GAME INFO: Playing in the inagural PacWest Tournament, the Red Storm earned the #4 seed and have drawn the No. 5 seed Hawaii Hilo. Tip off from the Felix Event Center in Azusa, Calf. is at 4 p.m. MT. Live audio and video coverage on Dixie State All Access (DixieAtheltics.com/showcase) and 91.3 FM KXDS. "Voice of the Red Storm," John Potter has the play-by-play.
ALL-TIME vs. HHU: Playing for the 15th time, the Red Storm hold a 11-2 advantage and have won seven straight against the Vulcans. In their last meeting DSU defeated UHH 85-75 on 12/1/12 at the Burns Arena.
LAST TIME OUT: SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Johnna Brown (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial ) worked her magic on Saturday afternoon by hitting a buzzer beating shot to give Dixie State a 67-65 win over Point Loma Nazarene in Golden Gymnasium.
Brown also earned her 16th double double of the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Erica Hayes (East Palo Alto, CA/Menlo-Atherton) and Kaylah Miller (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day) each scored in double figures with 15 and 14 points respectively.
In game that featured eleven ties and five lead changes, it appeared the last team with the ball was going to win and this time is was the heroics of Brown.
Brown gave the Red Storm the 63-61 lead with 1:35 left in regulation. Jessica Escorza missed a jumper, but the Callie Rhoads put back tied the game at 63-63 with 1:16 left. On the insuing Storm possesion, Becca Thomas (Riverside, CA/Redwood) missed a jumper with 49 second left, but Hayes gobbled up the rebound and proceeded to hit a jumper to give DSU the 63-65 lead with 45 seconds remaining.
The Sea Lions worked the ball around and Escorza was fouled with 25 second left and would be forced to make two free-throws to tie the game. She knocked down both and the Red Storm would have the ball for the win or force the overtime with the last shot.
The Red Storm worked the ball around to Becca Thomas (Riverside, CA/Redwood) for a jumper at the free throw line with less than two seconds left. Her shot was short and hit the bottom corner of the hoop and the backboard and looked to be heading out of bounds, but Brown snagged the ball on the baseline and as she fell out of bounds, turned and shot the ball from out of bounds up and over the top corner of the backboard. SWISH!!!! Her shot found nothing but net for the win as Brown's teammates stormed the court in joy.
That offensive rebound was Dixie State's 22nd of game as it dominated on the glass 50-37, including 22-6 in offensive boards and 22-8 in second chance points.
The Red Storm shot just 33.8 percent from the floor, but did connect on 9-22 from three point range for 40.9 percent.
PREVIOUS MEETING vs. UHH: Four Dixie State players' scored in double figures as the Dixie State women's basketball team defeated Hawaii Hilo 85-75 on Saturday night in their Pacific West Conference opener at the Burns Arena.
Johnna Brown (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial ) grabbed 10 rebounds and added a team-high 16 points en-route to her 14th career double double. Mandy Munns (Brigham City, UT/Box Elder) scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half to help stave off the Vulcans comeback.
Leading 39-28 at the break, the Red Storm were able to cruise to victory despite the hot shooting hand of Hawaii Hilo. UHH shot 58.1 percent in the second half and finished game at 50.8 percent.
DSC matched the Vulcans shot for shot in the second half by shooting 55.2 percent. DSC was sparked by the play of Munns, Brown and Kaylah Miller (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day).
The Red Storm serperated themselves in the first half when Jordan Giles (Rock Springs, WY/Rock Springs) scored ten consecutive points in a forty-second span. She connected on back to back three-pointers, two jumpers and two free throws. Her play with 3:27 left in the half, helped build a DSC 34-24 lead. Giles finished with a career high 12 points for the game.
The DSC bench outscored the Vulcans 42-23 in the game. But the real difference was the 25 of 33 from the charity stripe for Dixie State and UHH was 10 for 15.
PACWEST TOURNAMENT: As the inaugural Pacific West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament draws closer to tip-off, the seeding landscape being painted by the flurry of late-season contests is beginning crafted into a hardwood masterpiece.
The PacWest will hold its first conference tournament March 7-9 at Azusa Pacific University's Felix Event Center.
The six-team field is set with BYU-Hawaii locked into the sixth seed and Hawai'i Hilo penciled into the fifth slot. Grand Canyon, Hawai'i Pacific, Academy of Art and Dixie State also have clinched playoff berths.
Tournament Schedule
Thursday, March 7 (First Round)
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#6 BYU-Hawaii vs. #3 Academy of Art - 12:30 p.m. PST
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#4 Dixie State vs. #5 Hawaii Hilo - 3 p.m. PST
Friday, March 8 (Semifinals)
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#6/#3 winner vs. #2 Grand Canyon - 12:30 p.m. PST
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#4/#5 winner vs. #1 Hawai'i Pacific - 3 p.m. PST
Saturday, March 9
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Championship - 4:30 p.m. PST
Tickets may be purchased each day of the tournament at the box office that will open one hour before each session. To ensure tickets, fans are encouraged to reserve their seats in advance.
Advance tickets for the inaugural PacWest Women's Basketball Championship Tournament are on sale and may be purchased online by clicking PacWest Basketball Tournament, or by calling the Felix Event Center Box Office at 626-815-5494.
A 12-game, three-day All-Tournament Pass for adults is just $35 – or less than $3 per game – while a One-Day Pass is $15 for adults.
The 12-game, three-day All-Tournament Pass is $25 for seniors (60 and better), children (ages 7-17), college students (with ID) and military personnel (with ID). The One-Day Pass for these fans is $10.
NCAA STATS: Johnna Brown (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial ) currently ranks 6th in the NCAA in rebounding at 12.1 per game. She also ranks tied for 6th in double-doubles with 13. As far as a team, DSU is 33rd in assists per game (15.8) and 15th in three point defense at 26.4 percent.
RED STORM NOTES: This season could be summed up in the phrase, "as Johnna Brown (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial ) goes, so does the Red Storm." Brown who averages 16.4 ppg and 12.2 rpg, sixteen double-double performances and has led DSU in scoring in 11 games and 23 times in rebounding. Turnovers have plagued the Storm all season long, they average 19.8 per game and if they want to go deep in the tournament they will need to keep them to a minimum. DSU shoots 40.7 percent from the field, 28.6 behind the arc, and 65 percent from the free thrown line. Two players score in double figures, Brown and senior guard Erica Hayes (East Palo Alto, CA/Menlo-Atherton), who averages 10.4 points off the bench.
The Red Storm will need strong play from the bigs Mandy Munns (Brigham City, UT/Box Elder) (9.3 ppg) and Becca Thomas (Riverside, CA/Redwood) (5.6 ppg), who will have a sizeable advantage to the Vulcans who list their tallest player at 5-10. Rebounding will help make a difference for DSU, with a plus 4.2 advantage, limiting second chance points for the Vulcans will be key to success. If the Red Storm score more than 65 points they ar 9-2 on the season.
SCOUTING UHH: With the bulk of their offense coming through the Imai sisters, Kamie (11.1 ppg) and Kristy (10.0 ppg). The Vulcans average 62.4 ppg and have won two games in a row, but are two and three in their last five games. UHH shoots the ball from the field at 40.2 percent and 30.0 percent from three point range, and 64.1 percent from the free-throw line. They are a -5.5 in rebounding, but a 3.3 in the turnover margin. They can be a dangerous team who likes to shoot the ball from down town.
