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Friday, Feb. 11 10:00pm ET
Gauchos win 16th straight game | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) -- Foul trouble took UC Santa Barbara out of its game. That's as far as the Gauchos' problems went. Kristi Rohr scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds as Santa Barbara (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) won its 16th straight game by defeating Pacific 69-59 on Friday night. Stacy Clinesmith added 13 points and Erin Buescher 12 for the Gauchos (20-3, 8-0 Big West), who have won at least 20 games for the fifth straight season. Buescher scored in double figures for the 65th straight game despite foul trouble that limited her to 23 minutes. Center Nicole Greathouse was limited to 15 minutes of play before fouling out late in the second half. "We got into foul trouble and had some people playing who don't usually play a lot," Gauchos coach Mark French said. "We played a lot of zone defense, which slowed the tempo down and we don't care for that. But sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. "We didn't want to play zone and they shot 19 percent in the first half. The luck gods were with us." Pacific coach Sherri Murrell said the Tigers (12-8, 3-5) literally missed their chance against Santa Barbara. "Santa Barbara's just incredible in transition. They're constantly running. Our tongues were hanging out," Murrell said. "But I'm more disappointed with what we didn't do. We just couldn't hit the open shots and that's frustrating. We shoot better than that." While solid play from Jess Hansen and Rachelle Rogers helped pick up the slack with Greathouse and Buescher out because of foul trouble, Pacific's bench produced just two baskets on 15 shots. Selena Ho's 19 points led Pacific (12-8, 3-5) but she was 7-of-20 from the field. Millie Kimpton added 15 points and Ahsha Johnson had 10 for the Tigers, who lost for the fifth time in seven games. Down by 13 at the break, Pacific started the second half with consecutive layups by Ho and Johnson but the Gauchos then scored 18 of the next 23 points to move in front 45-28. Rohr scored six straight points to fuel the surge and Clinesmith capped it with a 3-pointer. "It's a sign that we're a good team when we don't play well and still do all right," Buescher said. She said that Rohr's steady performance helped make the difference. "Kristi is our most consistent player," Buescher said. "Everything can be falling apart around us and she's always there. She always seems to play well." Pacific managed to pull within 47-34 on Johnson's driving layup but then in quick succession Tawnee Cooper hit a 3-pointer and Rohr made a baseline jumper to give the Gauchos an 18-point lead with just over 10 minutes left. The Tigers made one last push with a 10-0 run near the end of the game but Gauchos had enough of a cushion to withstand the late rally. Santa Barbara led 32-19 at halftime even though Buescher played for just six minutes after picking up two quick fouls. She finished with four. Pacific couldn't take advantage of Buescher's absence because of poor shooting. The Tigers converted just 19 percent of their shots in the period (7-for-36), including 2-for-13 from behind the 3-point line. For the game, Pacific made 31 percent of its field goals while the Gauchos converted 46 percent. | ALSO SEE Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
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