Willamette Grabs Early Lead, Rolls Past Linfield, 71-56

By Timothy Walsh, Athletics Communications Writer

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University scored the game's first 11 points and never looked back, as the Bearcats never trailed during a 71-56 victory over archrival Linfield College on Saturday, January 24 at Cone Field House.

It was the first Northwest Conference victory for the Bearcats, who improved to 6-11 overall, 1-7 in NWC play. Linfield fell to 8-9 on the year, 2-6 in the NWC.

Katie Kalugin (Sr., G, Woodburn, OR/Woodburn HS) earned a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead Willamette in both categories. Kylie Towry(So./Fr., G, Medford, OR/South Medford HS) scored 13 points for the Bearcats, while Jojo DeLong(Sr., PG, Santa Clarita, CA/Canyon HS) and Ashley Evans (Fr., PG, Canby, OR/Canby HS) each added 11.

Jade Everage led the Wildcats in scoring with 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting, while Amantha Hood scored 13 points and Hannah Depew tacked on 11.

Willamette never trailed in the game, as DeLong and Kalugin hit a layup and a jumper to give the Bearcats the early advantage. Kalugin later capped the game-opening 11-0 run with a layup.

While a pair of free throws from Dani Krier cut Willamette's lead to 11-2, the Bearcats extended the margin with another 8-0 spurt, grabbing a 19-2 lead at the 10:22 mark of the first half on a jumper from Marisa Hamilton (Fr., Beaverton, OR/Southridge HS).

Before Hood's layup made the game 19-4 with 9:06 remaining, Willamette had held Linfield to 0-14 (0.0%) shooting from the field while forcing six turnovers.

WU's advantage ballooned to 29-10 when DeLong nailed a jumper with 4:44 on the clock, and Kalugin pushed the margin back to 19 with a layup at the 3:23 mark, before the Bearcats settled for a 40-26 lead at the break.

All told, Willamette shot a scintillating 50% from the field (14 of 28) in the first half, while limiting the Wildcats to just 9 of 29 (31.0%) shooting.

After scoring the last four points of the first half, Linfield used a 6-0 run to start the second half to trim Willamette's lead to 40-32. DeLong answered with a clutch jumper to push the lead back to double-digits, but the Wildcats climbed back within eight points again when Depew hit a jumper with 14:07 remaining.

The Bearcats answered, however. A pair of three-pointers from Towry bookended an 11-0 Willamette run to push the lead back to 55-36 at the 10:58 mark. Evans hit another triple during the run, while DeLong scored on a layup.

Trailing 61-45 after a DeLong three, Linfield used one last 11-2 run to cut the Bearcats' lead down to just seven points with 2:39 remaining. From there, though, Willamette's defense held the Wildcats scoreless, while Kalugin's layup and Towry's three pushed the lead back to 12. A layup and free throw from Hamilton provided the final margin.

For the game, Willamette shot 45.5% (25 of 55), finished 8 for 24 on 3-pointers (33.3%) and made 13 of 20 free throws (65.5%), while limiting Linfield to 34.4% from the field (21 of 61), and 1 for 9 from beyond the arc (11.1%).

The Bearcats outrebounded the Wildcats 39-35. Both teams committed 14 turnovers.

Willamette begins the second half of conference play on Friday, January 30 at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (PST).