. McDavid joined the club against Pepperdine on January 4, 2020 while Higgins squeezed in the accomplishment against Portland in the Tigers final game of the season on March 7, 2020.
• Additionally, McDavid and Higgins have been named to the Preseason All-Conference teams by the WCC in both 2019-20 and 2020-21. Leading their team in scoring with averages of 16.5 (Higgins) and 14.5 (McDavid) points, the duo also aspires to earn postseason recognition again after both were selected to the 2019-20 All-WCC First Team.
• Known as one of the elite defenders in collegiate women's basketball, Higgins was sixth in the NCAA in steals per game in 2019-20 with an average of 3.54, placing her ninth in total with 99 on the year. Overall, the versatile guard currently holds the highest steals average in program history with 3.3 per game and sits fourth on the all-time steals list with 194 in her two years with the Tigers. Not stopping there, Higgins also can score the rock, placing second in program history in career scoring with an average of 16.9 points.
• Hitting the glass, McDavid currently sits second in program history with 254 career offensive rebounds, which also places her second with a 2.7 average per game. Joining the efforts, Higgins is currently third on the list in career rebounding per game, grabbing an average of 9.0 boards.

 
THINGS TO KNOW:

• Pacific finished 17-14 overall and 9-9 in conference play in 2019-20, placing them fifth in the final WCC regular season standings.
• As a whole, the Tigers swept the season series from three teams in the conference last year: Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary's and Portland- who went on to win the WCC Tournament.
• Looking to keep the success rolling, Pacific will aim to win at least nine home games at the Spanos Center for the fourth consecutive year.
• Tuesday's matchup with mark the 21^st overall meeting between the Tigers and the Cardinal. Stanford holds the all-time series lead, 17-3, and have won the last 8 contests, most recently in Palo Alto on Dec. 25, 2012. This is also Stanford's first visit to Stockton since a 109-58 victory on Dec. 1, 2005.

 
SCOUTING THE CARDINAL:

• Head coach Tara VanDerveer recently tied Pat Summitt as the winningest coach in women's basketball history with 1,098 following Sunday's 83-38 victory at California.
• The Cardinal are ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for the 20th time in program history this week. Additionally, Stanford has been ranked in the top-10 in 30 straight AP polls, the fifth-longest active streak in the country.
• Stanford's 375 combined points (93.8 ppg) is its second-highest total through the first four games of a season in program history, and most since 1989-90.

• In its first two games of the season, the Cardinal scored over 100 points in back- to-back games for the first time since January 2009 (Washington, Washington State)
• Starting out strong, Cameron Brink's 50 points through her first four games is the most for a Stanford freshman since at least 2006 while Jana Van Gytenbeek's 12 assists through her first three games are the most for a Stanford freshman since at least 1999.
• Stanford is near the top in several statistical categories as a team, including the nation's second-best assist to turnover ratio (1.91), assists per game (22.5), field goal percentage defense (26.1) and scoring margin (48.2).

 
FOLLOW US:
For more updates and more information on the Pacific women's basketball program, be sure to follow @Pacific_Hoops on Twitter, @pacificwbb on Instagram and @PacificWomensBasketball on Facebook.