SANTA CLARA, Calif – Pacific women's basketball battled it out on the court against Santa Clara but came up short 80-77 on Saturday at the Leavey Center.
Junior Anaya James racked up a season-high 23 points. The Inglewood, Calif. native also matched her season-high nine rebounds while dishing out seven assists. Senior Kadie Deaton and graduate student Cecilia Holmberg finished with 16 points apiece.
It was a close game with the score deficit remaining at 10 and below. There were four ties and four lead changes. Pacific (9-6, 1-1 WCC) had the one-point lead twice in the contest. Both happened at the end of the first quarter and with under six minutes left in the fourth.
After Santa Clara (13-3, 1-0 WCC) extended its lead 60-53 at the start of the fourth quarter, redshirt senior Rosie Schweizer scored a layup in the paint that ignited an 11-5 run. Holmberg dribbled the ball through traffic and to the basket for a layup that brought Pacific back up by one at the 5:21 mark, 66-65.
Santa Clara responded with a three pointer and two free throws to get back in front, 70-66.
Holmberg notched back to back baskets in the paint while James registered the next seven points to make it a 78-77 game which was still in favor of the Broncos after they made a perfect four-of-four at the charity stripe.
Santa Clara notched another free throw with nine seconds left. James attempted a final layup to tie the game but missed and the game was brought to its final score.
The Tigers shot .545 (30-55) compared to the Broncos' .419 (26-62). Pacific outscored Santa Clara 46-18 in the paint and had 13 points on the fast break.
The Broncos had the upper hand at the free throw line, shooting .895 (17-19) while the Tigers had .778 (14-18). In addition, Santa Clara was .407 (11-27) from the three-point line.
Up next, Pacific returns to Alex G. Spanos Center for its next two home games. The Tigers host Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
NOTES
-It marked the 65th meeting between Pacific and Santa Clara.
-Pacific is 3-1 when shooting over the .500 mark and 4-2 when scoring 70 or more points.
-The Tigers are ranked second in the West Coast Conference behind Gonzaga in scoring with an average of 73.3 points per game.
-With her 23 points, James has posted two 20+ point performances this season and five in her career. She had 20 points during the Tigers 66-59 victory against Yale on Nov. 20. James has scored in double figures in 12 games this year, including the last seven.
-Holmberg recorded her 25th career double figure performance. She has notched double digits in eight contests this season. Holmberg had a career-high 18 points in Pacific's 90-86 win at Long Beach State on Dec. 16.
-Deaton finished in double figures for the fifth time this year and the first time since she had 10 points at Northern Arizona on Dec. 6. She tallied a career-high 19 points in the Tigers' 77-66 victory against Butler at the Tiger Turkey Tip Off on Nov. 24.
-Pacific was without senior Liz Smith. Smith is averaging 13.9 points per game and leads the Tigers with 68-of-78 (.872) from the free-throw line.
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