Puget Sound Pulls Away from Willamette, 85-58

By Timothy Walsh, Athletics Communications Writer

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University hung with the University of Puget Sound for 13 minutes, but the Loggers pulled away from the Bearcats at the end of the first half and never looked back, securing an 85-58 win in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Puget Sound upped its record to 15-8, including 8-6 in the NWC. Willamette dropped to 3-19, 1-12 in the NWC.

Willamette received 15 points from Jojo DeLong (Jr., PG, Santa Clarita, CA/Canyon HS), who sank 5 of 11 field goals, including 4 of 8 three-point shots. Daena Mau (Jr., G, Aiea, HI/Punahou School) added 10 points and made two 3-pointers.

Katie Ainslie led UPS with 30 points and 8 rebounds. She was 13 of 17 on field goals and went 4 for 4 at the free throw line. Emily Sheldon scored 18 points for the Loggers, while Hannah Lekson added 11.

UPS gained an early 8-3 advantage, but the Bearcats rallied with an 8-0 run to seize their first lead of the game.

A layup by Alex Wert (Fr., F, Spokane, WA/St. George's HS) started the run, and back-to-back three-pointers by DeLong and Alexa Beeson (Sr., G, Portland, OR/Lincoln HS) at 15:36 and 14:22 finished it.

The Loggers answered with a 12-1 spurt to grab a 20-12 lead with 9:05 left in the first half, but Willamette stayed close. Savanna Steele (Fr., PG, West Richland, WA/Hanford HS) hit a long two-pointer to cut the lead to six, and an elbow jumper by Wert cut the lead to 22-18 at the 7:50 mark.

Though Lekson responded with a trifecta, the Loggers initially had difficulty pulling away from the pesky Bearcats, and a pair of free throws by Julia Brand (Jr., F, Kaneohe, HI/Punahou School) brought Willamette within 29-22 with 5:36 remaining in the first period.

Over the following four minutes, though, Puget Sound went on a backbreaking 12-2 run, taking a 41-24 lead on Sheldon's layup with 1:07 left.

UPS led 43-27 at halftime, pushed its lead to 21 points just over seven minutes into the second half, and never looked back.

Willamette scored on 36.4% of its field goal attempts (20 of 55), but hit an impressive 9 of 19 three-point attempts (47.4%). Willamette shot 60.0% (9 of 15) at the free throw line.

The Loggers shot 33 of 62 (53.2%) for the game, despite connecting on just 21.4% of their three-pointers (3 of 14). UPS pounded the Bearcats inside, however, outrebounding Willamette 47-22 and gaining a 42-10 advantage in points in the paint.

The Loggers also hit 16 of their 17 attempts from the charity stripe (94.1%).

The Bearcats will travel to McMinnville, Ore. for a matchup with archrival Linfield College on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 8, but was postponed due to snow.