Stockton, Calif. – Pacific scored 53 second half points on their way to a 87-63 victory over UC Irvine at the Alex G. Spanos Center Saturday.
After being tied 34-34 at halftime, Pacific (14-9, 7-4) out-scored UCI, 53-29. The Tigers shot 51.6 (30-65) from the floor in the second half to UCI's 31 percent (9-29). Pacific was 9-23 from three-point territory for the game, while the Anteaters were just 2-14. UCI out-rebounded Pacific, 40-39.
The Anteaters (11-14, 7-5) could not stop Pacific's Kendall Rodriqez who scored 25 points, including five three-pointers and had a game-high nine rebounds or Kendall Kenyon who went 9-11 from the floor and 4-5 from the free throw line for 22 points and seven rebounds.
Senior guard Kassandra McCalister led UCI with 16 points, scoring 13 in the first half. She added four steals. Sophomore forward Jacquelyn Marshall had 13 points and seven rebounds followed by sophomore forward Jasmine Bernard with 11 second half points off the bench and senior guard Kiara Belen recorded 10 points. Freshman forward Methlyn Onogomuho pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to go with six points, while junior guard Anete Klintsone had seven rebounds and four points.
Pacific led UC Irvine, 6-5 before the Anteaters peeled off nine points, five points from Kassandra McCalister and four from Methlyn Onogomuho to take the 14-6 advantage at 15:01. With UCI leading 22-14, Pacific went on a 16-6 run capitalizing on several offensive rebounds to take their first lead of the game, 29-28, on a Gena Johnson layup at 4:08. McCalister hit a jumper to send the teams into the locker room tied at 34-34.
To start the second half, Kendall Rodriquez and Kendall Kenyon scored 16 of Pacific's 17 points as the Tigers opened a 51-38 cushion with 15:04 remaining. A Jasmine Bernard basket down low narrowed the UCI deficit to 58-48, but Pacific would follow with an 11-2 run to take the 69-50 lead at 6:14. UCI would get no closer than 15 the rest of the game.
UCI returns home to host Cal Poly on Thursday (Feb. 16) at 7:00 p.m. and UC Santa Barbara Saturday (Feb. 18) at 4:00 p.m. Both games will be played at the Bren Events Center.
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