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Date Posted: 23:02:08 03/07/02 Thu
Author: Jon Ralston
Subject: Tigers defeat Vandals
In reply to: Jon Ralston 's message, "Selena Ho Article" on 20:09:04 03/06/02 Wed

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Originally Published Thursday, March 7, 2002
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Tigers to face Riverside in second round

By Bob Highfill

Record Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- University of the Pacific women's basketball coach Sherri Murrell asked her team to remember three letters during its game with Idaho in the first round of the 19th Big West Women's Basketball Tournament.

"One of our themes is LSG, 'Let Stuff Go,' '' Murrell said. "Whether a bad call, a breakdown or an injury, we wanted to let that roll off our backs."

The Tigers did Wednesday and WON.

Pacific was anxious to put past tournament failures behind it and took out its frustration on the woefully undermanned Vandals 72-45 in a near-empty Anaheim Convention Center. Pacific (17-10), the third seed, will play No. 2 UC Riverside (16-12) in a semifinal at noon Friday.

The Highlanders beat No. 7 UC Irvine 63-53 in the second quarterfinal Wednesday to end the career of former Lodi High and Delta College standout Lisa Woznick.

"Everyone has to end on a losing note, except one team," said Woznick, who had six points, three rebounds and two assists. "I honestly thought we were going to pull it out, but we missed a couple shots and that hurt us."

Pacific will make its second semifinal appearance in three years, though close first-round losses to Idaho in 1999 and Cal Poly last year were tough to swallow. UC Santa Barbara (25-3), the top seed and six-time reigning conference champion, will play No. 4 Long Beach State (16-12) at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the other semifinal. The winners will play for the tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Pacific never trailed Idaho, which had eight players in uniform. Murrell received hearty efforts from her entire 13-player roster.

"Our bench stepped up," Murrell said. "We got a lot of spread scoring. In the past in the Big West Tournament, it's just been Selena."

Murrell was speaking about her coach on the court, senior point guard Selena Ho, who handled the ball, found the open players and picked her spots to score. Ho made 5-of-7 from the floor, including both 3-point attempts, for 12 points. She also exploited the ample talent around her with a game-high five assists.

"The key to our year has been the trust we have in each other," said Ho, who also had two steals and two rebounds. "Everyone has proven themselves that they can play. It's all coming together."

Ho's trust was evident in the second half, when she included reserve center Alicia Smith in the offense. Smith, who had played in 13 games this season, took Ho's pass on the high post, turned and flicked in a hook shot from 13 feet. That sent her teammates, the 100 or so who made the trip from Stockton and the Pacific men's team, which was in attendance, into a frenzy.

Smith, one of several key contributors coming off the bench, had seven points, four rebounds and one block in 14 minutes.

"Coach always tells me to just be ready and that, 'We're going to need you at some point,' '' said Smith, who fell one point shy of tying her career high. "That's what I did. It felt good because we played as a team and everyone contributed."

Sophomore center Gillian d'Hondt led all scorers with 15 points and had six rebounds and three steals, sophomore forward Andrea Nederostek scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed six rebounds, and Vanessa Dupont had six points and six rebounds.

Senior guard Dolinda Meeker, who didn't play in the tournament last year, had a sore right ankle, but her defensive presence was a factor. The Vandals committed 23 turnovers, and their starting backcourt of Meg LeBlanc and Jen Schooler were held to a combined 10 points. Idaho shot 19 percent from the floor in the first half and 28 percent for the game.

"It seemed like everyone stepped up," said Meeker, who had three steals. "It's tournament time. Everyone played to their potential."

* To reach reporter Bob Highfill, phone 546-8299 or e-mail bhighfil@recordnet.com

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