Boxers Open NWC Action With Victory Over Bearcats
Box Score
FOREST GROVE – Seniors
Heather Hitch (Sr., Enumclaw, Wash.) and
Paige Jensen (Sr., Bemidji, Minn.) combined for 30 points to help the Pacific women's basketball team collect their first Northwest Conference victory 69-39 over Willamette on Saturday evening at the Stoller Center.
Hitch ended the game with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Jensen picked up her second consecutive double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Hitch was 4 for 9 from the field and 5 for 8 from the free throw line, while Jensen was also 4 for 9 from the field and 9 for 10 from the free throw line. Jensen picked up five steals.
“Heather and Paige played like seniors,” said Head Coach
Sharon Rissmiller. “They stepped up for us, making some big plays tonight when we needed them. Their intensity helped spark a run which opened up what was a very close and hard fought game.”
The Boxers started the game with a 7-0 run until the Bearcats scored their first basket at the 13:40 mark of the first half. The Boxers built a nine-point lead at 7:46, after a jumper by Hitch.
The Bearcats pushed themselves back to being down by just five points, after a made free throw shot by Katelyn Nordlien with less than three and half minutes to go in the first half. Nordlien would cut the lead to four after her jumper with a little over a minute to go, but Hitch would once again put the Boxers up by six to head into the second half.
The Boxers took control of the second half, out-scoring the Bearcats 42-18. The Boxers increased the lead to 11 at the 15:19 mark after two made free throw shots by
Alex Pfefferle (Jr., Twin Falls, Idaho). The lead would increase to 20 when
Anuhea Wall (So., Kealakekua, Hawaii) passed to an open
Olivia Cook (So., Beaverton, Ore.).
The Boxers gained their 30-point lead after a lay-up by Hitch, which was lead up to by a made free throw shot by Jensen.
Kelsey Misseldine (So., Gilbert, Ariz.) led the Boxers with two minutes go in the game, making three free throw shots to end the game.
Misseldine added 12 points, while
Kaila Johnson (So., McKinleyville, Calif.) added eight. Pfefferle scored six points to go along with seven rebounds and two steals. The Boxers shot 37 percent from the field and was 80.6 percent from the free throw line. The Boxers out-rebounded the Bearcats 43-27.
The victory marks a 4-0 record for the Boxers and their first victory in the Northwest Conference action. “It's always great to start the season off 4-0,” said Rissmiller.
The Boxers (4-0) will spend the rest of December on the road. There next game is Dec. 4, where they will travel to Olympia, Wash. to take of the Geoducks of Evergreen State. Tip off is at 6 p.m.
