THE RECORDS
Having won five of its last six, Linfield (16-3, 7-3 NWC) sits alone in second place of the NWC standings. With two big wins last weekend against George Fox and Pacific, the Wildcats control their fate in the conference standings and look to make a late season push to secure a spot in the NWC postseason tournament. Puget Sound (13-13, 9-7 NWC) at fourth place in the conference is battling for a spot in the conference tournament and can make up a lot of ground this weekend with games against Linfield and Pacific. Pacific Lutheran (7-12, 4-6 NWC) is in the middle of a four-way tie for fifth place and is hungry to end the season on a run to push themselves into conference title contention.
LINFIELD AT A GLANCE
At 16 wins, the Wildcats are approaching their most wins in a season in program history. 16 is the most since the 1999-2000 season and 20 would break the record set in the 1979-1980 season where the 'Cats won 19 games. With a scoring margin of 11.5, Linfield looks to balloon the win total over the final six games of the season and play for a conference championship.
Gillyan Landis ranks inside the top 10 in the NWC in scoring, averaging 12 points and recently eclipsing 1,000 career points. She is one of five Linfield players to average double digit points with
Eve Burke,
Amelia Solt,
Miki Vermeulen and
Allie Mead each tallying over 10 points per contest. Vermeulen remains as the Wildcats' top rebounder at 6.7 per game and
Allie Mead approaches 80 total assists on the season, a feat not accomplished by a Linfield player since 2019.
PUGET SOUND AT A GLANCE
The Loggers pride themselves on a tenacious defense that forces 16.5 turnovers and gets 7.9 steals per game. The offense scores 62.4 points and makes 41.2% of its field goals while opponents are shooting just 38.8% from the field. Carmen Cruz is the lone Logger in double figures offensively at 10.6 points while Addison Reardon and Paige Oh add 9.2 and 8.1 points respectively. Anchoring the paint, Autumn Hill grabs 5.9 rebounds and blocks 1.4 shots. Reardon is the sharpshooter for Puget Sound, netting 39.2% of her attempts from three-point range. Oh is the facilitator of the offense as she puts up 1.7 assists per game and has started 17 of 19 games this season at the point guard position.
PACIFIC LUTHERAN AT A GLANCE
After losing two straight, the Lutes are eager to get back on track with a Friday game at George Fox before visiting Ted Wilson Gymnasium on Saturday night. At fifth place in the conference standings, Pacific Lutheran has no room for error as the end of the season approaches and the NWC standings tighten. The Lutes average 13 offensive rebounds per game, second in the conference and put up 18 second chance points over their past two games. Offensively, Sydney Reisner leads the way with 11.8 points while Brooke Samura adds 8.4 in her impressive freshman campaign. Stacie Spahr leads the rebound category, pulling down 6.8 per contest, good for fifth place in the Northwest Conference. Kasidy Javernick captains the defense with 28 total steals and adds three blocks.
SERIES HISTORY
Linfield has ground to make up in the all-time series against Puget Sound, trailing 44-11. The Wildcats have lost eight straight to the Loggers and look for their first home win since 2019.
The Wildcats trail the Lutes 51-30 all-time but won the matchup earlier this season in Tacoma. Linfield trails 23-15 when playing in Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Linfield Sports Network will provide live streaming options for both games this weekend with
Joe Stuart on the call 15 minutes before tipoff.
