LAS VEGAS – Fifth-seeded Pacific women's basketball is back in the West Coast Conference semifinals for the second-straight year after pulling out a 76-71 win over fourth-seeded San Francisco on Saturday at Orleans Arena.
"It's been a tough matchup each time we played San Francisco," head coach
Bradley Davis said. "I was really impressed with our players' toughness. I thought this game, our players really took control. Got to give our starters a whole lot of credit for how we came out of the gates. I got to give a heap of credit to our bench that came in for 22 points."
Not only did Pacific (18-13, 8-8 WCC) advance to the semifinals, but it also had five players record big numbers. Senior
Kadie Deaton led the Tigers with 18 points and eight rebounds. Junior
Anaya James registered her third double double of the season with 14 points while matching her season-high 10 assists for the third time. Graduate student
Cecilia Holmberg and redshirt senior
Rosie Schweizer tallied 11 points each. Schweizer was also a perfect 5-of-5 from the field. Senior
Liz Smith recorded nine points to surpass the 1,000
th career point mark. The Dallas native is the third player this season to reach the milestone.
Pacific started out with an enormous lead of 20-7 in the first quarter. The Tigers shot 9-of-17 (.529) from the field while holding the Dons to just 2-of-16 (.125).
San Francisco (14-16, 10-6 WCC) responded at the start of the second with a 15-4 run that cut Pacific's advantage to two, 24-22. Deaton hit two free throws that sparked a 15-8 run for the Tigers, and were up 39-30 at halftime as a result.
Pacific extended its lead back up by double digits in the first four minutes of the third, 45-32. San Francisco ignited with a 19-7 run and hit a three at the 1:06 mark to make it a one-point game, 52-51. Freshman
Nyah Lowery drained one of her two threes during the last four minutes to keep the Tigers up 55-51 going into the fourth.
The Dons got within 58-57 with 8:01 left in the game. But Pacific pulled away with the next seven points. The Tigers shot 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-8 at the charity stripe in the fourth while James added two three pointers to seal the win.
The Tigers scored 18 points off 14 Don turnovers. Pacific had 22 points from its bench players.
"We always preach how we need to play good defense together," James said. "That's what we did in the beginning.
Up next, the Tigers have a day off before facing the top seed of the WCC tournament in No. 15 Gonzaga at noon on Monday.
NOTES
-This was the 53
rd meeting between Pacific and San Francisco. The Tigers have now won 23 games against the Dons.
-Pacific is 15-2 when leading at the half and 14-7 when scoring 70 or more points.
-Schweizer has now scored double figures in 15 games in her career. The Canberra, Australia native is the most recent Tiger player to go perfect from the field since James did it against Academy of Art on Nov. 22, 2022.
-Three Tigers have recorded double doubles this season. Junior
Elizabeth Elliott currently leads Pacific with four.
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