LAS VEGAS –The No. 5 Pacific women's basketball team looks to make another run in the West Coast Conference Tournament as it plays No. 8 San Diego in the second round at noon on Friday at Orleans Arena.
The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+ with Ann Schatz and Jennifer Mountain on the call. Don Gubbins and Zach Bayrouty will have the call on Fox Sports AM 1280.
Last season, Pacific (16-13, 8-8 WCC) and San Diego (9-21, 4-12 WCC) met in the quarterfinals. The Tigers who were the No. 6 seed at the time took down the then No. 3 seeded Toreros by a score of 71-57 to advance to their first WCC tournament semifinals since 2018. Senior Liz Smith (14), graduate student Cecilia Holmberg (13) and redshirt senior Rosie Schweizer (12) scored in double figures during the contest.
This year, Pacific swept the regular season series against San Diego. The Tigers defeated the Toreros 75-48 on the road and 82-62 at home.
Pacific has five players that are scoring double digits. All of them have been in the starting five this season. Three of them earned a spot on the WCC All-Conference on Tuesday. Junior Anaya James was selected to All-Conference First Team while teammate Elizabeth Elliott was named to All-Conference Second Team. Holmberg was chosen for Honorable Mention.
Elliott is leading the way with 14.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. The Inglewood, Calif. native is second in the conference and 10th in the nation in field goal percentage (.614).
Smith is the second leading scorer with 12.2 points per game. The Dallas native is the team's leader in free throws, shooting 99-of-116 (.853) at the line. Smith's free throw percentage is second in the WCC and 44th nationally.
James is the assists leader with 5.9 per game while averaging 11.9 in points. The Inglewood, Calif. native's average is tied first and her total dishouts (171) are second in the league. James had back to back double doubles in the final two regular season games against San Diego (15 pts, 10 asts) and Santa Clara (11 pts, 10 asts).
Elliott and James both earned their 1,000th career point against the Broncos (3/2).
Holmberg is registering 12.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. The Bjarred, Sweden native has led Pacific with 20+ points in three games. Holmberg is currently 12th in scoring and 14th in rebounding in the WCC.
Senior Kadie Deaton is leading the Tigers in steals with 1.7 per game while notching 11.0 points per game. The Wausau, Wis. native is currently tied for third in the conference in steals.
San Diego defeated Pepperdine 79-64 in the first round of the tournament. Veronica Sheffey leads the Toreros with 12.3 points, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Kasey Neubert is San Diego's leader in rebounding with 9.7 per game.
NOTES
- This is the 37th meeting between Pacific and San Diego.
- The Tigers are second in the league in scoring with 72.1 points per game and field percentage with .454.
- Pacific is 14-2 when leading at halftime and 12-7 when tallying 70 or more points.
- The Tigers are ranked in the top 100 in the country in five statistical categories with their highest being 29th in assists per game (17.0).
- Three Tigers are nationally ranked statistically. Elliott is 10
th in field goal percentage (.614). James is 14th in total assists (171) while her average (5.9) is 16
th and assist/turnover ratio is 44
th. Smith is ranked 44th in free throw percentage (.853).
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