TACOMA, Wash. – Coming off the bench for the first time in her career, freshman guard Delaney Ragan sparked the Linfield Wildcats with 14 points off the bench as the 'Cats defeated the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, 76-66 to pick up their first Northwest Conference win of the season.
 
Leading the way for the Wildcats along with Ragan were Kory Oleson and Molly Danielson, who both had double-doubles in this one as the Wildcats move to 1-2 in NWC play, while the Lutes fall to 0-3.
 
The Lutes had a 19-11 lead with just under two minutes left in the first quarter, but the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to close out the quarter including five straight points from Delaney Ragan to trail by just one after 10 minutes. This was the first time that the freshman guard from Portland, Oregon, came off the bench in her freshman season and Ragan provided the spark that the 'Cats needed at the end of the first quarter.
 
Pacific Lutheran was without its top rebounder, Madison Salisbury for much of the game as she was taken out towards the end of the first quarter and did not return.
 
It did not take long in the second quarter for Linfield to take its first lead of the game, when Molly Danielson was setup via a great pass from Cassidy Schutz as the 'Cats went on a 9-0 run to lead 20-19.
 
It was a back-and-forth first half for the two teams looking for their first conference win of 2020, Linfield took the 31-30 lead at the half on a last-second layup by Kory Oleson, who had 14 points through the first quarter.
 
One of the keys on defense for the Wildcats was to limit the number of offensive rebounds allowed as the Lutes came in leading the NWC in offensive rebounds at 17.3 per game, while the Wildcats gave up 15.7 per game. On Friday night, the Lutes were able to secure just eight rebounds.
 
Trailing 38-31 in the third quarter, Linfield used a big run once again that was sparked by a three-pointer by Ragan. Linfield went on 8-0 run topped by a three from Ragan to lead 39-38. Off the bench, Ragan provided 14 points, shooting 4 for 8 from the field and 2 for 3 from the three-point lead.
 
The Wildcats closed out the third quarter on 6-1 run to extend their lead to 51-45, which was the highest for the 'Cats. Through the first three quarters, there were 13 lead changes.
 
The Lutes went on a 11-2 run of their own in the fourth quarter to take the lead at 56-55. The Wildcats closed out the game on 10-4 to re-take the lead and went on to win 76-66.
 
Oleson led the way for the Wildcats with 24 points, she shot 11-19 from the field. Her 11 field goals made were a season high and just two shy of her career high. With her 24 points, she moved into a tie for the NWC leading in scoring with an average of 18.3 points per game with Danielson.
 
Danielson had 20 points and 14 rebounds on the night to grab her eighth double-double of the season, which is top-20 nationally. She is second in the NWC in rebounding with an average of 11.3 per game.
 
The top-two scorers in the Northwest Conference were on display as Pacific Lutheran's Katie Taylor returned to the court after the missing the last four games. Her and Linfield's Molly Danielson came into Friday leading the NWC in scoring with an average of 18.1 points per game. The Wildcats restricted Taylor to just nine points.
 
Junior transfer Shasta Lofgren made her first career start as a Wildcat, scoring four points. Spending the last two seasons at Warner Pacific and Lower Columbia College respectively, this was the 29^th start of her collegiate career.

Linfield had 26 points off the bench as Ragan had 14, Cassidy Schutz had six and Maggie Smith had four and Alexis Heald had two. Jordyn Feinauer also added a bucket in the second half.
 
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The Wildcats remain in Tacoma to take on the Puget Sound Loggers on Saturday at 4 p.m. before returning home next weekend.