TACOMA, Wash. – Pacific struggled to find any baskets that would fall for them Saturday night, allowing Puget Sound to ride a big first half en route to a 79-37 victory over the Boxers in Northwest Conference women's basketball action at Memorial Field House.
The Boxers (1-4, 0-2 NWC) made just nine field goals for the entire contest and finished shooting 19.6 percent from the field (9-46). The Puget Sound defense limited Pacific to just three made shots in the second half on 22 attempts, with two of the makes coming from three-point range.
The Loggers (5-1, 2-0 NWC), among those receiving votes in last week's D3Hoops.com Top-25 Poll, shot 54.5 percent from the field in the first half and finished at 46.9 percent (30-64) for the game. Puget Sound also went 7 of 16 from three-point range.
Kristen Corrales (So., Waimanalo, Hawaii) was the only Pacific player to score in double figures, connecting for 15 on 4 of 8 from the field and 3 of 4 from three-point range. Paige Jensen (So., Bemidji, Minn.) finished with a game-high eight rebounds as the Boxers won the battle on the glass 39-38. The Boxers were also forced into 29 turnovers.
Jocelyn Riordan led three Puget Sound players who scored double figures with 20 points on 8 of 11 from the field. Lindsay Layland added 14 points and Kelsey McGinnis finished with 13.
Puget Sound established the pace of the game early, bolting out to a 14-4 lead on Riordan's jumper at the 14:26 mark of the first half. Brittney Anderson's (Jr., Missoula, Mont.) make with 10:57 to go reduced the lead to 10, but the Boxers would not make another field goal for the next seven minutes. That allowed the Loggers to go on an 18-2 run, which ended on a Riordan jumper that put the Loggers up 38-12 with 4:33 left.
Kaley Adams (Fr., Seattle, Wash.) ended the Pacific drought with her jumper with 3:13 to go, and Corrales nailed a three-pointer with 11 seconds left to cut the Puget Sound lead to 24 points at halftime, 43-19.
Corrales opened scoring for Pacific in the second half with another trey 22 seconds into the period, but the make proved to be the Boxers' last make from the field for 10 minutes. The Loggers used the dry spell to their advantage, going up 61-23 on a pair of McKinnis free throws before Corrales found the net again from three-point range with 9:47 left in the second half. The Loggers outscored the Boxers 15-1 in the span.
Adams connected on what would be the Boxers' last field goal with 7:55 to go. Puget Sound would build their biggest lead of 46 points with 1:37 left.
Pacific will get little rest before returning to the non-conference schedule. The Boxers return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Salem to face NAIA foe Corban.