Feb. 21 NWC Women’s Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID)

At Pacific Lutheran 86, Willamette 46

Tacoma, Wash. -- Pacific Lutheran scored the first eight points of the game, then reeled off 18 unanswered points in the first half en route to an 86-46 victory over Willamette in a Northwest Conference game at Olson Auditorium.

The Lutes (18-4, 12-2 NWC) connected on 60 percent (21-35) of their field goal attempts in the first half, including 7-9 from three-point range. PLU led 52-16 at halftime.

Aundi Kustura led PLU with 22 points and also had 4 assists. Kelly Turner finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and Pam Issacson scored 10 points and had 5 rebounds. Courtney Johnson also had 5 rebounds to go with 8 points.

Willamette (4-19, 0-14 NWC) was led by Jammie Muth, who scored 16 points and had 6 rebounds.

At Puget Sound 86, Lewis & Clark 62

Tacoma, Wash. – Puget Sound defeated visiting Lewis and Clark 86-62 tonight, handing the Loggers four graduating seniors a victory in their final game at Memorial Fieldhouse.  Puget Sound (19-4, NWC 11-3) used the hot hand of guard Kilty Keaton and a strong defensive effort to put the Pioneers away.

Keaton led all scorers with 22 points on 6 of 8 shooting.  Keaton shot 5 of 7 from three-point distance, accounting for all but one of the Loggers threes in the game.

Puget Sound notched-up the defense towards the end of the first-half, and carried the effort over to start the second.    With the game tied at 23-23 and just over eight minutes remaining in the opening half, Puget Sound began to dig in at the defensive end, holding the Pioneers to just eight points over the next 13:30 minutes of the game.  Puget Sound used the 28-8 run to amass a 51-31 lead.

Things got a bit heated late in the second-half, as Pioneer Head Coach Missy Smith picked-up her second technical foul and was ejected from the game with 6:34 left in the contest.  The ensuing free throws by Keaton game the Loggers a 70-46 led.  Puget Sound would push the advantage out to 27 (83-56) with 2:12 on the clock.

For the night the Loggers shot 48.3% while holding Lewis and Clark to 39.7%.  Puget Sound had a huge rebounding edge (49-29) and did a solid job of getting to the line, shooting 31 free throw compared to just 11 for the visitors from Portland.

Logger forward Lindsay May had 19 points and was one of four Puget Sound players with seven rebounds on the evening.  Koval, playing in her final Logger home game, grabbed seven rebounds and contributed 14 points.

Freshmen guard Sarah Moon led the Pioneers (5-18, 2-12) with 18 points on 8 of 9 shooting.  Senior Lindsay Sweetland had a double double in the losing effort, scoring 14 points to go with a game high 12 rebounds.

Whitman 77, at Pacific 65

Forest Grove, Ore. -- A late second half surge by Pacific, fueled by the play of Tori Nelson and DeeDee Arnall was not enough to counter a hot night outside by Whitman as the Missionaries beat the Boxers 77-65 in Northwest Conference women's basketball action Saturday night at the Pacific Athletic Center.

Whitman (17-6, 11-3 NWC) used 50 percent shooting from the field and a 54 percent night from three-point range, including 6 of 9 in the first half, to keep the Boxers (9-11, 4-9 NWC) down by double digits most of the night.

Pacific, however, nearly spoiled the Missionaries' evening with a surge that saw the Boxers' cut their lead from 17 points to only two in a matter of three minutes. Whitman led 64-47 with 7:32 left before Erin Wilson's jumper started a 15-0 run over the next two minutes. Arnall fueled the surge with four points and a steal, while Nelson connected for a steal and five points, including the jumper that brought the lead to 64-62 with 5:20 left.

The well went dry from that point as Pacific missed nine of their last 10 shots down the stretch. Whitman, meanwhile, made it happen from the foul line, hitting 11 charity shots over the final four minutes.

Whitman's torrid shooting from downtown made it difficult for the Boxers to get a run going in the first half. Pacific led 10-8 with 14:28 left before Shea Morrissey's three-pointer started a 25-12 run that, fueled by three of Whitman's six first-half treys, gave the Missionaries the 43-22 halftime edge.

Whitman's Laura Vertatschitsch led all scorers with 21 points. Katie Patneaude finished with 16 and Lizzy Washburn had 12 to go along with six rebounds.

Arnall led the Boxers with 18 points and six rebounds. Katannya Kapeli (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii) finished with 11 points and four assists in the losing effort.

Whitworth 58, at Linfield 47

McMinnville, Ore. -- Whitworth held Linfield without a field goal for over eight minutes to begin the second half and the result was a 58-47 Pirate victory Saturday night at Ted Wilson Gym.

The defending Northwest Conference champions improved to 10-4 in league play, 18-5 overall. Linfield, which saw its modest two-game winning streak ended, dropped to 5-8 in the NWC and 8-14 overall.

The trio of Tiffany Speer, Dani Bielec and Sarah Shogren accouted for 40 of the Whitworth's 58 points. Speer scored a game-high 16 points and added eight rebounds. Bielec and Shogren each tallied a dozen points as the Pirates won for the sixth time in their last seven games. Shogren corralled a game-best 14 rebounds.

Linfield jumped to an early 7-2 lead less than seven minutes into the game as Heidi Jurgens scored five of her team-high 15 points to pace the 'Cats. But Whitworth wasted no time in turning the tables. A shot-clock beating three-pointer by Micki DesMarais with 6:44 remaining in the half gave the Pirates their first lead of the contest, 15-13. Clinging to a 21-20 lead with a little more than two minutes left, Whitworth outscored the Wildcats 8-0 to take a 29-20 lead into intermission.

Whitworth began the second half with a 14-0 run. By the time Jurgens hit two free throws at the 15:53 mark, the damage had been done. Whitworth led comfortably 43-22 and Linfield was forced away from its game plan. The shooting drought continued until Monica Schwing finally found the bottom of the net with 11:18 left, and the Wildcats trailed 48-28. Linfield finally found some offensive rhythm late in the period, closing to within 54-43 with two minutes to go.

Schwing totaled 14 points and Lacey Conroy had nine points and six rebounds for Linfield. Whitworth outshot the Wildcats .389 to .288. Linfield was 1 of 12 from beyond the three-point arc.