Playing at the Randi Perkins Girls Basketball Tournament at Marquette High School, Pacific split its first two games.
The fourth-seeded Lady Indians (2-1) opened the tournament with a 63-58 win Tuesday over fifth-seeded Webster Groves, but lost to top-seeded Marquette 81-71 Wednesday in the championship semifinals.
Pacific played seventh-seeded Duchesne in the third-place game Friday night. Duchesne upset second-seeded Lafayette in the opening round.
Marquette and third-seeded Nerinx Hall played Friday night in the championship game.
Webster Groves
Pacific trailed 26-20 at halftime and 38-33 after three quarters, but outscored Webster 30-20 in the fourth quarter for the win.
“We never gave up. They had an eight-point lead a couple of times, but we kept fighting,” said Pacific Head Coach Josh Spuhl. “I’m proud of how we fought and how we came back to score 30 points in the fourth quarter.”
Ashley Hill paced Pacific with 19 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals. She was 9-11 from the free-throw line.
Lizzy Almo and Hunter Kelemen both scored 11 points. Almo grabbed five rebounds.
Abby Spuhl had eight points and three assists. Meagan Wakefield added seven points and three assists.
Kya Hill registered six points and eight rebounds. Ellen Rogers had one point and four steals.
Abbie Paloucek and Rachael Sondag both scored 14 points for Webster Groves.
Pacific was 17-27 from the free-throw line. Webster was 8-13.
“Webster had a good game plan to shut down Kya, who played great against Jeff City when they scouted us. Other girls had to step up for us to get the win,” Spuhl said. “Ashley was 8-9 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Lizzy had a solid game. Hunter stepped up big time in the fourth quarter. Webster had three girls who were bigger than our tallest girl. Ellen, Kate (Cookson) and Abby all had to guard players bigger than them down the stretch.”
Marquette
Foul trouble hurt Pacific in its semifinal loss to Marquette.
The Lady Indians led 9-1 early on, but the game was tied 20-20 after the first quarter. Marquette led 45-33 at halftime and 68-53 after three quarters.
“The second quarter was not in our favor. Three of our starters were hit with their third foul,” Spuhl said. “We played the same man-to-man that we have been playing, and we have not had any foul trouble until this game.”
An 18-13 fourth-quarter rally wasn’t enough for the Lady Indians, who got as close as one point.
“I am beyond proud of the girls for fighting back and showing what we are made of,” Spuhl said. “Marquette is an offensive machine. I don’t think I’ve had a team give up 81 points. It was a hard pill to swallow that we were able to score 71 points and lose the game.”
Almo had a big game, finishing with 26 points. Rogers added 17 points. Hill pitched in with 12 points.
“Lizzy played her best game to date. She took the ball to the basket hard,” Spuhl said. “Ellen also had her best game. She fouled out in the fourth quarter. Kya fouled out in the first 10 seconds of the fourth quarter.”
Kate Cookson scored five points. Brigid Toney added four points. Spuhl added three points. Hill and Wakefield both had two points.
Ashley Ploudre scored 23 points for Marquette. Taylor Campbell added 19 points.
Marquette was 22-35 from the foul line. Pacific was 11-15.
“Marquette had an eight-point possession with a three-pointer, an intentional foul call and another three-pointer when they got the ball back after two free throws,” Spuhl said. “That took the wind out of our sails.”
