THE RECORDS
Since the historic win at Whitman, Linfield (7-14, 4-8 NWC) has struggled to rediscover its identity and lost four-straight games. The Wildcats came close to ending the streak Saturday night against Pacific Lutheran, but the Lutes found one final push to retake the lead late in the game and held on for the win. With the loss, the Wildcats sit at eighth place in the Northwest Conference standings. This weekend, Linfield travels to Salem for a matchup with Willamette (8-12, 2-10 NWC) in Cone Field House before traveling to Portland for a game against Lewis & Clark (11-10, 7-5NWC) in Pamplin Sports Center.
 
LINFIELD AT A GLANCE
The Wildcats' offense relies heavily on sharing the ball. They rank fourth in the conference with 14.8 assists and average 75 points. Josh Ryan is the lead distributor at 2.1 assists and Cade Collins leads the offensive charge with 13.1 points. Coming off of career highs in points (17), rebounds (12) and free throws made (9) against Pacific Lutheran, senior Cayden Lowenbach has ballooned his rebounding average to 4.1 to lead the team and looks to close his Linfield career on a high note. Dayton Magaña and Garrett Callsen contribute offensively with 8.5 and 8.1 points respectively. With just four games remaining, Linfield's chance to make a late season push comes down to the next two weekends.
 
WILLAMETTE AT A GLANCE
After losing their first eight conference games, the Bearcats have impressed over their past four, going 2-2 in that stretch, including a 111-point explosion against George Fox. Willamette's 77.1 points rank fourth in the conference and limit opponents to just 42.9% field goal percentage. Josiah Frank leads the team's scoring efforts with 14.6 points, good for seventh in the conference. Kai Brown adds 12.3 while D'Ante Dean and Ryder Hsiung put up 11.2 and 10.3 respectively. Sophomore Caleb Moore dishes out 3.1 assists and the team averages 14.7 per contest. Willamette looks to turn its season around down the stretch and has a chance to do so when it welcomes Linfield to Cone Field House on Friday night.
 
LEWIS & CLARK AT A GLANCE
The Pioneers feature a suffocating defense that allows just 63.8 points, ranking first in the conference by a wide margin of nearly five points. Sam Henderson is lone Pioneer with double digit scoring at 10.4 per game and Sebastian DePrez leads the team's rebounding at 5.4. Nate Berg holds down paint, totaling 18 blocks on the season while Griffin Datcher IV is the lead distributor with 29 assists and the Pioneers average 12.1 as a team. Their 7.9 scoring margin has them tied for second place in the NWC standings and looking to move closer to a spot in the conference tournament with two wins this weekend.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Linfield has a chance to pull within one game of the all-time series against Willamette on Friday night as the Wildcats trail 59-57. Linfield has won the two previous meetings and holds a 26-32 record in Cone Field House.
 
Against Lewis & Clark, Linfield has some work to do in the all-time series, trailing 64-52 after three straight losses to the Pioneers. The Wildcats' last win in Pamplin Sports Center came in 2022 on a game-winning three point shot.