FOREST GROVE – Pacific found it hard to score against an aggressive Linfield defense and the Wildcats made scoring easy with their up-tempo style of offense as the Wildcats rolled to a 73-37 win over the Boxers in Northwest Conference women's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
The resurgent Wildcats (8-5, 3-2 NWC) held Pacific to just 14 shots from the field on the night while shooting a respectable 44.3 percent (27-61) on the offensive end. The Wildcats did their most damage in the first half, hitting on 51.7 percent from the field and 5 of 12 from three-point range.
Gretchen Owens led Linfield with 22 points, connecting on 8 of 13 from the field and 4 of 6 from three-point range. Chrissy Baumgartner added 14 points and Kaely Maltman scored 13.
Kandice McArthur (Jr., Post Falls, Idaho) and Alissa Nergaard (Fr., Covington, Wash.) finished with six points apiece to lead the Boxers. Pacific shot 29.8 percent from the field (14-47) and hit just 2 of 15 from three-point range and 7 of 14 from the free throw line. The Boxers out-rebounded Linfield 37-33, led by nine by Paige Jensen (So., Bemidji, Minn.).
Pacific struggled from the start, hitting just two shots over the first eight minutes. That allowed Linfield to build a commanding 17-point lead, 20-3, on a Maltman lay-in at the 14:24 mark. The Boxers got up from their standing eight count, responding with an 18-10 run over the next four minutes that ended on Annette Highley's (Fr., Juneau, Alaska) three-pointer to come within nine, 27-18, with 8:29 to go.
Linfield bounced back to go on an 8-0 run of their own, extended the lead to 35-18 on a Baumgartner lay-in with 5:07 to go. The Boxers came back within 14 on a pair of Brittney Anderson (Jr., Missoula, Mont.) before charity shots by Baumgartner and Chandler Jones gave Linfield a 41-23 halftime lead.
The Wildcats slowed to shoot just 37.5 percent in the second half, but the Boxers could not capitalize as they hit just one shot from the field over the first 12 minutes, 23 seconds of the period. After Kristen Corrales (So., Waimanalo, Hawaii) hit a lay-in to opening the period, Linfield went on to score the next 23 points and built a 64-28 lead on a Maltman three-point play at the 8:27 mark.
The Boxers would come no closer than 33 points the rest of the way. The Wildcats kept pouring it on, building their biggest lead of 41 points, 73-32, on a three-pointer by Jones with two minutes left.
Pacific will look to rebound on Saturday as they face another tough test when Lewis & Clark comes to the Stoller Center. Game time is 6 p.m. Linfield returns home to host Puget Sound.