STOCKTON, Calif.— After being on the road the last three contests, Pacific women's basketball (5-4) returns to the Spanos Center to host UC Santa Barbara (5-2) for its White Out game at 6 p.m. on Friday.
The game will be featured on ESPN+ with Don Gubbins and Celeste Gehring on the call.
Pacific looks to bounce back after a 96-65 loss at Northern Arizona on Wednesday. Junior
Anaya James led the Tigers with 16 points and eight rebounds while matching her season-high eight assists and career-high three blocks. Junior
Elizabeth Elliott (14) and seniors
Liz Smith (12) and
Kadie Deaton (10) also posted double-digit performances.
Smith is the leading scorer for the Tigers with 14.4 points per game. The Dallas, Texas native is shooting 37-of-96 (38.5%) from the field and is 11-of-46 (23.9%) from the three-point line and 45-of-51 (88.2%) from the charity stripe.
Elliott is second in scoring with 13.9 points per game and is currently the team's rebounding leader with 6.8 per game. Elliott has also recorded three double-doubles this season, with two of them coming in back-to-back games. The Inglewood, Calif., native is currently in a four-way tie for first in the West Coast Conference (39th nationally) in this category.
Deaton averages 13.0 points per game and is second in free-throw shooting with 23-of-29 (79.3%) from the line.
James is currently posting 11.6 points per game while leading the Tigers in assists (4.8) and steals per game (1.2).
Pacific faces another former conference opponent in UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos lead the all-time series, 51-22, against the Tigers. Pacific won the last two meetings against UC Santa Barbara in 2018 (69-53) and 2019 (63-53).
The Gauchos have made 14 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and five in the WNIT. UC Santa Barbara has also won 14 Big West Conference Tournament titles.
Alexis Whitfield leads the Gauchos with 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Anya Choice is second with 10.3 points. Alyssa Marin, who was recently named Big West Player of the Week, is the third-leading scorer with 10.1 points per game while leading UC Santa Barbara with 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
Next week, the Tigers will have a few days off before traveling to Long Beach State at 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 16.
