Jan. 31 NWC Women’s Basketball Wrap (Stories provided by host SID)

At Pacific Lutheran 72, Pacific 49

Parkland, Wash. – Kezia Long came off of the bench to lead Pacific Lutheran to a perfect first half in Northwest Conference play with a 72-49 win over visiting Pacific on Saturday night.

Long added nine rebounds to help the Lutes improve to 14-2 overall and 8-0 in the NWC.  PLU holds a two-game lead over UPS and Whitman.  Aundi Kustera chipped in 15 points.

DeeDee Arnall scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Boxers (9-6, 4-4). Tori Nelson added 13 points.

The Lutes made 52% (28/54) of their shots while holding Pacific to only 28% (18/64).

At Puget Sound 67, Linfield 55

Tacoma, Wash. -- Puget Sound utilized strong post play to overcome a pesky Linfield team 67-55 in Memorial Fieldhouse Saturday night in NWC women's basketball action.  Logger front court mates Lindsay May and Angie Straw repeatedly worked themselves free from defenders on the block for easy lay-ups.  The teammates combined for 43 points and 17 rebounds on the night.  The win moves Puget Sound to 14-3, 6-2 on the year.  Linfield falls to 6-11, 4-5.

The Wildcats pushed-out to a 26-24 halftime advantage on the strength of 8 first half points by guard Brandi Loring.  Loring and Logger leading scorer May got most of their points from the line, as neither team shot particularly well in first twenty minutes.  The Loggers were 7 for 25, while Linfield was marginally better at 9 for 27.   Forward Lindsay May had 14 of the Loggers 24 points at the break to lead all scorers.

After a back and forth beginning of the second half, post Angie Straw took over, scoring 14 points on 7 of 8 shooting.  After a nice feed from freshmen guard Shelby Ramirez, Straw hit a turn around jumper with one second on the shot clock to push the Loggers lead to 10 with seven minutes to play.  The Wildcats never could get momentum back, allowing Puget Sound to push the lead out to 14 at one point before the buzzer sounded with the final 67-55 favoring the Loggers showing on the board.

Puget Sound shot 70% in the second half, helping them to a respectable 50% for the game.  Linfield continued to struggle from the floor, ending the night 18 of 56 for 32%.  The Wildcats were led in scoring by Lorings' 13 points, and also got a nice game from forward Lacey Conroy.  Conroy had 12 points to go with 8 rebounds.

Straw ended the night with 18 points, 4 blocks, and 6 rebounds.  May finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, 10 of which came on the defensive glass.

Whitman 48, at George Fox 47

Newberg, Ore. -- Katie Patneaude sank the second of two free throws with 5 seconds left, giving the Whitman College Missionaries a 48-47 edge over the George Fox University Bruins in a Northwest Conference women’s basketball game on Homecoming night Saturday at Miller Gym in the Wheeler Sports Center.

The first half was a definite study in contrasts.  Whitman got out of the blocks fast, jumping out to a 13-2 lead in the first seven minutes.  The final 13 minutes belonged to the Bruins, however, as they out-scored the Missionaries during that time 18-4 to take a 20-17 halftime lead.

A layup by Kellie Thomas and two free throws by Darby Cave gave the Bruins their biggest lead of the game at 24-17 with 18:35 to play, but Patneaude responded with a layup and a three-point play to get the Missionaries back in the game.  In the final 16 minutes, there were 8 ties and 3 lead changes.

Whitman took its largest lead of the half on a 3-pointer by Shea Morrisey at 45-41 with 2:23 to go, but the Bruins tied it on layups by Cave and Thomas with 1:23 left.  Denise Kirstein for Whitman and the Bruins’ Amy Fitch traded baskets for a 47-47 tie with 29 seconds remaining, setting up Patneaude’s winning free throw after a foul inside by Cave. Liz Clark’s 35-foot attempt at the buzzer for the Bruins fell just short.

Cave and Kim Leith were the top Bruin scorers with 10 points each, while Clark grabbed 12 rebounds, pacing the Bruins to a 46-43 advantage on the boards.  Clark also had 4 assists.  While the defense held the Missionaries to only 29.9% shooting (20-67), the Bruins hurt themselves with 17 turnovers to only 9 for Whitman.

Patneaude was the only Missionary in double figures with 21, 15 in the second half.  Kirstein had 10 rebounds, and Lizzy Washburn passed out 4 assists.

George Fox dropped to 9-7 overall and 3-5 in the conference, while Whitman improved to 11-5 overall and 6-2 in the league.  The Missionaries, picked in the pre-season coaches’ poll to finish 8th, have become the NWC’s biggest surprise as they maintained at least a share of second place with the win.

The Bruins head for Tacoma next weekend to start the second half of conference play, first visiting the University of Puget Sound on Friday (Feb. 6).  The Missionaries travel to Salem to take on Willamette University Friday.