SALEM, Ore. – Linfield nearly made half of its shots, but Willamette was just a little better as the Wildcats fell 82-64 to the Bearcats Tuesday night at Cone Field House.
The Wildcats shot 49 percent on the night. They went 12 for 22 in the first half but the Bearcats piled on 45 points to go into the locker room with a 17-point lead. The Wildcats scored in double figures in every quarter, but the Bearcats wouldn't plateau and took 12 more shots from the free throw line to maintain the separation.
Eve Burke and
Janessa Yniguez scored 11 points apiece to lead Linfield on offense. Burke went 4 for 7 from the field and 2 for 3 from three-point range while adding three rebounds and two steals. Yniguez added three assists and a pair of steals.
Miki Vermeulen almost left the building with her first career double-double, dropping nine points and grabbing as many rebounds for a new season high. She also dished out three assists.
Elyse Waldal knocked down all three of her shots on the way to scoring nine points while
Jordan Worthington had eight points.
Willamette outscored Linfield 40-30 in the paint, 14 coming in the third quarter. Sami Riggs connected on 9 of 15, all inside the three-point line. She put up 19 points to go with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Megan River scored 18 points while Danielle Morgan (16) and Carolyn Ho (15) also finished in double figures. Morgan led the team with seven rebounds while River had four of the Bearcats' 13 steals.
NEXT
Linfield (8-12, 4-7 NWC) ends the week in Tacoma, going head-to-head with Pacific Lutheran with tipoff coming at 4 p.m. at Olson Gymnasium. The first meeting between the two teams ended in a 74-63 home victory for the Wildcats on Jan. 6.