STOCKTON, Calif. – Pacific women's basketball looks to end 2023 on a high note as it welcomes Columbia for its final non-conference game at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Pacific (8-4) is currently riding a three-game winning streak. In their last contest, the Tigers reached the century mark in their 108-45 victory against Cal Maritime on Dec. 20. Sophomore
Lauren Glazier posted her first career double-double with a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. Pacific also had seven players score in double figures for the first time since 2017.
Senior
Liz Smith leads the Tigers with 15.1 points per game. The Dallas native is third in the West Coast Conference in scoring. Smith has tallied double figures in 11 of 12 contests this season with three of them being 20-plus point performances. The guard also leads Pacific and is second in the WCC in free throws with 63-of-72 (.875).
Junior
Elizabeth Elliott is second on the team in scoring (fifth in WCC) with 14.7 points per game and is the leader in rebounds (10th in the WCC) with 6.6 per game. The Inglewood, California native has recorded three double-doubles and scored in double digits 10 times this season. Elliott tallied 20+ points at Arizona State on Dec. 1 and Long Beach State on Dec. 16. Her 25 points against the Beach was a career high. Elliott is currently second in the league with a .603 field goal percentage.
Junior
Anaya James is the Tigers assist leader. The Inglewood, California product is third in the WCC with 4.9 dish outs per game and has matched her season-high eight assists three times. In addition, James is third in scoring with 11.8 points per game. She earned her 30
th double figure performance of her career after registering 11 points against Cal Maritime.
It will be a battle for two of the teams with the same record as they both look to secure one final win before the New Year.
Columbia (8-4) is on a six-game winning streak and recently picked up a 74-67 victory over WCC opponent San Francisco.
Last season, the Lions won the Ivy League regular season title for the first time in program history and finished as runner-up during their second-straight appearance in the WNIT Tournament.
Abbey Hsu leads Columbia with 22.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. She is a part of four award watch lists this season: John R. Wood Award, Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Award, Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and Becky Hammon Award. Hsu leads the Ivy League in scoring and three-point field goals per game (2.8).
Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins are averaging 12.5 and 11.2 points per game, respectively. Henderson also leads the Lions with 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
Pacific starts WCC play in 2024 at St. Mary's at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
NOTES
- This is the first meeting between Pacific and Columbia.
- The Tigers are 2-1 when playing Ivy League teams. Pacific is playing their first team from the league since hosting Yale on Nov. 20. The Tigers defeated the Bulldogs on a score of 66-59.
- Pacific has won eight games in non-conference this season. The Tigers have not won this many games during the slate since the 2014-15 season.
- The Tigers are ranked in the top three in the West Coast Conference in defensive rebounds per game (1st, 26.8), free throws made (2nd, 174), scoring offense (2nd, 73.9), free throw attempts (2nd, 226), assists per game (2nd, 17.3) field goal percentage (3rd, .444) and free throw percentage (3rd, .770).
- Pacific is ranked in the top 100 in the country in nine statistical categories: free throw percentage (39th, .770), assists per game (41st, 17.3), free throws made per game (50th, 14.5), field goal percentage (71st, .444), assist/turnover ratio (76th, 1.03), scoring offense (83rd, 73.9), free throw attempts per game (93rd, 18.8), rebound margin (94th, 4.9) and defensive rebounds per game (98th, 26.8).
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