PORTLAND, Ore. – It was a defensive battle in the Northwest Conference opener between Pacific and Lewis & Clark, but the Boxers prevailed 65-59 despite shooting under 30% on Tuesday night.
Pacific particularly struggled in the first half, going just 7-of-30 from the floor. The conference's best three-point shooting team couldn't buy a basket from beyond the arc, hitting just six of their 30 attempts. The Boxers found a way, however, using some impressive defense and rebounding to get off to a solid start in NWC play.
Pacific out-rebounded the Pioneers 36-20 and limited mistakes down the stretch to pull out the victory on the road.
Top Performers
- Rilee Price registered a season-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, splashing three shots from the perimeter.
- Brilie Kovaloff was rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine boards on the night.
- Emily Holsan reached double-digits for the second time this season as she poured in 13 points while grabbing seven rebounds from the guard position.
- Alexis Intong tallied nine points and pulled down seven boards in just 18 minutes.
How It Happened
Pacific struggled to start the contest as the team went over three minutes without a field goal.
Alexis Intong finally ended the scoring drought with a layup and Price followed with a three-pointer to get the Boxers back on track. This sparked a 7-0 run to give Pacific its first lead of the game. However, a couple quick buckets from the hosts closed the gap nearly the end of the quarter. The two teams shot a combined 28% from the floor with 13 total turnovers in a sloppy first period that finished 10-10.
The Boxers continued to sputter on the offensive end, enduring another field goal drought of over three minutes to start the second quarter.
Danica Schmidt's layup finally injected some life into her team before Intong converted a three-point play to keep things close. Despite shooting just 7-of-30 (23.3%) from the field and 1-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half, Pacific held a 26-22 advantage in the low-scoring affair. Forest Grove's team used some tenacious defense to keep themselves in the game, holding the Pioneers to just 29.6% shooting.
Pacific found the shooting stroke in the third quarter Price nailed a trifecta to open the second half while Kovaloff and Holsan buried a couple triples of their own. Price hit three of her four shot attempts in the quarter to get herself into double figures to thrust her team into the lead, however, the Pioneers hung around and trailed by just five points heading into the final 10 minutes.
Lewis & Clark whittled the lead down to three points but
Madison Dunlop stepped up by finding the bottom of the net from deep to give the Boxers some breathing room. Pacific made its free throws (7-of-8) in the dying minutes to hold off the Pioneers and earn the 65-59 win.
Up Next
Pacific will continue its NWC slate on Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. when Linfield comes to Forest Grove.
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