Athletics Media RelationsPACIFIC Manager - Chris Fortney • [email protected] WOMEN’S • 209-684-3150 /Pacific_Hoops BASKETBALL/PacificWBB /PacificWomensBasketball 2020-21 SCHEDULE & RESULTS GAME INFORMATION 10-10, 8-9 WCC https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2F- Home: 3-6, Away: 6-4, Neutral: 1-0 wiki%2FFile%3ALouisiana_State_University_(logo).svg&psig=AOvVaw2uWHMi- 5vsMMgv2IFtJagv3&ust=1608444092282000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAI- QjRxqFwoTCLjr1qiv2e0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ Date Day Opponent Watch Time/Result November VS. SAINT MARY’S GAELS 29 Sun at #2/2 Stanford CANCELED CANCELED Date ..........................................................................................February 27, 2021 Time ................................................................................................2:00 p.m. PST December Location ......................................................................................Stockton, Calif. 2 Wed vs. Fresno State CANCELED CANCELED Venue ...............................................................................ALex G. Spanos Center 13 Sun vs. San Jose State CANCELED CANCELED Live Stats .................................................................................pacifictigers.com 15 Tues at Weber State CANCELED CANCELED Live Stream ...................................................................................WCC Network 15 Tues vs. #1/1 Stanford ESPN 2 L, 104-61 19 Sat $- LSU FloSports W, 73-64 ABOUT THE OPPONENT 20 Sun $-at UNLV FloSports W, 77-75 (2OT) 30 Wed *at Saint Mary’s The WCC Network W, 78-70 (OT) Head Coach............................................................Paul Thomas (15th Season) 2020-21 Record ........................................................................6-17 (4-13 WCC) January Series History ...........................................................................SMC leads 20-16 2 Sat *at Portland The WCC Network POSTPONED Last Meeting .............................PAC won 78-70 in OT in Moraga (12/30/20) 4 Mon *at No. 21 Gonzaga The WCC Network L, 79-59 7 Thu *vs. San Francisco The WCC Network W, 83-63 9 Sat *vs. Santa Clara The WCC Network L, 77-74 BY THE NUMBERS... 14 Thu *at San Diego The WCC Network POSTPONED Valerie Higgins currently sits fourth in Division I 16 Sat *at BYU The WCC Network POSTPONED 4 amongst active players in steals with 315. 21 Thu *vs. Loyola Marymount The WCC Network L, 81-71 Career double-doubles from Valerie Higgins at 23 Sat *vs. Pepperdine The WCC Network W, 61-45 34 Pacific 26 Tues *at BYU BYU TV L, 81-60 McDavid is the 24th Tiger to reach 1,000 career 28 Thu *vs. No. 18/17 Gonzaga The WCC Network L, 77-65 24 points, as of 1/4/20 vs. Pepperdine L30 Sat *vs. Portland The WCC Network L, 65-59 Pacific has notched at least 9 wins at the Spanos 9 Center in three consecutive seasons February 4 Thu *at Santa Clara The WCC Network W, 86-62 McDavid has grabbed 311 career offensive rebounds, 6 Sat *at San Francisco The WCC Network L, 75-67 311 second in program history 8 Mon *at Portland Stadium L, 69-67 11 Thu *vs. BYU The WCC Network L, 65-52 STATISTICAL COMPARISON 13 Sat *vs. San Diego The WCC Network W, 66-61 18 Thu *at Pepperdine The WCC Network W, 73-64 PAC CATEGORY SMC 20 Sat *at Loyola Marymount The WCC Network W, 73-69 68.6 Scoring Offense 62.9 23 Mon *at San Diego The WCC Network W, 67-65 70.6 Scoring Defense 72.3 27 Sat *vs. Saint Mary’s The WCC Network 2:00 PM .404 Field Goal Percentage .413 .413 FG% Defense .446 March .329 3-PT FG Pct. .329 4-6 Thu WCC Championship - First Round .318 3-PT FG Pct. Defense .344 7 Sat WCC Championship - Quarterfinals .758 Free Throw Percentage .695 8 Mon WCC Championship - Semifinals 35.1 Rebounds Per Game 36.7 9 Tue WCC Championship 13.3 Assists Per Game 12.5 17.4 Turnovers Per Game 19.8 0.8 Assist/Turnover Ratio 0.6 $- Las Vegas Holiday Hoops 9.9 Steals Per Game 6.8 * - West Coast Conference Contest 1.8 Blocks Per Game 2.8 All times are PST PROJECTED STARTERS LIANNA TILLMAN SAM ASHBY BROOKLYN MCDAVID VALERIE HIGGINS ERICA ADAMS G | 5-9 | Sr. G | 5-9 | So. F | 6-1 | Sr. G | 6-1 | R-Sr. F | 5-10 | Fr. Stockton, Calif. Perth, Australia Studio City, Calif. Granada Hills, Calif. San Ramon, Calif. PTS REBS ASTS PTS REBS ASTS PTS REBS ASTS PTS REBS ASTS PTS REBS ASTS 8.6 2.6 4.3 7.6 2.7 1.3 11.5 5.3 0.7 16.5 9.3 2.8 5.3 2.3 0.8 FG% GP/GS FG% GP/GS FG% GP/GS FG% GP/GS FG% GP/GS .391 20/20 .400 20/17 .434 20/19 .456 20/20 .425 20/11 2 PACIFIC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL NOTES LEADING THE ATTACK: • After finishing 17-14 overall in 2019-20 and notching a win over Santa Clara in the WCC Tournament, Pacific will return 10 letter winners from last year’s squad, including three seniors- Brooklyn McDavid, Valerie Higgins and Lianna Tillman. • As they round out their careers in Stockton, McDavid and Higgins look to build on their impressive resumes as both eclipsed the 1,000-point mark last season. McDavid joined the club against Pepperdine on January 4, 2020 while Higgins squeezed in the accomplishment against Portland in the Tigers final game of the season on March 7, 2020. • Additionally, McDavid and Higgins have been named to the Preseason All-Conference teams by the WCC in both 2019-20 and 2020-21. Leading their team in scoring with averages of 16.5 (Higgins) and 14.5 (McDavid) points, the duo also aspires to earn postseason recognition again after both were selected to the 2019-20 All-WCC First Team. • Known as one of the elite defenders in collegiate women’s basketball, Higgins was sixth in the NCAA in steals per game in 2019-20 with an average of 3.54, placing her ninth in total with 99 on the year. Overall, the versatile guard currently holds the highest steals average in program history with 3.3 per game and sits fourth on the all-time steals list with 194 in her two years with the Tigers. Not stopping there, Higgins also can score the rock, placing second in program history in career scoring with an average of 16.9 points heading into this season. THINGS TO KNOW: • For the third time in the last four season, the Tigers pushed their win streak to four straight games by squeezing past San Diego, 67-65, their last time out on Monday, Feb. 22. Prior to their win over the Toreros, Pacific defeated Pepper- dine, 73-64, on Feb. 18 and Loyola Marymount, 73-69, on Feb. 20 to secure the three-game road sweep. • With the annual conference tournament in Las Vegas less than one week away from beginning, the Tigers are currently slated as the seventh seed, sandwiched between Portland (11-11, 8-8, 6th) and Saint Mary’s (6-17, 4-13, 8th). Last season, Pacific finished as the number 5 seed (17-14, 9-9) and defeated Santa Clara, 67-49, in the second round of the tournament before falling to the eventual champion Pilots in the quarterfinals. • Heading into the final home game of her career on Saturday, redshirt senior Valerie Higgins currently ranks in the top three in the conference in the following statistics: free throw attempts (134, first), free throws made (117, first) total steals (71, first), steals per game (3.55, first), double doubles (9, second), free throw percentage (87.3, second), DID YOU KNOW... rebounds per game (9.3, second) and points per game (16.5, third). Pacific’s Valerie Higgins and Brooklyn McDavid have both been named to the Preseason All-WCC team in back-to-back years. The duo also both earned All-First Team honors in 2019-20 for the Tigers. • Additionally, fellow classmate Lianna Tillman also paces the WCC in minutes per game with an average of 34.42 while also placing third in assists per game (4.2) and fourth in total assists (85). • Saint Mary’s currently holds the advantage, 20-16, in the all-time series, but Pacific has the current momentum after winning three straight over SMC, including a thrilling 78-70 overtime victory in Moraga earlier this year on Dec. 30. 2020-21 WCC KENPOM RANKINGS Team WCC Pct. Overall Pct. SCOUTING THE GAELS: GON 15-1 .918 BYU 13-2 .858 USD 9-5 .564 • Coming into their matchup against Pacific, Saint Mary’s has only registered one win in the month of February- a SCU 9-8 .545 69-58 win on the road at Loyola Marymount last Thursday, Feb. 18. Last time out, the Gaels were handily defeated by USF 9-7 .538 Pepperdine, 62-42, on Saturday, Feb. 20 in Malibu. POR 8-8 .503 PAC 8-9 .495 • As a team, the Gaels can hit the glass efficiently, ranking third in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (11.7 SMC 4-13 .234 avg/g), defensive rebounds per game (24.96 avg/g) and rebounding margin (+2.65). LMU 4-13 .224 PEP 2-15 .116 • Individually, Taycee Wedin sits eleventh in the WCC in scoring with an average of 12.64 points per game while Brianna Simmonich is fourth in the conference in rebounding with a mark of 8.35 per game. Proving to be a threat from 2020-21 WCC PRESEASON POLL deep, Wedin also sits second in three-point percentage (.396) and three-point field goals made (2.86). Team (First Place Votes) Points 1. Gonzaga (7) 79 FOLLOW US: 2. BYU (2) 73 3. Portland (1) 64 For more updates and more information on the 2020-21 Pacific women’s basketball team, be sure to follow 4. San Diego 53 @Pacific_Hoops on Twitter, @pacificwbb on Instagram and @PacificWomensBasketball on Facebook.