BAYLOR JUST TOO MUCH FOR GAUGHOS

Too Strong, Too Fast, Too Tall of a Challenge For UCSB in NCAA Tourney

STEVEN WILSON

News-Press Correspondent

            The Lady Bears of Baylor proved to be too strong of an opponent for the UCSB women’s basketball team on Sunday and the Gauchos could not pull off the rare upset over the No. 1 team in the NCAA Tournament. The 16th-seeded Gauchos fell behind early and never caught up.

Baylor maintained a double-digit lead for the entire second half and for most of the first half as they steam-rolled UCSB, 81-40, in the Des Moines Regional of the NCAA Tournament in Bowling Green, Ohio.

            It took only five seconds for the top-seeded team in the tournament to score as Baylor controlled the opening tip and Destiny Williams sank a jumper to earn a 2-0 lead.

They increased that lead to 12-0 nearly five minutes into the game before Kelsey Adrian found Kirsten Tilleman on an alley-oop pass and finish, giving UCSB its first bucket. Tilleman would score again, but Baylor answered and UCSB found itself in a 15-4 hole.

“Either you are going to play (Baylor center Brittney) Griner one-on-one and let her get her points, or you are going to ask them to make jumpers from the outside – and they did that,” UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell said.

With the UCSB defense focusing on the 6-foot-8 Griner, Baylor hit a lot of open outside shots to earn a 23-7 lead half way through the first period even without the help of Odyssey Sims – Baylor’s usual starting point guard.

Sims, who’s a common scoring threat for the Lady Bears, had 10 points off the bench in what Baylor coach Kim Mulkey called a “coaches decision.”

            “She knows why she didn’t start,” Mulkey told the press after the game. “It’s not a big deal. Most coaches would have looked the other way, but it’s all about teaching kids lessons.”

            Baylor had five different players score in double figures on Sunday including Sims, Griner (14 points), Brooklyn Pope (13), Sune Agbuke (11) and Williams – who had 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting.

“It was definitely a different level (of competition),” senior guard Emilie Johnson said, “I think we all felt that tonight. To me, it was exciting to compete against this high level of competition and it makes me want more.”

            Johnson hit a bucket just before the halftime buzzer sounded to pull the Baylor lead to 46-16 at the break. Johnson would lead all Gauchos with 10 points, but only three came in the second half.

“Competing against the top team in the country, you need to hit your open shots,” Johnson said.

UCSB shot a measly 22 percent from the floor in the first half and the Gaucho offense struggled against the taller and faster Baylor defense. UCSB committed 16 turnovers including half a dozen shot clock violations leading to 24 points in transition for the Lady Bears.

“You almost have to play a perfect game and unfortunately for us, we didn’t make some shots early,” Mitchell said. “It’s just tough to recover with a team like that.”

Coming into the game, Griner was obviously the Gauchos number one priority. She averaged 23 points and 9 rebounds a contest and had gone over the 40-point plateau twice, but UCSB held her to just 14 total points and 3 rebounds.

“I think Tilleman did an amazing job on her,” Mitchell said. “Again, she’s 6-8 and Tilleman is 6-1 on a good day in her heels.

“I give our kids credit – no one gave in and even though she played 20 – 25 minutes, she still had to work hard for her 10 or 12 points.”

            Even without an explosive Griner, Baylor maintained at least a 30-point lead for the entire second half, partly because the Lady Bears kept scoring, but also because the Gauchos went scoreless for six and a half minutes half way through the second period.

Afterwards, Mitchell felt that her team could have just lost to the eventual national champion.

“They have all the elements in place to win a championship,” Mitchell said. “If they do, it will make me feel better about this loss.”

            The victory sets a Baylor school record for wins, breaking last season’s mark of 34. The Lady Bears have not lost since falling in the quarterfinals of last year's tournament to the eventual national champion – Texas A&M. They will face Florida on Tuesday night in the second round of the tournament. UCSB will head home for the offseason, optimistic about next year.

“They should be proud of the fact that at the end of the day they helped lead us to the NCAA and that’s the biggest legacy they could leave, Mitchell said about her two seniors Johnson and Adrian. “It leaves me excited for what is coming next year.”

            Johnson remains unsure of her future, but will face it like every other opponent she’s faced before – head on.

“At this point, I’m excited,” she said. “I know it is the end of my college career, but I’m looking at it at as a new beginning, a new chapter.”

UPSET IN THE MAKING? - #16 UCSB vs. # 1 BAYLOR

March Madness Takes A Hold of the Gauchos

STEVEN WILSON

News-Press Correspondent

            After a record-setting first round of upsets in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, it’s the UCSB women’s basketball team that has taken notice. The Gauchos, who are the 16^th seed in the women’s tournament, flew to Bowling Green, Ohio on Thursday morning to prepare for their matchup today against the No. 1 overall team in the tournament – the Lady Bears of Baylor.

            “It’s March Madness and we are all watching the games and understand, ‘you just have to be the best team on that day,’” UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell said. “You always play to win, but also understand sometimes, even your best game may not be enough.”

            The Gauchos know they will need to play their best, or one of their best games of the season to defeat 34-0 Baylor.

No. 2 Connecticut nearly pulled that off in December. The Huskies led the Lady Bears by 11 points at halftime but could not maintain. The Lady Bears went on to win, 66-61 and no other team has come close to stopping them.

Luckily for the Gauchos, they may just be playing their best basketball of the season. They are on a four-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 11. Senior guard Emilie Johnson says everything is finally clicking.

            “I think, now, at this point of the season, everything is falling together at the same time,” she said. “Before, little pieces would work, but now we are where we want to be.”

            The Gaucho defense has been consistent for most of the year, holding opponents to 51.6 points per game, but it’s the offense that has improved recently. UCSB has scored 60 or more points in its last four games – a dramatic difference if you remember they were in the bottom 20 of 330 teams ranked nationally in offensive scoring heading into the last week of the regular season.

            “We might play our best game and still not win, but I want these kids to believe and enjoy the opportunity,” Mitchell said. “But, like somebody mentioned, if you can keep it close, anything can happen.”

            Keeping the game close will be difficult.

Although UCSB has become a better scoring team, they are nowhere close to the Baylor’s level. Johnson leads the Gauchos with 304 points this year, but the Lady Bears have three players over that mark.

Baylor guard Odyssey Sims and forward Destiny Williams combined to score 820 points this year – a mark close to Brittney Griner’s 793 points this season.

             “Destiny Williams always comes up big because Brittney Griner always demands a double or triple team, and then if Odyssey Sims is on, it's over with,” Mitchell said.

            The Gauchos are a 45-point underdog heading into Sunday, but Johnson says that’s been their role all year.

            “I think this year has prepared us for this moment because we have been the underdog all season in the Big West, which is not the position the Gauchos are used to,” she said. “Being the hunters and not the hunted has prepared us all through this year to just keep fighting and to have a mentality of never giving up.”

Tip-off will take place around 11:30 in California and will be aired on ESPN2.

The Gauchos are hoping the new shoes they were awarded for the tournament resemble a Cinderella glass slipper, while Mitchell concludes her pregame press duties by reminding fans to be optimistic, “Never count out Gaucho heart – anything can happen when you believe!”

GOIN' DANCIN' WITH A 6-FOOT-8 NIGHTMARE

UCSB Takes on the Best Team in the Nation in NCAA Tournament

STEVEN WILSON

News-Press Correspondent

            It took a while to find out who the UCSB womens basketball team would play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but the foe is recognizable nationwide. While watching the ESPN selection show on Monday afternoon, the Gauchos discovered they will be playing the No. 1 team in the nation on Sunday afternoon in Bowling Green, Ohio – the Lady Bears of Baylor.

             “As bad and as ugly as we have looked this year, at the end of the day, our goal was to play in the NCAA Tournament and we’re here,” UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell said. “It’s a great opportunity for these kids and it’s a great experience. We’re going to run with it. You never know.”

            UCSB enters as the 16^th seed in the Des Moines Region of the tournament after securing a Big West Championship victory over Long Beach State on Saturday. Baylor on the other hand, has had one of its best seasons in team history.

            The Lady Bears, who won the national championship in 2005 and were in the Final Four in 2010, enter the tournament with a perfect record of 34-0. They earned their second straight Big 12 Championship with a 23-point victory over rival school Texas A&M last weekend. They also have the No. 1 rated player in the nation – Brittney Griner.

            Griner is a 6-foot-8 junior who averages 23.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game and was named the ESPN.com national player of the year. She was also voted as the Big 12 Player of the year the past two seasons, and the league’s defensive player of the year for the third straight year.

            “It’s going to be a whole new definition of the triangle and two,” Mitchell said. “The three (defenders in the triangle) could be on Brittney (Griner) and the other two have to guard the other four (offensive players). We’ll see what we can come up with in the next couple of days.”

            One thing is for sure – Kirsten Tilleman will have her work cut out for her.

The Gaucho center stands at 6-2, but is very familiar with guarding taller players.

            “People have called me an undersized post player ever since I have come to college,” she said. “I think anyone is undersized to (Griner).

            “Everyone is just excited that we are going to the dance, and it’s definitely going to be a dance.”

            Tilleman, who earned the Big West Tournament MVP award, sat in the front row of Reitnouer Auditorium at UCSB on Monday for the selection show. Upon announcement, she turned her head and said, “I want to get a chance to guard her.”

            Tilleman was referring to Griner and her coach says that’s not unusual behavior from the junior out of Bozeman, Montana.

            “She’ll never back down from anyone, so it’ll be interesting,” Mitchell said. “We’ll come up with a gameplan and see if Tilleman can have some fun with it.

            “I have said it from day one, we go as Tilleman goes. I am thankful that she earned the Big West MVP because she is so deserving of it. It will be a challenge, but I know going onto the court that I feel good having her in my corner because I know she is not going to back down.”

Griner scored a tournament-record and career-high 45 points against Kansas State in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player for the second straight year.

Briner almost has as many accolades as another Baylor Bear – the most recent Heisman trophy winner Robert Griffin III, but for Mitchell, it’s all about her team’s mentality, not accolades. She knows it’s one and done in the tournament and says that her team just needs to be the best team that night – maybe Baylor might even overlook UCSB.

“I always go in expecting to win,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to take an A plus game and a lot of other variables to fall into place for us, but you don’t just play to play. I don’t want the kids to go in with that mindset. If we can walk out of there and we’ve won in our minds, that will always be something to build on for the future of this program.”

CHAMPIONS!

UCSB Brings Home 14^th Big West Title With Win Over Long Beach

STEVEN WILSON

News-Press Correspondent

            ANAHEIM – After traveling roughly 127 miles to the Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus back in the middle of January, the fans left that game in disbelief. The coach was questioned. After that game the players hurried off the court with heads hung and tears in their eyes. It was hard for anyone to find anything positive to write or say about the Gauchos after they were blown out in a midseason contest at Long Beach State.

Sitting at 7-9 overall and 2-3 in the Big West, UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell knew what no one else did: her team would win a Big West Championship.

 “Honestly I just think that set it up for a greater story,” senior Emilie Johnson said. “When we were at that low point, I never stopped believing. I knew this team could do something special.”

The Gauchos pulled off their miraculous run through the playoffs as they were the first sixth-seeded team in Big West Tournament history to win the championship. UCSB would defeat none other than Long Beach state in the title game, 63-54, on Saturday afternoon at Honda Center.

Mitchell told her team all year long that UCSB would find itself on top come March if they bought in and just believed.

“I let a smile out before the final buzzer sounded and a few tears in the locker room because only these ladies in our small group know what we have gone through this year,” Mitchell said. “Probably to the world, (they have done) the impossible, but to me, it’s everything I expected when I took this job.”

Mitchell expected it, but the 49ers still had a surprise or two up their sleeve.

The Gauchos jumped out to a 16-10 lead 12 minutes into the game as Melissa Zornig earned three of her 12 total points. Long Beach would respond with a 9-1 run capped by a Hallie Meneses layup on a baseline drive.

Mary Ochiltree gave Long Beach its first lead since the opening basket with a 3-pointer and the 49ers led 20-19.

There was just enough time left before halftime for UCSB to get two free throws from Kirsten Tilleman to take a 21-20 lead into the break.

            Both teams had trouble making shots in the first half combining to shot just 28 percent from the floor. Johnson and fellow guards Nicole Nesbit and Melissa Zornig, who combined for 63 points in Friday’s semifinals victory, were a combined 1-for-13 in the first half of Saturday’s game.

“She taught us to never give up, and I think that this moment, right now, has proved it,” Zornig said of Mitchell. “This whole season, when we went through bad times or good times, she never gave up on the team and that gives us respect for her.”

Both teams struggled to score to start the final period, but with 12:21 left Zornig gave the Gauchos a 33-26 lead with another 3. Tilleman then stole a pass and Nesbit was off and running for an easy two the other way.

Long Beach responded quickly as they went on a 13-4 run. Alex Sanchez, a member of the All Big West freshman squad, started the run with a layup and a 3. Meneses capped the run with a 3 and gave Long Beach a 39-38 lead.

Two possessions later, UCSB went to a play they have run countless times this season. A high pick and roll using UCSB’s only two seniors. Johnson found Kelsey Adrian for an open 3 to take a 43-41 lead. UCSB would not look back, outscoring Long Beach 20-13 in the final 7:20.

Tilleman led all Gauchos with 16 points and 11 rebounds with eight of those on the offensive glass. For her efforts, she was awarded the tournament MVP.

“I wasn’t even thinking about awards like that,” she said. “It’s really just a reflection of my teammates and coaches. They really make it possible for anyone to step up on any night.”

Tilleman helped the Gauchos hold the 49ers’ leading scorer Tipesa Moorer scoreless.

The win gave UCSB a 5-0 record against the 49ers in the Big West Title game and afterwards, Mitchell flashbacked on a long first season. Looking directly at UCSB athletic director Mark Massari, she answered his main interview question from May – ‘could she cut down nets?’

            “Hopefully I answered that question for you,” Mitchell told Massari 11 months later with a net around her neck.

            Some players cried, some fell to the floor, all rejoiced, but for Johnson, it was still all too surreal.

“I really feel like I have come full circle, starting in freshman year and then sitting here right now,” said Johnson, who is the only current player with a Big West Title ring – earned in her freshman year. “I just get the chills thinking about everything and then reaching this moment. It’s an incredible experience – we’re going to work hard, we’re going to enjoy it and we’re going to continue to play Gaucho basketball.”

POSTSEASON OF REVENGE

Record-setting night for UCSB in semifinals

STEVEN WILSON

News-Press Correspondent

            Never underestimate an underdog. After losing the first four combined regular season matchups against UC Irvine and Pacific, the UC Santa Barbara womens basketball team earned some revenge when it mattered most – in the postseason.

The Gauchos, who entered the Big West Tournament as the No. 6 seed, showed fans what they have been waiting for all year as they set individual and team records in an 84-66 victory over No. 5 Pacific on Friday in the semifinals, advancing to the finals for the first time in three years.

“I am at a loss of words, which is rare for me,” UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell said.

            Mitchell didn’t need to say anything though. She just let her team speak for her. UCSB scored a season-high 82 points thanks to career-high scoring outings from Melissa Zornig (23) and Nicole Nesbit (20). Emilie Johnson added 20 points with 10 points coming from the free throw line.

“You look at their height and maybe I am a point guard coach or a small guard coach,” Mitchell joked. “We had everyone under 5-foot-6 today with 20 points.

“It’s unheard of right? All year long I have heard how we win 50 to 49, and I’ve tried to convince everyone I am okay with 80, but the other team can only score 50, or I guess 79.”

            It’s Zornig who has surprised everyone but her coach this postseason. After scoring a game-high 15 points in a win over UC Irvine in the first round, the sophomore guard came off the bench against the Tigers and provided an instant offensive spark.

            “Coach Mitchell just told us to have an attack mentality,” Zornig said. “As of late, I think our team has done a really good job of attacking and either scoring or kicking it out.”

            Zornig and Nesbit both started the game on the bench, but just six minutes in, they were called upon.

Nesbit tied the game at 15-15 twelve minutes into the game with a transition jumper. On their next possession, Zornig gave the Gauchos their first lead since the opening basket with a layup. The Gaucho bench earned a total of 51 points in the game.

            “Coming off the bench you do have somewhat of an advantage,” Nesbit said. “You can kind of see how the team is playing. You can see if, maybe they are trapping, or maybe they are switching, and you don’t have to be on the floor to make those mistakes, because you can see it from the bench.”

            Erica McKenzie, who had a team-high 17 points for Pacific, tied the game at 21-21 with a 15-foot jumper with 7:18 left in the first half. UCSB would make 10 of their last 11 shots before halftime to take a 37-28 lead into the break – The Gauchos would not relinquish their lead in the second half. The 37 points was the second most points UCSB has scored in a first half this season.

            “We came in with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder,” Nesbit said. “Knowing how horrible it felt last year – to be at the top of the conference and lose to the last seed, on your home floor. So when we came out here, we knew we had to buckle down and play a solid 40 minutes to get the win.”

            The Gauchos would extend their lead to as much as 20 in the second half thanks to two free throws from Johnson. The senior was just 4-of-8 from the floor, but 10-of-12 from the charity stripe.

            “I am excited for her and (Adrian) to have a chance to play for a Big West Championship,” Mitchell said. “As seniors, they have meant so much to this program… It means everything to me, even though I have only had a year to coach them. Their teammates know that too, and we’re going to jump on their back and see how far they can take us.”

            The Gauchos shot an incredible 59 percent from the floor in the second half.

“They had fresh legs and they were just knocking down jumpers,” Mitchell said. “They were playing free and I have tried all year long to get them to buy into the fact that it’s in transition where we are best.”

            To some, the upset may be a surprise, but not to Zornig.

            “We knew we could beat them,” Zornig said. “We’ve known that all season and today was the day to beat them.”

            The Gauchos will try to earn their 14^th Big West Title in program history tomorrow at the Honda Center as they take on No. 7 Long Beach State. The 49ers pulled off a true shocker on Friday morning as they defeated No. 1 Cal Poly, 51-48. UCSB is 1-1 against Long Beach this season and is the highest seed left in the tournament.

            “We are going to have our hands full,” Mitchell said about the 49er’s athleticism. “Again, it will be the same mindset for coaches – a get after it, defensive mindset.”

            

THIS TEAM MAKES ITS OWN LUCK

STEVEN WILSON

News-Press Correspondent

Sure, it was lucky that Kassandra McCalister – the UC Irvine guard that torched the Gauchos for 57 points in just two games – did not start for the Anteaters in Tuesdays first round Big West Tournament matchup, but the UCSB womens basketball team knows that luck only carries you so far.

“She’s a great player, and I had a lot of sleepless nights after giving up 36 points to her last time,” UCSB head coach Carlene Mitchell said.

McCalister was held to a total of five points, partially because of her injuries, but mostly because of a stingy Gaucho defense.

“If you have someone harassing you as an offensive player it can make you a little hesitant and it can lead to unforced turnovers,” Mitchell said.

UCSB threw a posse of players at McCalister to limit her production. It worked and it helped the Gauchos earn a 61-51 victory to keep their season alive.

Mitchell is hoping once again, that the third time will be the charm today in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament as they play another team they have an 0-2 record against this season – Pacific.

“It’s perfect,” senior guard Emilie Johnson said. “This time of the year is really special. As a senior, you never know what tomorrow’s going to bring. I just have to live in the moment and do anything I can to help my teammates be inspired and play their hearts out.”

Pacific, the team that knocked UCSB out of the playoffs in the first round last year, came into the tournament as the No. 5 seed and earned an opening victory over No. 4 UC Davis on Tuesday.

“I am always confident, never too cocky,” UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell. “We don’t worry about, and you can’t worry about, who you play. Irvine got us twice, and around this time of the year it is one and done, so you better bring your best game no matter who you’re playing.”

Pacific, which handed UCSB its worse loss this season (60-40) a week ago in Stockton, averages almost 69 points per game, which is good for second in the Big West. Kendall Rodriguez leads the Tigers with 12.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

“Whoever we’re playing is great, but at the end of the day it’s about us,” Johnson said. “We just have to do what we do best.”

For the Gauchos, what they do best is playing defense.

The UCSB defense, which allows a Big West-best 51 points per game, hasn’t had a problem shutting down Rodriguez. The Tiger Forward had only 14 total points in the two regular season matchups. It’s been the other Tigers that the Gauchos have struggled with.

In the first regular season matchup, UCSB gave up a game-high 14 points to Erica McKenzie, who scored seven of Pacific’s 12 points in the final five minutes to seal a 52-48 victory at the Thunderdome. In the second matchup between the teams it was Gena Johnson who led the Tigers with 17 points.

“It’s exciting that we get to play Pacific,” senior forward Kelsey Adrian said. “If you think about last year and what happened with them and even this year and how we didn’t beat them – it should be a good game.”

Last year’s season-ending loss to Pacific hasn’t been brought up by the team a lot this year, but it has been in the back of everyone’s mind these last two days.

“I am sure it will be brought up,” said sophomore guard Melissa Zornig who had a game high 15 points in the win over UCI. “But if anything, I think it will fire up the returners who were here last year. It was really upsetting – the whole team was really disappointed with that, so we’re excited to play them.”

Will UCSB finally overcome Pacific to earn a spot in the Big West Championship game? Only time will tell Mitchell says.

MOVING ON!

UCSB Punches Ticket to Anaheim with Victory at UCI

STEVEN WILSON

News-Press Correspondent

IRVINE – It looked bleak early, but it ended exactly the way they wanted – with a win. The third time was a charm for the UCSB womens basketball team as they earned a 61-51 victory over UC Irvine in the first round of the Big West Tournament on Tuesday night at the Bren Events Center to advance to the semifinals matchup against Pacific held in Anaheim on Friday.

            “I just know that I am used to playing in March,” UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell said. “I don’t know any different since I don’t have anything to compare it to. I am used to playing in tournaments for one or two rounds. I am used to the NCAA (Tournament) and that’s what I expect.”

            Mitchell’s confidence carried over to the team, but not right away.

UCSB – which lost both regular season games to UCI – did not come out sharp despite knowing it was win-or-go-home. The Gauchos did not score a basket for the first six and a half minutes and committed eight turnovers.

            “I refused to go down that way,” Mitchell said. “That’s why I subbed the five (new players) in.… I’m proud of the second team for setting the tone for basically how we played the rest of the game.”

The substitution worked as UCSB forced 10 Anteater turnovers before halftime. After trailing 8-0, and 16-6, the Gauchos would go on a 14-4 run to tie the game with a layup from Melissa Zornig.

“In the beginning it just wasn’t very pretty,” senior Kelsey Adrian said. “A couple players stepped up, especially (Zornig) and we needed that.”

            Zornig had a game-high 15 points, but after she tied the game at 20-20, the Anteaters would respond. They took a 24-20 lead with a fast break layup from Methlyn Onogomuho.

UCSB would tie the game a minute later with a layup from Angelei Aguirre as she sank a baseline drive layup. UCI netted one more basket to take a 26-24 lead into halftime.

            “Because of my competitive nature, I just told them we are going to win,” Mitchell said to her team at the break. “There were small things and adjustments that I knew we needed to make, but at the end of the day I knew we were going to go to the Honda Center.”

            Despite shooting 52 percent from the field in the first half the Anteaters had only managed a two-point lead. Those shooting numbers fell in the second half. The Gaucho defense clamped down on UCI, holding them to just 30 percent from the floor in the second half.

            UCSB also shut down the Anteaters best scoring threat – Kassandra McCalister. The UCI guard had just two points in the first half and totaled just five points in the game on 2-of-7 shooting.

            “She really lit us up last game and we didn’t want to let her do that again,” Adrian said. “We just had to be physical with her and not let her get any easy shots.”

UCSB took its first lead of the game with 18:45 left thanks to a 3-point play from Sweets Underwood. That’s when Zornig took over.

The sophomore guard sank four consecutive baskets for the Gauchos to earn a 35-33 lead with 13:43 left. Two minutes later, Nicole Nesbit would come off the bench for UCSB and sank her only two buckets of the game to earn a 39-33 lead with 11:35 left.

            “On the offensive end of things we had balanced scoring, which helps, but it definitely wasn’t our best game,” Mitchell said.

            UCSB would earn its largest lead of the night – 11 points – with just 33 seconds left as Emilie Johnson made two of her eight free throws, all of which came with less than two minutes left.

            “It was a sigh of relief,” Johnson said. “I am excited for this team and I want to see more. I want to see my teammates cut down nets.”

            UCSB could get revenge against Pacific and they hope third time is the charm once again, but this time in the semifinals.

“We all hope we play them because we want to get them back,” Zornig said. “We know the last two times we played them we did not play our game and now, we’re finally coming together as a team. No matter who we get, we’re going to come out and fight and get the W.