The Linfield women's basketball team opened its season with an 83-59 loss Monday night, falling to the Oregon Tech Owls of the NAIA in Klamath Falls.
 
The game opened with the two teams going back and forth through the first quarter, but Oregon Tech grabbed the lead and held it for the rest of the night on a pair of free throws with one minute and 26 seconds left to play in the first.
 
The Owls (4-0) opened their lead up to 11 early in the second, but the Wildcats (0-1) battled back to make it a two-point game on made free throws from freshman Emma Schmerbach. An 11-0 Oregon Tech run over the final four and a half minutes of the second quarter, however, gave the Owls a 13-point lead heading into halftime.
 
Oregon Tech cracked the game wide open in the third quarter, outscoring Linfield 25-10 in the period. The Owls' largest lead of the night was 33 points early in the fourth quarter.
 
The Owls outshot the 'Cats 47 percent to 36.4 percent from the field and 38.5 percent to 9.1 percent from three. They also outrebounded Linfield 43-34 and scored 26 points on 23 Wildcat turnovers. Linfield did force Oregon Tech into 16 turnovers of their own but could only score 10 points off the Owl's miscues.
 
The 'Cats were led by their two starting freshmen forwards playing in their collegiate debuts, Schmerbach and Gillyan Landis. Schmerbach finished the night with 15 points while making seven free throws on an impressive 10 trips to the line while Landis scored 13 points and hit all four of her free throw attempts. Schmerbach also added four rebounds and led the team in assists with two. Landis contributed a block and three steals on the defensive end.
 
Yet another freshman forward, Elyse Waldal led the 'Cats in rebounding with six to go with five points off the bench. Freshman guard Rowan Cusack was Linfield's third-leading scorer, adding nine points on 4 of 5 shooting in just 10 minutes off the bench.
 
The leading scorer in the game was Oregon Tech forward Shelby Blodgett, who scored 17 points off the bench. Starting forward Melissa Lee scored 14 of her own. Both led all players in rebounding with eight apiece.
 
The Owls evened up the all-time series between the two programs at 10 wins each, responding to the Wildcats' 89-75 victory in their last meeting on Nov. 10, 2019, in McMinnville.
 
NEXT
Linfield will look to improve with a four-game road trip to California to take on several Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponents, starting with a visit to the Redlands Bulldogs on Friday, Nov. 12. Games against Chapman, Occidental and Cal Tech will follow.
 
It's only the beginning of a road-heavy start to the schedule for the 'Cats, with their lone home game in the months of November and December falling on Dec. 4 against Lewis & Clark.