STOCKTON, Calif. – Pacific women's basketball looks to bounce back as it returns to campus to host Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m. on Thursday and San Francisco at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Alex G. Spanos Center.
Both games will be streamed on ESPN+. Don Gubbins will be on the call with Celeste Gehring on Thursday and Dennis Ackerman on Saturday.
The contest on Saturday is also Scout Night. The first 250 fans to arrive will get a scout patch.
Pacific (9-6) is currently 6-2 at home this season. It marks the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Tigers started with this many victories at the Spanos Center. Pacific had an undefeated 6-0 record from Nov. 8 to Jan. 4 and finished 9-4 overall at home that year.
The Tigers begun the West Coast Conference slate with a 1-1 record. Pacific won its league opener at Saint Mary's at a score of 60-57. Junior Elizabeth Elliott led the way with 23 points, seven rebounds and four steals. The Tigers came up short in their second contest at Santa Clara, 80-77. Junior Anaya James racked up a season-high 23 points while matching her season-high nine rebounds and notching eight assists.
Elliott is leading Pacific with 14.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. The Inglewood, Calif. native has three 20+ point performances on the year.
James is third in scoring with 12.6 points per game. The Inglewood, Calif. native also leads the Tigers with 5.5 assists per game. James reached the 300th mark in assists and 100th mark in steals in her career against Columbia on Dec. 31.
Graduate student Cecilia Holmberg is averaging 10.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Pacific has won 10 contests against LMU in the all-time series. The Tigers swept the series last year over the Lions with a 73-52 victory on Jan. 7 at the Spanos Center and a 69-61 win on Feb. 2 at Gersten Pavilion.
LMU is 6-8 overall and 1-1 in WCC play. The Lions lost to San Francisco 63-38 before earning their first league victory at Pepperdine, 64-50.
LMU is ranked in the top five in three-point shooting in the WCC. The Lions are third with 6.7 triples made per game and fourth in three-point percentage with .326. In addition, LMU leads the conference with 14.5 offensive rebounds per game.
Alexis Mark leads the Lions with 11.9 points and 1.5 steals per game. She and Amaya Oliver are notching 7.4 rebounds per game apiece. Oliver is also posting 1.3 blocks per game.
Pacific has 22 wins against San Francisco. Both teams split the regular season in 2023, winning on their home courts. The Tigers earned the 67-51 victory against the Dons on Feb. 11 at the Spanos Center.
San Francisco leads the WCC in combined team rebounds (39.8) and defensive rebounds per game (27.4).
The Dons have two players ranked in the league in scoring: Jasmine Gayles (3rd, 16.3 ppg) and Debora Dos Santos (7th, 14.0 ppg). Dos Santos also leads San Francisco with 10.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.
Next week, Pacific travels to face San Diego at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18 at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
NOTES
-Pacific is ranked second behind Gonzaga in the WCC in scoring with a team average of 73.3 points per game. The Tigers also lead the league with 211 free throws made.
-Elliott (fourth, 14.9 ppg), senior Liz Smith (eighth, 13.9 ppg) and James (10th, 12.6 ppg) are ranked in the top 10 in the WCC in scoring. In national ranks, Elliott is 15th in field goal percentage (.624) and 91st in field goals made (88). Smith is ranked 21st in free throws made (68), 40th in free throw percentage (.872) and 49th in free throw attempts (78).
-Pacific is in the top 100 in six statistical categories with its highest at 21st in free throw percentage (.776).
-The Tigers were without Smith last game. She is second on the team in scoring with 13.9 points per game and is the leader in steals with 1.4 per game.
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