Nov 22, 2011
FOREST GROVE, ORE. – Pacific's women's basketball coach Sharon Rissmiller said prior to the season that this year's team would be different. How different she didn't exactly elaborate. The play on the floor through three games is speaking volumes for her.
For the third consecutive game, the Boxers put on the defensive clamps, forcing 24 turnovers and holding Northwest Christian to one field goal over a game-changing ten minute stretch on the way to a 71-51 non-conference victory at the Bill & Cathy Stoller Center Tuesday night.
The home-opening win pushed the Boxers' preseason record to 3-0, their best start in eight years, and ended a three-game winning streak for the Beacons.
"Defense has been a big focus for us this year," said Rissmiller. "The girls really stepped it up tonight and did a good job as a team."
The Beacons (5-3) and Boxers both came into the contest on a roll. Northwest Christian's 5-2 record matched their best start in program history, while Pacific flattened its last opponent, holding Caltech to a school record-low scoring output in a 75-25 victory in Pasadena.
The Boxers came out in a zone defense and the Beacons took early advantage with crisp ball movement and deadeye shooting, connecting on their first four 3-point shot attempts to take a 22-15 lead with 8:15 left in the half. Aly Bruns scored 16 first half points, including a pair of threes, and the Beacons shot 54% in the half. The Boxers would take care of her and the rest of the Beacons by turning it up a notch defensively in the second half.
The turnaround actually came earlier than that. After Bruns scored on a fast break layup to give the Beacons a 30-24 lead with 3:03 left in the half, Pacific closed out with a 7-0 run, forcing five turnovers in Northwest Christian's last six possessions. Pacific forced 11 first half turnovers, converting them into 12 points, while the Boxers gave it away only four times. Brittney Anderson (Sr., Missoula, Mont.) drove down the lane and scored a layup with 22 seconds remaining put the Boxers on top 31-30. They would stay on top.
Held scoreless in the first half, Erica Schultz (Sr., Medford, Ore.) buried a jumper to open the second half, capping a 9-0 Boxer run that put Pacific up 33-30. Beacon forward Shannon Harte scored to cut the lead back to one, but Pacific responded with an 11-1 run over the next 5:45 to take command of the game.
After missing 11 of her first 12 shots in the first two games, Annette Highley (So., Juneau, Alaska) found the offensive spark Tuesday night and helped light a fire under the rest of the team. Highley was 3-for-3 from the field in the first half and showed her offensive versatility, using her strength to back a smaller defender down and score in the post and knocking down an open three-pointer from the corner.
Highley's offensive spark started an inferno early in the second half as the sophomore from Alaska buried another right-corner three, followed it with a beautiful bounce pass delivery to Anderson cutting down the baseline for a layup, then pulled up off the bounce to knock down a 16-foot jumper.
Energized and confident, Highley would win plenty of hustle points during Pacific's game-deciding run. After missing an offensive rebound putback, Highley stripped the ball away from a Beacon player then made a sprawling save of a loose ball to keep a possession alive, later pulling down another offensive board on the same possession to the delight of the home fans.
"Annette is such an aggressive player," said Rissmiller. "We needed her to have an aggressive mentality and she finally got that tonight. She really showed up here."
Highley finished with a career-high 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from the 3-point line, adding three assists, two steals and two blocks. Four Boxers scored in double figures, led by Paige Jensen (Jr., Bemidji, Minn.) wth 16 points. Anderson scored eight of her 12 points in the first half and Schultz tallied 11 points and dished out a team-high five assists.
"It's nice that we have a pretty versatile team and we have some numbers to draw from," said Rissmiller, as the Boxers again used all 13 players, rotating 11 in the first half with nine ending up in the scoring column.
While Pacific has consistently forced opposing team into mistakes over the first three games, the Boxers came into the contest averaging well over 20 turnovers themselves. They cut down drastically on their own giveaways, turning the ball over just ten times, while outscoring Northwest Christian 20-4 on points off turnovers.
"Much better job of taking care of the basketball," said Rissmiller. " Obviously, turnovers and defense are going to win games. We had to make sure we took care of the basketball and played good defense."
The Boxers were equally dominant in the paint, outrebounding the Beacons 41-29 with a 20-5 edge on the offensive glass and a 32-12 advantage in points in the paint. Jensen and Anderson led the way with seven boards each.
After lighting up the Boxers in the first half, Bruns scored just three points in the second stanza to finish with a game-high 19 for Northwest Christian. Lindsey Shearer, the reigning Cascade Collegiate Conference Offensive Player Of The Week, was held to nine points on 3-of-7 shooting. The Boxers limited the Beacons to 30-percent from the field (6-20) in the second half after their strong start.
Pacific takes on Evergreen State on Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader at the Stoller Center at 5:00 p.m. The Boxer men will entertain Walla Walla University in the second game at 7:00 p.m.