Bearcats Fall to Lady Yotes, 68-47

By Sara Brooks, Assistant Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6219

LA GRANDE, ORE. -- The Willamette University womens basketball team opened the season with a 68-47 loss to the College of Idaho on Friday, Nov. 20 at the Aramark Holiday Classic hosted by Eastern Oregon University. The Bearcats, who trailed by only seven points at halftime, could not capitalize on a poor shooting night by the Yotes. Willamette dropped to 1-0 on the season. The College of Idaho moved to 2-2 on the season.

BOX SCORE

Willamette jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a successful three-point attempt by Maya McFaddin (So., G, McMinnville, OR/McMinnville HS). Less than a minute later, College of Idahos Nicole Gall sank a three of her own. The Bearcats were unable to find an answer for Gall. She finished with a game high 21 points, twelve rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks.

The Bearcats trailed at halftime by just seven points, 28-21. However, WU could not stop the offensive attack of the Lady Yotes in the first five minutes of the second half. The College of Idaho jumped out to a 37-22 lead with fifteen minutes to play and never looked back.

Willamette was led by junior Alex Zennan (G, Sammamish, WA/Eastlake HS). Zennan finished the game with eight points, eight assists and nine rebounds. The inside combination of Keilyn Fujioka (Jr., C, Kailua, HI/Iolani HS) and Kaileigh Westermann (So., P, Belfair, WA/North Kitsap HS) proved to be a powerful combination. Fujioka finished with eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Westermann added nine points and nine rebounds.

For the game, Willamette shot 21-64 from the field. The Yotes connected on 25 of 84 attempts. WU shot 11% from the three point line and just 24% from the free throw line. The Bearcats attempted only nine free throws in the game. Meanwhile, College of Idaho connected on 13 of 25 attempts from the charity stripe.

The Bearcats lost the rebounding battle 54-63. WU pulled down 18 offensive rebounds compared to the Yotes 29. Each team registered fourteen assists.

Willamette is back in action on Saturday, Nov. 21 against Eastern Oregon University. EOU is 3-2 on the season. Game time is set for 5 p.m. (PST) in La Grande, Ore.