TACOMA, Wash. – Coming back from being down six going into the fourth quarter, the Linfield Wildcats outscored the Loggers 22-7 in the fourth quarter to win at the Puget Sound Loggers for the first time 2011. Cassidy Schutz powered the Wildcats with 10 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Wildcats in the 66-57 win.
 
The win helped the Wildcats move to .500 in Northwest Conference play with a record of 2-2, while the Loggers are now 1-3. Overall this season, the Wildcats are 8-5, while the Loggers are 7-6.
 
Senior center Molly Danielson grabbed 20, which tied her career-high and also increased her career total to 700, becoming the all-time leading rebounder in Linfield women's basketball history. Danielson passed JoAnn Price on Saturday night, Price had 696 career rebounds, playing at Linfield from 1983-84 and 1986-87.
 
The Loggers had the early lead in this one, but the Wildcats were able to take the lead on a three-pointer by Danielson, which was just her second made three-point field goal of the season.
 
Brooke Landis checked into the game at the tail end of the first quarter and beat the buzzer with a layup to end the first quarter with a tie game at 18.
 
Cassidy Daugherty came into the game averaging 12.7 points per game, but she 14 points in the first half, including four three pointers to help the Loggers outscore the Wildcats 21-10 in the second quarter and take a 39-28 lead at halftime. The Wildcats restricted her to just five points in the second half.
 
The Wildcats were able to chop the Loggers' lead in the third quarter to just six at the end of the third quarter, trailing 50-44.
 
With two of their top scorers Molly Danielson and Kory Oleson struggling to score, shooting just 7 for 21 from the field combined, it was their fellow seniors Schutz and Hanna Bingham that made the big plays down the stretch and complete the comeback.
 
Fourth quarter was where senior captain Cassidy Schutz took over for Linfield, she scored 10 points in the quarter, including a three-pointer to give Linfield a 58-55 lead which it did not surrender the rest of the way. The 13 points for the senior guard from Ukiah, California are a season-high and just two shy of her career-best.
 
Hanna Bingham played just eight minutes on the night, but she first checked in with under a minute left in the third quarter and provided the Wildcats with a crucial hustle play at 8:15 mark in the fourth, stealing one pass, drawing a foul on the other end and hitting both free-throws. From that point in the game, the Wildcats outscored the Loggers 20-5.
 
Danielson grabbed her ninth double-double of the season with 11 points to go along with her 20 rebounds. Danielson is averaging 17.7 points per game which leads the NWC. She increased her career points total to 1,275, which is third most in program history.
 
Inserted into the starting lineup last weekend, Paige LaFountain has started all four NWC games this season, having her best game on Saturday with career-high eight points and three rebounds.
 
Delaney Ragan came off the bench once again, chipping in two three-pointers in the first half, she ended up with 11 points. The Wildcats had half of their points coming off the bench with Schutz's 13, Ragan's 11, Landis' 5 and two points each from Bingham and Maggie Smith.
 
Saturday night was the matchup of two of the best rebounders in the Northwest Conference with Puget Sound's Jamie Lange leading the NWC in rebounds and Linfield's Danielson right behind her. On Saturday, Lange had 14, while Danielson had 20. Lange still leads the way, averaging 13.1 rebounds per game and Danielson is right behind her with an average of 12.5.
 
UP NEXT
Linfield returns home for two games next weekend, taking on Lewis & Clark on Friday at 6 p.m. and Willamette on Saturday at 4 p.m.