2008-09 Women's Basketball Season Review
A
TURNAROUND SEASON: Over the last decade, the bottom half of the
Northwest Conference standings had become an all too familiar place for
the Pacific women’s basketball team. That all changed during the 2008-09
season.
Under second year Head Coach Sharon Rissmiller, the Boxers staged a dramatic turnaround that lifted the Boxers from last place in the conference to earning the team’s first playoff berth since 1996. After going 4-20 in 2007-08, the Boxers improved to an 11-14 overall mark and finishing in a tie for third in the NWC at 10-6. The team’s 6.5-game turnaround was one of the best in NCAA Division III women’s basketball this season.
Pacific was able to rebound from a rough start that saw them win just one of their first nine games. After opening the year with a 76-62 victory at Eastern Oregon, the Boxers proceeded to drop their next eight contests. The string was broken was a monumental 66-64 overtime win at Whitworth on Jan. 3. It was the Boxers’ first win in Spokane since the 1995-96 season.
The win at Spokane provided the spark for an impressive run through the conference schedule. After losses at Lewis & Clark and George Fox, the Boxers went on to win five of their next six games. The string included a convincing win over Linfield and a season sweep of Whitworth. The Boxers finished up the regular season by winning four of five games, which included a 73-70 overtime win over Puget Sound and the team’s first win at Linfield in eight years.
NWC PLAYOFFS: The NWC playoff run for the Boxers was all too short as the No. 3 Boxers fell 71-53 to No. 2 seed Puget Sound on Feb. 26 in Tacoma, Wash. The Loggers, the No. 2 seed, felt very comfortable on their home floor as they shot 45 percent from the field, while the Boxers shot 38.8 percent from the field and 3 of 15 from three-point range. Rochelle Reeves led Pacific with 12 points while Erica Schultz added 10.
After a close five minutes to open the contest, the Loggers built a five-point lead midway through the first half before exploding with a 9-0 run that put Puget Sound up 29-15 with 9:22 left in the half. The Boxers managed to cut the lead back to within nine, but the Loggers kept coming up with big shots to hold Pacific off and went into halftime with a 39-25 lead.
Pacific struggled to get their scoring going in the second half, scoring just three points in the first five points while Puget Sound built their lead back up to 18 points. The Boxers cut the lead to 58-44 of Mallory Goldammer’s three-pointer with 8:13 left, but Pacific would come no closer. Puget Sound went on to lose in the NWC Tournament final to eventual undefeated national champion George Fox.
REEVES EARNS FIRST TEAM HONORS: Rochelle Reeves’ dramatic impact on Pacific’s offensive output was recognized by conference coaches with her selection to the All-Northwest Conference First Team. Reeves’ selection to the top team was Pacific’s first since DeeDee Arnall in 2006.
Reeves became an impact player for the Boxers after transferring from Chemeketa Community College. Reeves finished second in the NWC in scoring at 13.7 points per game. She also finished as one of the league's top three-point threats, finishing ranked eighth in the NWC with 1.36 made per game while connecting on 31.8 percent from long range. Reeves scored in double figures in all but four of her 25 games and scored a season high of 23 points against Willamette on Jan. 16.
"Rochelle had a tremendous season," Head Coach Sharon Rissmiller said. "She had some huge performances for us and added the offensive dynamic we needed. Rochelle is also a very aggressive defender and she had a couple of really big rebounding games for us."
ERBE
IS HONORABLE MENTION SELECTION: Freshman Julianne Erbe represented
a trio of high impact freshman posts on the Pacific roster with selection
as Honorable Mention All-NWC. Erbe helped to give Pacific a presence under
the basket not seen in a number of seasons. She finished second for the
Boxers in scoring at 11.2 points per game and ranked fifth in the league
in rebounding at 7.9 boards per contest. Erbe also ranked as one of the
league's most accurate shooters, finishing fourth with a field goal percentage
of 50 percent (106-212).
Erbe started all 25 games as a freshman and finished with six double-doubles on the year. She posted season highs of 23 points and 19 rebounds against Willamette on Feb. 13. "Julianne did an amazing job as a freshman," Rissmiller said. "She had some truly outstanding scoring and rebounding efforts, but she also does a lot of intangible things on the court for our team."
POST PRESENCE: Last year, Pacific rostered just one player that stood over 5-foot-7. This year, the Boxers were greatly helped by eight players who stood taller than that 5-foot-7 threshold.
In addition to Erbe, two other freshmen made dramatic contributions in the post. Erica Schultz provided a very versatile presence both high and low, averaging 9.3 points per game while starting all 25 games. She finished as one of the team’s top three-point shooters, hitting 29.4 percent from behind the line, and shot 78.3 percent from the free throw line. Schultz was also potent on the defensive end, finishing second on the team at 6.9 rebounds per game.
While seeing all of her time off of the bench, Brittany Anderson turned out to be the Boxers’ secret weapon. Anderson was the Boxers’ top reserve scorer, averaging 6.7 points per game, and her blue-collar style of play yielded 5.8 rebounds per contest. Anderson finished with seven or more rebounds in 10 contests and topped the season with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double against Puget Sound on Jan. 23.
CHARITY
CASE: When it came to hitting free throws, nobody was better at
it than Mallory Goldammer. Mallory proved golden from the stripe, hitting
81.5 percent (53-65) from the free throw line, third best in the NWC. She
would have ranked among the top-100 in NCAA Division III had she met the
minimum of 2.5 free throws made per game.
Goldammer went 16 of 16 against Whitman on Jan. 30, tying the Pacific single game record for free throws made set by Chris Tarabochia in 1986. At one point, Goldammer made a string of 29 straight free throws that spanned over two months. She shot 90 percent during the 16-game NWC season, hitting 36 of 40.
GETTING OFFENSIVE: Much of Pacific’s improved success translates directly to an increased ability to put the ball in the hoop. Pacific ranked third in the NWC in scoring, averaging 63.1 points per game. The Boxers scored six points per game more than last season when they ranked eighth in the league at 57.4 points per game.
Pacific ranked third in field goal shooting at 39.2 percent and third in free throw shooting at 70.2 percent. Pacific was outscored by opponents by an average of 2.3 points per game, but the improvement was quite noticeable. In 2007-08, the Boxers were outscored by an average of 12.9 points per contest. During the NWC season, Pacific outscored for by an average of 0.7 points per game.
CONTINUING
A TREND: Pacific is just Sharon Rissmiller’s second collegiate
head coaching job, but she is developing a reputation of being the mastermind
at turning around programs. Pacific made a 6.5-game improvement in their
record from last year and made the playoffs for the first time since the
1995-96 season. Pacific’s improvement is quite similar to what Rissmiller
accomplished in her first coaching position. At Tacoma Community College,
Rissmiller went 1-19 in her first season. By her third season, the Titans
went 18-11 and earned a berth in the NWAACC Tournament.
Season Summary
Overall Record: 11-14
NWC Record: 10-6 (tie for 3rd place with Whitman)
Home Record: 7-4 Away Record: 4-8 Neutral Site: 0-2
NWC Playoffs: No. 3 seed, lost in semifinals at Puget Sound 72-53
SEASON HONORS
First Team All-Northwest Conference: Rochelle Reeves (G)
Honorable Mention All-Northwest Conference: Julianne Erbe (F)
NWC Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Of The Week: Julianne Erbe (Feb. 2 & Feb. 23), Rochelle Reeves (Dec. 15)