At Willamette 53, George Fox 51
Salem, Ore. – (From Cliff Voliva, Willamette SID) Nancy Weyler scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half as the Willamette University Bearcats came from 14 points down at halftime to defeat the George Fox Bruins 53-51 at the Cone field House Saturday night.
The Bruins came into the game in second place in the Northwest Conference after losing Friday night to University of Puget Sound. They fell to 10-4 in NWC action, 19-4 overall. The Bearcats raised their conference record to 5-9, 10-13 overall in their biggest win of the season.
Weyler scored eight points in a 10-0 Bearcat run to open the second half, cutting a 32-18 half-time deficit to just four points. The Bearcats continued the run, outscoring the Bruins 22-1 to take a 50-43 lead with 5:01 left in the game.
George Fox got back within one at 52-51 on a jumper by Heather Doud with 1:08 remaining. But Simmie Muth hit one of two free throws with 17 second remaining to give the ‘Cats the win.
The second half was almost a reversal of the first half. The Bruins got out to an early lead with a 21-2 run as the Bearcats shot only 29 percent from the floor. In the second half it was the Bruins who went ice cold, hitting only 25 percent of their shots and scoring only 19 points.
Muth hit a pair of three-pointers as part of her 15 points. She grabbed six rebounds. Rosie Contri had a game-high 13 rebounds as the Bearcats stayed even with the much taller Bruins on the boards. Kasey Sorenson added 11 points and five boards for the Bearcats.
For George Fox, only Sarah Myhre managed to reach double figures, scoring 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting. The Bruins leading scorer, Heather Doud (15 ppg), scored only four points. Darby Cave scored nine points and Melissa Alexander added seven.
The Bearcats shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half to finish at 40 percent for the game. Weyler led the way, hitting seven of her nine shots in the game.
Pacific Lutheran 54, at Pacific 37
Forest Grove, Ore. – (From Blake Timm, Pacific SID) The top-ranked team in the Northwest Conference came out with fire in the second half, out-scoring the Boxers 35-17 enroute to a 54-37 Pacific Lutheran victory in women’s basketball action Saturday night at the Pacific Athletic Center.
The Boxers (10-12, 6-8 NWC), who led by as much four in the first half and led 20-19 at the break, managed only 24-percent shooting in the second half while the Lutes (18-3, 12-2 NWC) rebounded from a 25-percent shooting performance in the first to hit 47-percent in the second.
Kristi Bryant had the hot hand for the Boxers, connecting for 10 of her 12 points in the first half. Her jumper five minutes in gave Pacific an 8-4 lead. The Lutes kept it close, forcing three different ties and took a one-point lead on Toni Craig’s jumper, but another Bryant jumper gave the Boxers the 20-19 lead at the half.
Both teams traded buckets in the second until the 13:23 mark when Katie Springer’s jumper gave the Lutes the lead for good at 30-29. The bucket ignited an 11-2 Lutes’ run that put PLU up 42-31. The Boxers would never get closer than eight.
Jamie Keatts led the way for the Lutes, scoring 12 points, including 10 in the second half. Jessica Iserman and Katie Springer each had 11. Bryant’s 12 led the Boxers. Kristine Callan finished with nine.
Puget Sound 66, at Lewis & Clark 45
Portland, Ore. – (From Tom Galbraith, L&C SID) The Lewis & Clark Pioneers fought tough, but fell Saturday to Puget Sound 66-45 at the Pamplin Sports Center.
UPS built a 26-point lead in the second half, and the Pioneers scrapped back to within 14 with under five minutes to play, but the surge would come up short.
The Loggers put the game out of reach in the first half, holding the Pioneers to just 19 percent shooting in building a 35-19 halftime lead.
Julie Vanni scored a 17 points and grabbed seven rebound to lead the Loggers. Lindsay May added 15 points and a game-high five assists. Courtney Leybold chipped in 10 points.
Lindsay Sweetland scored a game-high 18 points for the Pioneers. She also grabbed eight rebounds. Lindsay Tarr notched 10 rebounds. Quiana Washington scored a career-high eight points as well.
Linfield 56, at Whitman 54
Walla Walla, Wash. – (From Jay Babbit, Whitman Asst. SID) Making just enough free-throws down the stretch, the Linfield women's basketball team escaped a determined Missionary effort, downing Whitman 56-54 in Northwest Conference action Saturday night in Sherwood Center.
The win improves the Wildcats overall record to 10-13, as the team jumps to 6-8 in the conference. Whitman finished the night 7-15 overall and 3-11 in the NWC.
The game was nip and tuck most of the way, though Linfield held a narrow lead for the last eight minutes of the game.
In the first period, the Wildcats jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first five minutes, before Whitman battled back, eventually taking its first lead of the night, 17-16, with 5:22 left in the half.
The two teams would change leads seven times in the first twenty minutes, as Whitman closed the half with a three-point lead at 26-23.
Linfield opened the final period on a Katie Gardner three-pointer to knot the score at 26-all. The opponents would change leads seven more times, and tie twice, before Linfield went ahead for good with 8:00 minutes left to play.
Whitman's Sunny Gulberg nailed a three-pointer with just nine seconds left in the game to bring Whitman within one point, at 54-55. After Linfield's Heidi Jurgens made one-of-two free throws, Gulberg's runner as time expired was just short, as Linfield held on for the two-point victory.
Linfield was led by Gardner and Alicia Westley, who both finished with 11 points.
Gulberg's three-pointer moved her past Mary Kincaid into 9th place on Whitman's career scoring list. She finished the game with nine points.
Whitman was led by Darin Reynaud, who scored a game-high 12 points in her final home game as a Missionary. Denise Kirstein finished with ten points for Whitman. Kim Evanger led all players with eight rebounds, chipping in five points, three assists and two steals.