FOREST GROVE —
Sarah Curl tallied a season-high 30 points, while
Karli McHone posted an 18-point performance as Pacific fell 78-66 inside the Stoller Center to the visiting Lewis & Clark Pioneers on Friday evening.
The Boxers led for the entire back-half of the first period, when
Nikki Gilbert (East Wenatchee, Wash.) hit a pair of free throws to put Pacific up 9-7 on the Pioneers with 4:49 left in the opening quarter. Gilbert extended the lead on the next possession with a 3-pointer to give the Boxers a five-point advantage.
The Pioneers cut the Boxer lead to three with 2:58 remaining, but Curl (Portland, Ore.) hit a 3-pointer at 2:41 before
Merrily Jones (Milwaukie, Ore.) scored on a layup at 1:38 to extend the lead to eight. A Lewis & Clark 3-pointer followed by a Curl layup sent the teams to the quarter break with Pacific up by seven points at 21-14.
Pacific's lead reached double figures less than two minutes into the second quarter on the back of a McHone (Glenns Ferry, Idaho) 3-pointer, but Lewis & Clark went on an 11-0 run to take a four-point lead inside the three-minute mark of the quarter. McHone, Jones and Gilbert notched the next seven points to give the Boxers a 35-34 lead at halftime.
Lewis & Clark returned from the locker room and pushed out to a six-point lead with 4:52 left in the third quarter. Curl made it 49-46 in Lewis & Clark's favor with a 3-pointer at 3:08, but the back-and-forth between the two sides in the final two minutes left Lewis & Clark with a 53-49 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Pioneers continued their strong second half play in the fourth quarter, reaching a 15-point advantage with 1:58 remaining in regulation. McHone and Curl scored the final eight points of the night for the Boxers, while Lewis & Clark finished the evening with a 78-66 win over Pacific.
Curl led all scorers with 30 points, while McHone notched 18 including 12 off of 3-pointers. Jones led Pacific with five rebounds on the night. McHone dished out a team-high four assists in addition to her scoring efforts.
With her double-digit performance, Curl has now scored in double figures in 25-straight games. Curl's streak got underway on January 22, 2016 against Lewis & Clark.
The Boxers next head north to Tacoma on Jan. 20, for a 6 p.m. scheduled tip-off against No. 19/18 Puget Sound.
