Jan. 23 NWC Women’s Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID)

Pacific Lutheran 65, at Lewis & Clark 57

Portland, Ore. -- The Pioneers battled first place Pacific Lutheran, but came up just shy in a 65-57 loss on Friday night.

The Pioneers were down by as many as a dozen points in the first half, but went on a 13-2 run to take the lead with a little over six minutes left in the half. They went into the locker room down by three. They went on another run late in the game and drew within one point with 4:36 left, but they could never quite overcome the deficit.

Strong performances by Krystle Mortimore, Lindsay Sweetland, and Sarah Moon highlighted a good showing by the Pioneers. Sarah Moon led the Pioneers, racking up her third straight double-digit scoring performance with15 points and had six rebounds. Sweetland and Mortimore each had 11 points with Sweetland pulling in 7 rebounds. Talia Hristou led the team with 8 boards, all on the defensive end.

For the Lutes, Kelly Turner was 7-of-10 from the field and scored a game-high 21 points. Aundi Kustura had 19. Sara Wilcox scored 10. Courtney Johnson led the team with nine rebounds.

Lewis & Clark falls to 4-10 on the season and 1-4 in conference. Pacific Lutheran stays a perfect 5-0 in NWC play and improves to 11-2 on the year.

Puget Sound 71, at Willamette 42

Salem, Ore. -- Lindsay May scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as she led the University of Puget Sound to a 71-42 win over the Willamette University Bearcats in a Northwest Conference game Friday night at the Cone Field House.

May had eight offensive rebounds and was 6-6 from the foul line as the Loggers (12-2, 4-1 NWC) used a 15-5 spurt to open the second half and put the game away.

The Bearcats (4-10, 0-5 NWC) were led by ten points by freshman Ashley Mollet, the first time she reached double figures in her collegiate career.

Kilty Keaton had 14 points for the Loggers. Laura Koval added nine.

Puget Sound, behind five straight points from Sarah Farber, jumped to a 20-9 lead in the first halt. But Mollett scored five straight of her own to bring the Bearcats within five at the seven minute mark. The Loggers led by ten at halftime.

From the game, UPS outrebounded the Bearcats 42-36. The Loggers shots 40% from the field, while Willamette hit 32% of their shots.

At Whitworth 76, Pacific 66

Spokane, Wash. -- With All-Northwest Conference forward Sarah Shogren in street clothes with a sprained ankle, Whitworth College needed someone to step up and junior guards Dani Bielec and Wenchi Liu answered the call, leading the Pirates to a 76-66 comeback victory over Pacific University in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game on Friday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Bielec and Liu teamed with 2003 NWC MVP Tiffany Speer to spark a second-half 20-2 run that turned a 43-30 deficit into a 50-45 advantage. Bielec finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and six steals. Liu totaled 16 points, seven assists and five boards. Speer led all scorers with 25 points and added 11 rebounds Haley Bradley finished with 12 points.

DeeDee Arnall scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Boxers. Katannya Kapeli added 14 points and Kristi Poe finished with 10 points. Lauren Jones also grabbed 12 boards for Pacific. But the Boxers struggled desperately at the free throw line, where they made only five of 19 attempts. Arnall alone was 0-10 from the charity stripe.

Like heavyweights exchanging knock out blows the two teams traded big scoring runs. After Pacific opened the game with a 7-0 lead Whitworth fought back to take a 25-13 lead. But the Boxers answered with a 24-5 run to go into halftime with a 37-30 lead. Pacific extended that lead with a 6-0 run to start the second half, holding Whitworth scoreless for the first five minutes. But then Whitworth answered with their 20-2 run to retake the lead and the Bucs eventually extended that lead to 15 points (72-57) with 1:43 to play.

Whitworth ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 11-3 overall and 3-2 in the Northwest Conference. The Pirates host Linfield on Saturday night. Pacific fell to 7-4 and 2-2 and plays at Whitman College on Saturday.

At Whitman 63, Linfield 57

Walla Walla, Wash. - Coming off weekend in which it struggled offensively, the Whitman women’s basketball rebounded Friday night in Walla Walla, Wash., shooitng 26 of 51 for 51 percent as a team to defeat Linfield 74-62. Whitman improved to 8-5 overall and 3-2 in the Northwest Conference, while Linfield dropped to 4-9 overall and 1-3 in conference.

In the first half Whitman forced 18 Wildcat turnovers and hit 12 of 14 from the free-throw line to take a 43-29 lead into the break. Sophomores Laura Vertatschitsch and Megan Higgins led the way in the first half for the lady Missionaries. Vertatschitsch scored 11 of her team high 18 points in the first half, going a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. Higgins scored 10 points in the first half, hitting both of her shots from the free-throw line.

The Missionaries had four players finish in double figures on the night. Along with the stellar play of Vertatschitsch and Higgins, freshman Katie Patneaude scored 16 points and had a team high five rebounds while sophomore Lizzy Washburn came off the bench to score 11 points and have four steals. As a team Whitman forced 24 turnovers on the night and went to the free throw line 16 more times than Linfield, 34-18.

Monica Schwing led the Wildcats with 16 points and six rebounds, hitting eight of 12 from the field. Also in double figures were Heidi Jurgens with 13 points and Kendra Victor, with 10.

Whitman will play host to Pacific University Saturday night at 6 p.m. at Sherwood Center as it finishes up the weekend of Northwest Conference play. The Wildcats travel to Spokane, Wash. to play Whitworth.