REDDING, Calif. — Karli McHone and Sarah Curl combined for 38 points as Pacific fell 63-58 to the Simpson Red Hawks inside the James M. Grant Center on New Years Eve.

Meeting for the second-straight day, the Red Hawks (8-10) and Boxers (3-8) entered into an early back-and-forth over the opening three minutes of play. After the second tie of the game at 6:40, Pacific took a 6-4 lead when Megan Wesel (Winchester, Calif.) hit a jumper in the paint off an assist from Curl (Portland, Ore.) After four scoreless minutes, the drought was broken by Merrily Jones (Milwaukie, Ore.) put Pacific up by four at the 2:18 mark. Pacific's lead was cut to two as time expired on the first quarter of action.

Another seesaw start in the second quarter saw two ties and five lead changes until the 1:52 mark in the period. Following a Curl 3-pointer at 2:37, the Red Hawks rattled off an 11-4 run and took a 30-24 lead into halftime.

Simpson pushed out hard in the second half, extending its lead to as many as 12 points before Lauren Lykins (Hillsboro, Ore.) hit a jumper to pull Pacific within 10 at 42-32. Curl tallied the next four points and was followed by a 3:20 made 3-pointer by McHone (Glenns Ferry, Idaho) to cut the deficit to five points. The Red Hawks managed to push back out to a six-point lead, until McHone hit the final bucket of the quarter with a 3-pointer to send the sides to the fourth quarter with a 48-45 score in Simpson's favor.

The first five minutes of the fourth quarter saw Simpson's lead reach 10 points, but Curl and McHone scored the next eight points to pull Pacific within two. Simpson held Pacific off entering the final minute, despite a made 3-pointer by McHone at the 30-second mark, and picked up the 63-58 victory.

Curl and McHone both finished with 19 points, as McHone hit five 3-pointers on the afternoon. Curl snagged nine rebounds for Pacific, including five offensive boards. Jillian Ross (St. Helens, Ore.) dished out three assists for the Boxers on the day.

Pacific returns to the Pacific Northwest next weekend with a two-game eastern Washington swing against Whitworth and Whitman. The Boxers meet the Whitworth Pirates on Friday at 6 p.m. in Spokane, Wash.