STOCKTON, Calif. – Fresh off their final road trip of the season that saw the Tigers sweep all three of their opponents, the Pacific women's basketball team (10-10, 8-9) will aim to wrap up their 2020-21 regular season schedule with one final victory at home on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Saint Mary's (6-17, 4-13) to the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
Pacific, who is currently sitting in the seventh spot, is looking to potentially secure a top-six seed in the WCC Tournament next week with a win, which begins on Thursday in Las Vegas. Seedings are determined by a Ken Pomeroy algorithm that calculates teams' adjusted win percentage which factors in the number of games played and strength of schedule.
 
 
GAME DETAILS:
 
Date: Saturday, February 27, 2021

Matchup: Saint Mary's (6-17, 4-13) at Pacific (10-10, 8-9) 
 
Location: Stockton, California 

Venue: Alex G. Spanos Center
 
Time: 2:00 p.m. PST

Links: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
 
 
THINGS TO KNOW:

• For the third time in the last four season, the Tigers pushed their win streak to four straight games by squeezing past San Diego, 67-65, their last time out on Monday, Feb. 22. Prior to their win over the Toreros, Pacific defeated Pepperdine, 73-64, on Feb. 18 and Loyola Marymount, 73-69, on Feb. 20 to secure the three-game road sweep.
• With the annual conference tournament in Las Vegas less than one week away from beginning, the Tigers are currently slated as the seventh seed, sandwiched between Portland (11-11, 8-8, 6^th) and Saint Mary's (6-17, 4-13, 8^th). Last season, Pacific finished as the number 5 seed (17-14, 9-9) and defeated Santa Clara, 67-49, in the second round of the tournament before falling to the eventual champion Pilots in the quarterfinals.
• Heading into the final home game of her career on Saturday, redshirt senior Valerie Higgins currently ranks in the top three in the conference in the following statistics: free throw attempts (134, first), free throws made (117, first) total steals (71, first), steals per game (3.55, first), double doubles (9, second), free throw percentage (87.3, second), rebounds per game (9.3, second) and points per game (16.5, third). 
• Additionally, fellow classmate Lianna Tillman also paces the WCC in minutes per game with an average of 34.42 while also placing third in assists per game (4.2) and fourth in total assists (85).
• Saint Mary's currently holds the advantage, 20-16, in the all-time series, but Pacific has the current momentum after winning three straight over SMC, including a thrilling 78-70 overtime victory in Moraga earlier this year on Dec. 30.

 
SCOUTING THE GAELS:

• Coming into their matchup against Pacific, Saint Mary's has only registered one win in the month of February- a 69-58 win on the road at Loyola Marymount last Thursday, Feb. 18. Last time out, the Gaels were handily defeated by Pepperdine, 62-42, on Saturday, Feb. 20 in Malibu.
• As a team, the Gaels can hit the glass efficiently, ranking third in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (11.7 avg/g), defensive rebounds per game (24.96 avg/g) and rebounding margin (+2.65).
• Individually, Taycee Wedin sits eleventh in the WCC in scoring with an average of 12.64 points per game while Brianna Simmonich is fourth in the conference in rebounding with a mark of 8.35 per game. Proving to be a threat from deep, Wedin also sits second in three-point percentage (.396) and three-point field goals made (2.86).

 
SENIOR DAY:
Saturday's contest will mark the final home game for seniors Valerie Higgins, Brooklyn McDavid and Lianna Tillman. Please tune in early to view the live stream via the WCC Network or listen live via Pacific All-Access to catch the pregame celebration. Highlights will be posted on the Pacific Athletics YouTube channel and on the program's social media channels listed below.
 
FOLLOW US:
For more updates and more information on the 2020-21 Pacific men's basketball team, be sure to follow @PacificMensBB on Twitter, @pacificmensbb on Instagram and @PacificMensBB on Facebook.