McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Led by the 31 points of star Kennedy Brown, the Puget Sound Loggers overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to knock off the Linfield Wildcats 68-61 Saturday night inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
 
Eve Burke tallied 21 points in a losing effort for Linfield (7-6, 2-2 NWC) which suffered its second loss of the weekend.
 
Brown went 7 of 22 from the field, but six of her makes were from three-point range. The fourth-year junior from Tigard also sank 11 of 13 from the free throw line while adding five rebounds and five steals. Puget Sound (9-4, 3-1 NWC) recorded its sixth straight series win.
 
The game went all Linfield's way in the opening half. The Wildcats bolted to a 15-3 advantage in the opening six minutes, during which time the hosts hit five of their first six shots from the field and went a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range. The Loggers, meanwhile, converted just one of their first 11 shots.
 
Back-to-back three-pointers by Ella Koebelin and Janessa Yniguez pushed the Linfield lead to 14 points, 28-14, with 5:45 remaining in the second quarter.
 
A fast-break bucket by Gillyan Landis at the buzzer put Linfield comfortably in front, 41-23, at the intermission. Yniguez led the way with 10 first-half points, Landis had nine and Koebelin dropped in eight.
 
Puget Sound began the third quarter with an 13-0 run, capped by Brown's three-point play, three-point bomb plus two free throws at the 6:10 mark to trim the deficit to single digits, 41-36. The Loggers closed the stanza on a 9-2 run, drawing within a single basket. Paige Oh's buzzer-beating basket to end the quarter cut the margin to two points, 49-47.
 
Three consecutive baskets by the Loggers' Paige Gerhart during the first two minutes of the fourth period gave UPS its first lead of the contest.
 
Miki Vermeulen's layup with 2:03 left tied the game at 61, giving Linfield a chance to turn the tide in the home team's favor. But the Loggers' Katie Minnehan made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:20 left then followed moments later with a 10-foot jumper after a Wildcats turnover. With UPS leading 64-61, Burke's potential game-tying three-pointer from the coffin corner came up short. Brown added a free throw with less than 30 seconds left to seal the win.
 
Vermeulen was the game's leading rebounder with 10 caroms while adding nine points. Yniguez, Landis and Koebelin were all held without a point in the second half, thanks in large part to the Loggers' unrelenting full-court pressure. Koebelin racked up a game-high seven assists add added two steals.
 
AHEAD
Linfield remains at home for its next two NWC contests. Friday, the Wildcats shot the Whitman Blues starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, the 'Cats welcome Whitworth to Ted Wilson Gym.
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