Playing on their home court has served the Linfield Wildcats extremely well. The men's and women's basketball squads are a combined 7-1 in Northwest Conference games at Ted Wilson Gym this winter and are set to host pair of doubleheaders this weekend against the Puget Sound Loggers and the Pacific Lutheran Lutes.
 
Coming off their most satisfying win of the season last Saturday, the women face the Loggers on Friday at 6 p.m. and challenge the Lutes on Saturday at 4 p.m. The men, who have won two games in a row, take on the Loggers on Friday at 8 p.m. and battle the Lutes on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
YOUNG CATS CLUB
The Linfield Cheer and Stunt Team is hosting a special Young Cats Club clinic during Saturday's women's game. The collaboration will feature a special performance at halftime. All kids 17 and under will get free t-shirts and get a chance to get postgame autographs from the cheerleaders. Kids and accompanying parents are asked to arrive by 3:45 and will be admitted free of charge.
 
BIGGER THAN BUCKETS' NIGHT
All four games during the weekend will be Bigger Than Buckets' Night. The Linfield Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be running a 50/50 raffle during the games and mini contests during halftime of each game. All proceeds go toward a one-year scholarship for a student in the village of Mituhatsu, Kenya.  
 
COVERAGE
The Linfield Sports Network is providing wall-to-wall coverage of all four games with Graeme Fineman and Joe Stuart on the call.
 
BOUNCE BACK WEEKEND FOR THE MEN
Coming off two road losses the prior weekend, the Linfield men took care of business against two teams that are outside the top-four in the Northwest Conference standings. The Wildcats defeated the George Fox Bruins 91-87 on the road on Friday night, and downed the Pacific Boxers 116-87 at home on Saturday night.
 
Several records were shattered in Saturday night's win against the Boxers. As a team, the Wildcats scored the most points in a conference game since 2003. Individually, guard Tanner Autencio produced nine steals, the most by a Wildcat in a single game in program history.
Autencio came within one steal of recording a triple-double. Linfield stands at 14-5 overall and 8-2 in conference play, which is third in the standings and three games up on Pacific Lutheran.
 
The Wildcats are shooting 51.2 percent on the season, which leads the NWC and is third nationally. Linfield's season average of 89.3 points per game ranks third in the conference and 11^th across all Division III schools. A big reason for the stellar efficiency of the Linfield offense is its ability to make the extra pass to set up a high-percentage shot. The Wildcats' average of 19.5 assists per game leads the NWC and third in the nation.
 
Autencio has been a leading force for the Wildcats' great assists numbers. The McMinnville, Oregon, native is averaging 4.5 assists per game, tops in the Northwest Conference. Dempsey Roggenbuck has been a primary beneficiary of Autencio's passes, scoring 17.7 points per game, which is fifth in the conference. Senior center Austin Hilton is among the top rebounders in the conference, averaging 6.2 per game, which is ninth.
 
The Wildcats are a perfect 4-0 in conference games played at Ted Wilson Gym this winter and are 9-3 over the past two seasons under seventh-year coach Shanan Rosenberg.
 
UPSET WEEKEND FOR THE WOMEN
The Linfield women were tasked with playing the top three teams in the NWC in succession, falling to nationally ranked Whitman on Jan. 25 before facing nationally ranked George Fox and NWC-leading Pacific this past weekend. The Wildcats had the Bruins on upset alert on Friday night but fell 62-50 in Newberg. Saturday, the Wildcats outscored the Boxers 23-13 in the fourth quarter to secure a 61-56 home court win, thanks in large part to the late-game heroics of Brooke Landis and Kory Oleson.
 
Injuries forced the Wildcats to start four guards in Saturday's game. Landis scored nine-straight points with the Wildcats trailing late in the fourth quarter to lead her team to victory. Oleson tallied 20 of her 24 points in the second half.
 
Linfield resides in the top-three in the conference in multiple statistical categories, including scoring offense (69.4), field-goal percentage (42.0 percent), assists per game (13.6) and blocks per game (3.2).
 
Oleson is the NWC's leading scorer, averaging 17.8 points per game, nearly two points ahead of the second-place scorer in the conference. Her rebounding average of 6.3 rebounds per game is ninth in the conference and she ranks second in the conference with 1.2 blocks per game. Guards Cassidy Schutz and Paige LaFountain are among the top passers in the conference, averaging 2.7 and 2.6 assists per game to rank ninth and 10th, respectively.
 
The Wildcats are 11-8 overall and 5-5 in NWC play and share fourth place in the standings with Willamette. Fifth-year coach Casey Bunn-Wilson's platoon holds a 4-2 record this season against its six remaining opponents.
 
CHOPPING THE LOGGERS
The Puget Sound men are 9-10 overall and 3-7 in conference play. The Loggers have dropped five of its last seven contests. Puget Sound holds opposing teams to an average of 78.6 points per game, the third-lowest total in the conference. On Friday, the Loggers face a Linfield offense which averages 89.3 points per game, third-best in the NWC.
 
Stellan Roberts is the player the Wildcats will have circled in their game plan. Roberts is second in the NWC in scoring with an average of 19.8 points per game. Another player to watch for the Loggers is Cal Hansen, whose 58.7 percent field goal percentage leads the NWC.
 
In the season's initial meeting, the Wildcats got 25 points from Roggenbuck on the way to an 86-76 win, earning their first victory at Memorial Fieldhouse since 2013. The Loggers have won seven of the last 11 matchups against the 'Cats, though Linfield has prevailed in four of the last seven.
 
The Puget Sound women were receiving votes in the D3Hoops.com poll when the Wildcats played them in Tacoma earlier this season, but the Loggers fell 66-57 to the Wildcats on January 11 for their first win in Tacoma since 2011. Schutz generated 10 fourth-quarter points to carry the 'Cats. From that point, the Loggers went on to lose four of their next six games and stand at 9-10 overall and 3-7 in conference play.
 
Guarding the three-point line is expected to be a key for the Wildcats. The Loggers attempt the most three-pointers of any team in the conference, averaging 21.9 per game. They also convert the second-most deep balls in the conference with an average of 6.8 three-pointers made per game. The Loggers are the NWC's rebounding team, averaging 44.2 boards per game.
 
The main reason for the top rebounding numbers for the Loggers is fifth-year senior Jamie Lange, who recently became just the third player in Northwest Conference history to grab 1,000 career rebounds. Her average of 12.5 rebounds per game this season leads the Northwest Conference and she is sixth in points per game, hitting for a 14.6 average. Guard Mara Henderson leads the team in assists with an average of 3.1 per game, ranking eighth in the conference.
 
Prior to their milestone win earlier this season in Tacoma, the Wildcats had dropped six of their previous eight matchups against the Loggers.
 
PIVOTAL GAMES AGAINST THE LUTES
The Pacific Lutheran men are 9-10 overall and 5-5 in conference play. The Lutes sit in fourth place in the NWC, three games back of Linfield, which is third. A win over the Lutes Saturday night, could secure a top-three seed for Linfield in the NWC Tournament.
 
The Lutes dropped two games to Whitman and Whitworth this past weekend, snapping a five-game winning streak. Through 10 games, only three teams have defeated PLU this season: Linfield (once), Whitman (twice) and Whitworth (twice).
 
The Lutes limit opposing offenses to 42.6 percent shooting from the field. That stands in contrast to the Wildcats' current success rate of 51.2 percent. The Lutes commit the second-fewest turnovers in the conference, averaging 14.0 turnovers per game.
 
Leighton Kingma and Jordan Thomas are both shooting over 50 percent this season, with Kingma shooting 57.8 percent and Thomas shooting 53.4 percent. Kingma is eighth in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game and sixth in the rebounding with an average of 6.8 rebounds per game. Thomas is eighth in rebounds, averaging 6.4 caroms per game. Thomas is also one of the NWC's smoothest passers, averaging 3.5 assists per game, third-best in the league.
 
The Wildcats won the first meeting of the season, 68-54, and have won the previous six matchups against the Lutes.
 
The Pacific Lutheran women are chasing the Linfield women for the final spot in the Northwest Conference Tournament. The Lutes are 9-10 overall and 4-6 in NWC play. They sit in sixth place in the NWC, just one game back of the Wildcats, who are currently tied for fourth place.
 
The PLU defense forces 10.1 steals per game, which ranks second in the conference. Linfield, on the other hand, commits 14.3 turnovers per game. Three-pointers may be scarce on Saturday as the Lutes allow opponents a 27.2 three-point field goal percentage, which is third in the conference. The Wildcats lead the NWC with a 26.2 opponent three-point field goal percentage.
 
Katie Taylor and Emma Janousek are the top scorers for Pacific Lutheran, averaging 14.0 and 13.4 points per game, respectively. Both are among the top-10 in scoring. Madison Salisbury is the player the Wildcats must guard around the glass. She averages 7.8 rebounds per game, which is fifth in the conference. Janousek leads the NWC in assists per game with an average of 4.8 per game.
 
Behind 24 points and 11 rebounds from Oleson, the Wildcats picked up their first conference win of the season January 10 against the Lutes in Tacoma. Janousek totaled 23 points and six steals for the Lutes. Linfield is 7-2 in the last nine encounters with Pacific Lutheran.