PORTLAND, Ore. – Linfield made multiple clutch plays and erased a double-digit deficit to defeat Warner Pacific 80-70 at C.C. Perry Gymnasium on Saturday evening.
Ella Koebelin was one of three Wildcats to finish in double figures and finished with a new career-high 23 points.
Eve Burke tied a career-high with 15 points while
Allison Mead scored 11 and
Janessa Yniguez added nine. The Wildcats shot 43 percent on 64 shot attempts. Linfield went 1-11 in the first half from behind the arc but went 8-20 the rest of the way.
Emily Brown paced the scoring for Warner Pacific, finishing with a team-high 15 points and leading four Knights double-digit scorers. The Knights shot 40 percent on 60 shot attempts and only made four of 20 three-point shots.
Warner Pacific grabbed a 21-13 lead following the end of the first quarter. The Knights were fueled by an over 50 percent shooting first quarter. The Wildcats held the Knights to only seven points in the second quarter but Warner Pacific still held a 28-22 halftime lead. Warner Pacific's McKeeley Tonkin led all scorers with 10 points while
Amelia Solt and Koebelin each had five for Linfield.
The Wildcats pulled within three on multiple occasions in the third quarter but couldn't pull even until late in the final period. The 'Cats had a look to win after Burke's late free throw tied the game at 50 in the final seconds. The last-second attempt was no good as the game went into overtime.
Overtime continued to be back and forth with the biggest lead being four. Koebelin sent the game into double overtime after netting a three at the buzzer tying the game at 64. The Wildcats' largest lead came in the second overtime where they pulled ahead by 10 and put the finishing touches on a hard-fought victory to extend their winning streak to four games in a row.
COMING UP
The Wildcats (5-3, 2-0 NWC) look for their fifth straight win when they travel to Western Oregon on Monday at 5 p.m.