At Puget Sound 55, George Fox 44

Tacoma, Wash. – (From Robin Hamilton, UPS SID) The Puget Sound Loggers used stingy defensive play and road the offensive performance of freshman Lindsay May to hold off the Northwest Conference leading Bruins of George Fox University 55-44 Friday night at Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Bruins, ranked 12th in the WBCA ESPN/USA Today poll, had won six straight over the Loggers dating back to January of 1998.  The Loggers remain undefeated on their home hardwoods at 8-0 but most importantly remain in the race for one of three Northwest Conference playoff spots.

May scored 10 of her 17 points in the first stanza as the Logger defense forced 10 turnovers and held the Bruins to 33% from the floor and raced to a 34-23 halftime advantage.  The Loggers trailed by as many as 6 points to start the contest but took the lead for good at 19-18 with 4:44 to go in the first half.   The Bruins got as close at 6 points at 8:51in the second half when Liz Clark nailed a three-pointer.  Puget Sound held the lead throughout the second and extended the margin to as many as 13 points with 6:50 remaining.  The Bruins’ Darby Cave hit a bucket with 5:50 to go to pull to 49-40 but the Loggers were solid at the free throw line down the stretch hitting on five of six from the charity stripe.

The Loggers had three players in double figures led by May with 17 points and 8 rebounds while Julie Vanni who was slowed by three first-half fouls, hit for 13 points and pulled down 9 rebounds.  Lucy Wilson added 10 points for the Loggers who shot 37% from the floor and 80% from the line.  The Bruins were led by Nicole Prazeau with 14 points and Liz Clark added 9 points.  Heather Doud was outstanding on the boards with 12 rebounds and contributed 8 points.  The Bruins were 19-56 (34%) from the floor and just 2-8 (25%) from the line. The Loggers won the battle of the boards by a slim 38-37 margin.

Puget Sound, 16-5 overall and 8-4 in league play, travels to Lewis & Clark on Saturday night for another NWC affair while the Bruins (19-3 and 10-3) travel to face the Willamette Bearcats.

Pacific Lutheran 60, at Willamette 49

Salem, Ore. – (From Cliff Voliva, Willamette SID) Pacific Lutheran bolted to leads of 7-0 and 21-7 in the early going and never led by less than 11 thereafter in rolling to a 60-49

Northwest Conference women’s basketball victory over host Willamette in Cone Field House.

The Lutes, who went into the night tied for first place in the NWC with George Fox at 10-2, improved to 17-3 overall and 11-2 in the conference. The Bearcats dropped to 9-13 and 4-9, respectively.

PLU, ranked 27th in NCAA Division III according to D3hoops.com, was led by Jessica Iserman and Jamie Keatts. Iserman finished with 15 points and six rebounds, while Keatts ended up with 14 points and seven boards.

Willamette got 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds from Nancy Weyler, and Kasey Sorenson added 12 points and five rebounds.

The Lutes won the game with their shooting. PLU hit .417 (25-60) from the floor while Willamette managed to shoot just .321 (18-56).

PLU led by as much as 23 points midway through the second half. Leslie Johnson scored on a lay-up to make the score 55-32 with 8:14 remaining in the game. WU cut the lead to 55-43 on two free throws by Weyler with 3:12 to play, but the Lutes pushed the lead back up to 15 on a three-point shot by Keatts.

At Whitworth 67, Linfield 54

Spokane, Wash. – (From Steve Flegel, Whitworth SID) Whitworth College struggled to put away Linfield College, but eventually pulled away from the visiting Wildcats to pick up a 67-54 win in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game that kept the Pirates in the hunt for a conference playoff spot.

A pair of Whitworth seniors, playing perhaps the final home game of their career, led the Pirates to victory. Erica Ewart scored 22 points to lead all players and Jaime Dreewes added 15 points for the Bucs. Dreewes scored all 15 of her points in the first half to help the Pirates keep pace with Linfield. Freshman forward Tiffany Speer added 12 points for Whitworth.

The Wildcats jumped to a 6-0 lead, holding the Pirates scoreless for almost four minutes. But then Dreewes caught fire, scoring six of Whitworth's first eight points to help the Pirates rebound to take an 8-6 lead. Whitworth eventually went to the locker rooms with a 32-31 half-time advantage.

The scrappy Wildcats stayed close for the first 13 minutes of the second half. A basket by Shae Wright pulled Linfield to within 50-48 with 7:25 to play. But the Pirates went on a 9-2 run over the next five minutes to open up a 59-50 lead with only 2:16 to play. Whitworth made six of eight free throws down the stretch to hold on to the lead.

Linfield College was led by Leah Moore, who scored 15 points off of the bench. Monica Schwing, who scored 12 points, was the only other Wildcat in double figures.

The Pirates, trying to earn one of three NWC playoff spots, improved to 15-8 overall and 10-4 in the conference. Whitworth is in third place, one half game behind George Fox (10-3) and one game in front of Puget Sound (8-4). UPS defeated George Fox 55-44 tonight.

Pacific 65, at Lewis & Clark 52

Portland, Ore. – (From Tom Galbraith, L&C SID) Two big runs, one in the first half and one in the second, secured a 65-52 victory Friday for the visiting Pacific Boxers over the Lewis & Clark Pioneers.

Pacific used an 11-0 run midway through the first half to open up a game that had been tied at 15.  The Boxers held on to that lead the rest of the game, but not without a Pioneer surge.

Trailing 34-28 at the intermission, L&C scored the first four points of the second half to cut the lead to four.  Again, the Boxers went on an 11-0 run to salt the victory, leading by as many as 17 at 62-45 with two minutes left in the game.

The Pioneers outrebounded the Boxers 36-30, but committed 29 turnovers and shot only 36 percent from the floor.  Pacific hit 20 of 27 freethrows.

Kristine Callan and Mary Lindburg each tallied 12 points for the Boxers.  Katannya Kapeli added 10 and a team-high five rebounds.

Lindsay Sweetland led the Pioneers with 17 points.  Nnenna Lewis had 16 and seven rebounds.  Lindsay Tarr added a game-high eight caroms.