PORTLAND, Ore. -- Scoring 17 points before halftime, Miyah Leith and the Lewis & Clark Pioneers held a 47-43 lead in the third quarter before New Hope Christian pieced together a comeback in the fourth period, as the Pios lost 64-59 on Friday night at Pamplin Sports Center.
The game was the first of the season for Lewis & Clark and the second for New Hope Christian, which had also played two exhibitions against Alaska Anchorage.
This is the first season NCAA women's basketball is playing four, 10-minute quarters instead of 20-minute halves.
Leith finished with a double-double, the first of her career, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, both game-highs. Kelley Koeppen (pictured below right) made her second career start and scored 11 points, nine of which came in the second half. She finished with five rebounds.
"I am really proud of the heart and effort we showed tonight," said Lewis & Clark head coach Asha Jordan. "We did some great things defensively which sparked much of our offense.
"What I know about this team is that we're going to continue to fight, and I'm pumped we get another chance to get better on Saturday."
With Lewis & Clark trailing 26-24 in the second quarter, Leith made back-to-back threes to move the Pioneers ahead by four. Deja Nicholas added a basket and the Pios led 32-26, but New Hope Christian scored the final four points of the quarter to lessen Lewis & Clark's halftime edge to two.
New Hope Christian took its largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter 55-49, before a pair of Leith free throws and layups by Koeppen and Nicholas evened the game at 55 apiece. Logan momentarily put the Deacons back up by two before Nicholas took the ball the length of the floor to even the game at 57-57.
After a Logan jump shot moved New Hope Christian ahead by two, Leith scored with 35 seconds remaining in the game to tie it once more at 59-59. Lewis & Clark then called a timeout, but the Pioneers didn't have any remaining, prompting a technical foul and Logan made both free throws. Lewis & Clark couldn't score again, and New Hope Christian closed out the game.
In their Pios debuts, Nicholas, a transfer junior, scored six points off the bench, while freshman Sara Hogman had five points. Nicholas and Hogman had six and five rebounds, respectively.
Lewis & Clark shot nearly 36 percent from the field and hit on 5 of 15 from 3-point range, including a 4 of 6 performance in the first half. The Pioneers outscored the visiting Deacons in points off turnovers, 21-15, despite committing nine more than New Hope Christian, 25-16.
Logan had a team-high 21 points for New Hope Christian.
Lewis & Clark looks to bounce back against Cal Lutheran on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Other Northwest Conference Scores - Friday
George Fox 71, Cal Lutheran 69
Linfield 87, Multnomah Bible 67