Not many schools in the country can retain one career 1,000-point scorer in the era of the transfer portal—University of the Pacific has three.

Graduate student Liz Smith ’24 and seniors Elizabeth Elliott ’25 and Anaya James ’25 have all returned to the women’s basketball program for their final seasons of eligibility. The trio, who each earned All-Conference accolades last season, have played their entire careers at Pacific and have 3,143 points combined.

“To bring back student-athletes that have this much familiarity with each other is pretty fun,” said head coach Bradley Davis. “That’s been the hallmark of our program. Each year, we graduate multiple student-athletes who have been with our program for at least four years, and that kind of consistency we hope will pay off on the floor.”

Pacific is the only school in the West Coast Conference to sport three 1,000-point scorers on its roster.

“It’s been an honor to play with Anaya and Elizabeth,” Smith said. “We’ve been on a team together where we only won six games and have been on a team together where we reached the semifinals of the conference tournament, so we’ve been through a lot together.”

“I love those girls, and I hope to get to 4,000 or 5,000 points combined and keep it going. I’m excited for this final year.”

The Tigers are coming off a year where they advanced to the second round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament for the second time since 2019 after defeating Cal Poly in the opening round 63-43 at home. Pacific posted its best winning percentage at home since 2012-13 with a 12-5 record.

“Our experience and sticking together could be the deciding factor for us this upcoming year,” said Elliott, who’s racked up 1,043 career points and 530 rebounds.

Pacific returns eight student-athletes in total, which is more than half its roster. In addition to the 1,000-point trio, the Tigers bring back junior Sydney Ward ’26, junior Lauren Glazier ’26, sophomore Nyah Lowery ’27, sophomore Jamie Kent ’27 and sophomore Kenlee Durrill ’27.

James was distinguished on the 2024-25 Preseason All-Conference Team, announced last week at West Coast Conference Media Day in Las Vegas. James was the lone Tiger to start in all 34 games last season, averaged 12.1 points per game and led the league in assists with 5.9 per outing.

“When I arrived here as a freshman, I wasn’t very talkative, but after being here for three years I’ve stepped into more of a leadership role and have been more vocal. I want to be a role model on the court for the newer players and I’m excited for the season to get underway,” James said.

The season begins Monday, Nov. 4 when the Tigers host Stanislaus State at 11 a.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center. View the full women’s basketball schedule.