STOCKTON, Calif.—Following a tough loss on the road, Pacific women's basketball (6-4) returned to the win column with a 72-61 victory over UC Santa Barbara (5-3) on Friday.
 
Senior Liz Smith was the player in the driver's seat for the Tigers, leading with a season-high 24 points. It marks the eighth 20+ point performance of the year for the Dallas, Texas native. Smith also notched a season-high three steals.
 
Juniors Anaya James (13) and Elizabeth Elliott (12) also finished in double figures. Elliott grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. James and senior Kadie Deaton combined for six assists.
 
"Good to be home this weekend right before finals," said head coach Bradley Davis. "I was really proud of our kids. We had two tough games out in Arizona, came home, went back to Arizona, got our butts kicked and came back and answered. Except for that third quarter, we put the clamps on defensively pretty well. And we needed to do that because we didn't do it in the game prior. That was obviously a goal for us to keep."
 
The contest started with both teams trading baskets. With under five minutes left in the first quarter, a three from freshman Nyah Lowery and free throws from Elliott and redshirt senior Rosie Schweizer put Pacific up, 14-8. The Gauchos trimmed the lead to four with a minute left, but the Tigers stayed on top, 18-13, at the end of the first quarter thanks to a three and free throw from Smith.
 
Pacific dominated the second quarter as it outscored UC Santa Barbara, 13-6. The Tigers held the Gauchos to just 17.6% from the field. Elliott and James combined for six points in the first two minutes, building the Tigers' advantage up by nine, 24-15. With 4:04 left in the second quarter, a three-point play from graduate student Madelene Ennis and a basket at the 20-second mark by Smith gave the Tigers a double-digit advantage over the Gauchos at halftime, 31-19.
 
UC Santa Barbara came out hot in the third quarter, shooting 71.4% (10-14) with 80.0% (4-5) from behind the arc while holding Pacific to just 50.0% in both categories (8-16 FG, 2-4 3FG). The Gauchos went on an 11-0 run at the 8:39 mark, which cut the Tigers deficit to single digits, 36-32.  Ennis and James posted back-to-back buckets to keep Pacific in front, 40-33.
 
UC Santa Barbara continued to inch closer in the final five minutes of the third quarter. After the Gauchos made it a three-point game with nine seconds left, Smith scored a buzzer-beater triple and free-throw, resulting in the Tigers taking a 52-45 lead going into the final 10 minutes.   
 
Pacific pulled away in the fourth, shooting 41.2% (7-17) while limiting UC Santa Barbara to just 33.3% (4-12). The Tigers also shot 75.0% at the free-throw line.
 
Overall, Pacific was 43.9% (25-57) in shooting, 35.7% (5-14) from the three-point line and 85.0% at the free-throw line. UC Santa Barbara was 37.9% (22-58) overall, 41.2% (7-17) from behind the arc and 83.3% (10-12) at the charity stripe.
 
The Tigers out rebounded the Gauchos, 33-24, and notched 10 points off 11 offensive boards.
 
"I feel like it (defense) was our main focus, especially after last game," said Smith. "I feel like we lacked on the defensive side. So, yesterday in practice we focused on that and it showed in the first quarter. Kind of relaxed a little bit in the third, but we picked it back up in the fourth."
 
Up next, Pacific heads down south to play Long Beach State at 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 16.