Feb. 7 NWC Women’s Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID)

At Pacific Lutheran 74, George Fox 49

Parkland, Wash. -- One day after setting the school record for blocked shots in a game, Pacific Lutheran's Courtney Johnson was at it again. The senior from Wenatchee, Wash. recorded her first career triple-double to lead the Lutes to their 12th straight win, a 74-49 victory over George Fox in a Northwest Conference game at Olson Auditorium.

The victory set a new record for consecutive wins, breaking the previous record of 11 set during the 1998-99 season. Johnson finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.

Sara Wilcox's lay-up with 12:36 left in the first half broke a 12-12 tie and the Lutes led the rest of the game. PLU took a 36-19 advantage into the locker room at halftime and outscored the Bruins 38-30 in the second half.

PLU improved to 10-0 in the conference, 16-2 overall. George Fox is now 9-9 overall including 3-7 in conference games.

Wilcox scored 16 points and Aundi Kustura 13 for the Lutes. Mallory Mann dished out 7 assists. Kellie Thomas led George Fox with 16 points. Darby Cave gathered in 12 rebounds.

At Puget Sound 56, Pacific 46

Tacoma, Wash. -- Puget Sound defeated the visiting Boxers of Pacific University tonight 56-46, avenging their earlier season loss to Pacific in Forest Grove.  Forward Kilty Keaton led the way for the Loggers, scoring a team high 14 points, including four three-pointers. Head coach Suzy Barcomb recorded her 100th win with the victory.

A poor shooting start for the Loggers saw them record a season low 19 points in the opening half.  Puget Sound had no points in the paint in the first twenty minutes, unable to establish their post game against a tough and physical Boxer interior defense.  The Loggers were 7 of 28 at the break, and found themselves down 24-19 at the end of the first stanza.  It would have been worse had the Loggers not shot 4 of 8 from the three-point arch. DeeDee Arnall had 10 in the first half to lead Pacific.

Puget Sound opened the second half with a 21-6 run to take a commanding 9-point lead with 10 minutes left in the contest, a lead they would eventually push to 18.  The Loggers clamped down on the Boxer shooters, harassing Pacific into an 8 for 28 performance, including 1 of 11 from behind the three-point line in the second twenty.

DeeDee Arnall recorded a double double in the losing cause, scoring 19 points to go with her 10 boards.  Both were game highs.  Angie Straw came alive in the second half, finishing with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Each team had 23 turnovers, and the Loggers won the battle of the boards 39-29.

Whitman 69, at Lewis & Clark 61

Portland, Ore. -- Down by just one point at the half, Lewis & Clark played arguably one of its best overall games of the season, but still couldn't topple Whitman, falling at home Saturday night 69-61.

Krystle Mortimore led the Pioneers in scoring for the second consecutive day. She was 7-for-14 from the field and scored 19 points. Carrie Centlivre had twelve points, six steals, and eight assists in the contest. Talia Hristou led the rebounding with eight boards. She also had two blocks.

Whitman had four players in double-figures in scoring including Katie Patneaude who had a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds). The Missionaries' leading scorer, Lizzy Washburn came just shy of a double-double, scoring 18 and pulling in 9 boards. Laura Vertatschitsch and Sarah Laird each had twelve points.

With the win, Whitman improves to 8-2 in conference play while the Pioneers fall to 1-9.

Whitworth 64, at Willamette 59

Salem, Ore. -- Dani Bielic scored 22 points in the second half, leading the Whitworth Pirates (15-4, 7-3 NWC) to a 64-59 come-from-behind win over the Willamette University Bearcats (4-15, 0-10 NWC) in a Northwest Conference game at the Cone Field House Saturday night.

Bielic, 6-10 from beyond the three-point line in the second half, had a game-high 28 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steal. Tiffany Speer added 14 points and seven rebounds as the Pirates rebounded from a 16-point first half deficit.

In the first half, after the Pirates took an early lead, the Bearcats went on a 23-2 run behind Simmie Muth (23 points) and Brianne King (13 points) to take a 28-14 lead. But the Pirates cut it to six at halftime as former Bearcat Wenchi Liu scored all ten of her points, including a steal and lay-up at the buzzer, to cut the Willamette lead to 35-29.

In the second half, the Bearcats kept that lead until a pair of three-point shot by Bielic sandwiched around a hoop and a foul shot by Speer to take a 46-44 lead at the 9:55 mark. King gave the Bearcats the lead back with a three-pointer, then the teams traded baskets until a late Whitworth flurry by Bielic and Speer pushed the Pirates in front.

The Bearcats shot 43% from the floor to 37% for Whitworth. The Pirates won the battle of the boards 40-35.