STOCKTON, Calif – After finishing non-conference with an 8-5 record, Pacific women's basketball moves into West Coast Conference play with its first two league contests on the road.
Pacific begins with Saint Mary's (7-7) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at University Credit Union Pavilion followed by Santa Clara (12-3) at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Leavey Center. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ with Evan Giddings on the call for Saint Mary's and Joe Ritzo on the call for Santa Clara. Don Gubbins will be on the call on radio which can be heard on Pacific All-Access.
The Tigers dropped their last contest to Columbia on Sunday by a score of 93-75. Junior Elizabeth Elliott led Pacific with 15 points. Graduate student Cecilia Holmberg and junior Anaya James registered 14. James earned her 300th career assist after registering a season-high nine.
Pacific was picked by the WCC coaches to finish in a tie for third in the preseason poll back on Oct. 11. The Tigers currently stand in third behind No. 18 Gonzaga and Santa Clara.
Elliott leads Pacific in scoring with 14.8 points per game and rebounding with 6.3 boards per game. The Inglewood, Calif. native has notched three double-doubles this season. Senior Liz Smith is second leader in points, averaging 14.6 per game while shooting 67-of-76 (.882) from the free throw line. Holmberg is posting 10.8 points and 5.6 rebounds. James is the team leader in assists (5.2 per game) and steals (1.3 per game) while tallying 11.9 points per game. The Inglewood, Calif. native is one away from earning her 100th career steal.
Saint Mary's is on a three-game winning streak and picked up its most recent win against San Jose State on Friday.
The Gaels won the WCC tournament title in 1999 and 2001.
Zeryhia Aokuso, who was recently named WCC Freshman of the Week, leads Saint Mary's with 9.9 points per game. Ali Bamberger is second with 9.8 points per game while leading the Gaels with 5.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. Both Aokuso and Bamberger are each averaging 2.5 assists per game.
Santa Clara is also on a three-game winning streak. The Broncos' last two opponents were against Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State, two teams the Tigers played against this season. Santa Clara also notched another Pac-12 victory at Oregon back on Nov. 18.
The Broncos earned the WCC tournament championship in 1992, 1998 and 2005. Santa Clara has made six appearances in the NCAA tournament and six in the WNIT.
Tess Heal, this week's WCC Player of the Week, is the Broncos' leading scorer and second in the conference with 17.5 points per game. She is the WCC's leader in free throws with 79-of-87 (.908).
Olivia Pollerd is second for Santa Clara in points with 14.5 per game. She leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.413) while second in three-point field goals per game (2.5).
Next week, Pacific hosts its first two conference home games at the Alex G. Spanos Center. The Tigers play Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 11 followed by San Francisco for Scout Night at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.
NOTES
-This is the 44th meeting between Pacific and Saint Mary's. The Tigers have won the last two meetings against the Gaels, with the most recent during the second round of the WCC tournament on Mar. 3.
-Pacific and Santa Clara will meet for the 65th time. Both teams split the contests with wins on their home courts in the last three years. In the last meeting, the Tigers won 83-73 at the Spanos Center.
-Pacific looks to win its conference opener for the first time since 2020 and start league play 2-0 for the first time since 2018.
-The Tigers are 7-0 when leading at the half. Pacific's lone win when trailing at the half was at Long Beach State on Dec. 16.
-Elliott (14.8 ppg) and Smith (14.6 ppg) are among the top five players in the WCC in scoring, ranking fourth and fifth, respectively. Individually, Elliott is currently second in field goal percentage (.615) and Smith is second in free throws made (67) and percentage (.882), which is ranked 12th and 35th in the country.
-Pacific is ranked in the top 100 in seven statistical categories. The Tigers' highest ranking is 25th in free throw percentage (.776).
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