STOCKTON, Calif. – Led by senior Sydney Ward and sophomore Sophia Mindermann, Pacific scored 32 points in the third quarter to spur the program on to take a 90-82 win over Santa Clara at the Alex G. Spanos Center Thursday night.

From the opening tip, Ward was an unstoppable force for the Tigers (9-13, 4-7 WCC) finishing with a game, and career, high 27 points (9-9 FG, 9-12 FT). The senior forward has been on a tear over the last four games for the team, averaging 16.5 points per game on an extremely efficient 62.2% shooting clip. Her nine field goals without a miss were the most by a Tiger since Elizabeth Elliott also went 9-for-9 at Gonzaga last season.

The 11 rebounds meanwhile extend her streak of having pulled down more than five rebounds in every conference game this season and on the season has only failed to reach five rebounds four times. Nine free throws made is also the most made by a Tiger this season.

Mindermann, Ward's counterpart offensively, also set a new career best with 19 points and for the second straight game connected on five three-pointers (7-11 FG, 5-9 3pt). Sitting now at 49 made three pointers this season, the freshman needs just seven more to enter Pacific's single season record book. As a result of her night, Mindermann's projection rose to 67 made three-pointers, which would tie her with Tine Freil and Nancy Dinges for 11th in a season. No Tiger has been able to crack the single season three-pointer list since the 2017-18 season (GeAnna Luaulu-Summers).

Pacific's leading scorer entering the game in sophomore Winner Bartholomew was able to put up another healthy scoring line finishing with 15 points and shot 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Indeed, free throws were a large reason the Tigers' winning margin was not larger as Santa Clara (18-7, 8-4 WCC) shot 32-for-41 from the free throw line. That success getting to the charity stripe came at the expense of the three ball, the Broncos' usual method of attack. Going 4-for-27 from deep tonight, it was a season-low for Santa Clara and snapped a three-game streak in which SCU hit ten or more threes.

Pacific, however, sank a season-high 22 free throws on 26 attempts.

Conversely the Tigers as a team were able to connect on ten threes for the second consecutive game – marking the first time since the 2016-17 season the team has done so and the first time against D-I competition since at least the 2011-12 season.

Pacific also got solid contributions off the bench from freshman Liv Yergensen and junior Nyah Lowery. The outing was Yergensen's first double-digit scoring output since December 30 versus San Diego and Lowery's first since December 28 versus Seattle.

Up next the team is on the road for a Saturday showdown with Gonzaga. Tipoff from McCarthey Athletics Center is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

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