Pacific Women's Basketball Faces BYU On National TV Thursday; San Diego Saturday
Pacific hits the road for its first women's basketball West Coast Conference road trips, taking on BYU on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT on BYU-TV, and San Diego on Saturday (2 p.m.). The Tigers look for their first WCC victory against a pair of teams receiving votes in the polls.
The Tigers (5-7 overall, 0-2 WCC) have played the No. 17 toughest schedule in the country, and the road gets no easier against a 12-1 BYU team and a San Diego squad that is 13-0 entering Thursday action. With this weekend's opponents a combined 25-1, Pacific strength of schedule is expected to climb into the top five. The Tigers have faced just one Division I opponent outside the RPI Top 160 (a win over #228 Arizona), and will have played six games against the top 50 of the RPI by Saturday.
The Cougars are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll, with 13 points for 30th place. San Diego has 23 points in the coaches (28th place), and sits 27th in the AP (33 points).
The depth of the WCC has been on display as the Tigers, Cougars, Toreros, recently ranked Gonzaga, and Saint Mary's have all received Top 25 votes this season.
Pacific's Thursday game airs on national television, on BYU-TV, which is streamed online.
Saturday's game is available via TheW.tv at USDtoreros.com and PacificTigers.com
Three of the Tigers' seven losses have come to ranked teams: a two-point loss in overtime against No. 21 Cal, a seven point loss to No. 24 Florida State, and Monday's 83-68 loss to nine-time defending WCC champion Gonzaga, who was ranked No. 21 in the Coaches Poll at tip-off.
Pacific has struggled from the three point line in losses this season, connecting on 29-of-116 from behind the arc (.250), including 1-of-12 (.083) vs Gonzaga; 3-of-22 (.136) vs Portland; and 2-of-18 (.111) vs Iona. In five wins Pacific has connected on 36-of-101 attempts from three-point range (.356).
Junior Kendall Kenyon has been a double-double machine, with nine in the Tigers first 12 games, which ranks sixth in Division I. She also ranks 10th in the nation in rebounding, and in the top 50 in field goal percentage, and in the top 75 in scoring. Her 27 career double-doubles is fourth all-time at Pacific, nine back of the school record. She moved into the top 10 on Pacific's all-time rebounding list over the weekend, and her 8.51 career rebounds per game average is third all-time at Pacific. She remains on pace to break the school record in rebounds and blocks (sitting five back of the blocks record).
Senior guard KiKi Moore pumped in a season-high 24 points against Gonzaga on Monday, and is averaging 15.8 points per game to go with 4.5 assists per contest.
With Kenyon and Moore, opponents have gone zone-heavy against the Tigers this season, as Pacific's third-options on offense have rotated on a game-by-game basis. Madison Parrish is averaging 10.2 points per game, while Hailie Eackles has chipped in a career-high 11 points in two of the last five contests.