TACOMA, Wash. – For the second time this season the Whitworth Pirates struggled to withstand Puget Sound's full court press as the Loggers rolled to an 84-45 victory in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game on Friday night at Memorial Fieldhouse.
UPS scored 25 points off of Whitworth turnovers to improve to 6-12 overall and 5-4 in the NWC, including a 92-75 win in Spokane on January 4th. The Pirates dropped to 6-12, 3-6 after suffering their fifth straight setback.
Puget Sound took a 22-13 lead after the first quarter, leading by double figures as early as 19-9. The Loggers made 43.8% of their shots in the opening period and held the Pirates to 1 of 7 from three-point range. They also had a 14-5 edge on the boards.
UPS broke away by scoring the first ten points of the second quarter. Claire Thompson scored the first four points of the run and Autumn Hill's layup made it 32-13 less than three minutes into the period. Whitworth finally settled down and cut the margin to 38-25 at halftime.
The Pirates were able to get within 40-28 early in the third quarter on Ashlyn Peterson's three-pointer, but would get no closer. The Loggers put the game away by outscoring the Bucs 24-4 the rest of the way in the third, leading 62-32 heading to the final period.
Puget Sound put the finishing touches on the run away by outscoring Whitworth 10-2 to start the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 72-34.
Alex Goetz led the Pirates with 11 points, while Peterson added ten. Even when Whitworth did not turn over the ball, the Bucs ended up taking some shots too quickly and finished 15 of 58 (26%) from the field and 5 of 24 (21%) from three-point range.
Four players scored in double figures for the Loggers, led by Thompson's 14 points. Carmen Cruz added 13 while Eisenman had 11 and Addison Reardon had 10. UPS made 32 of 57 (56.1%) from the floor and 5-10 (50%) from beyond the arc. The Loggers also had a 43-26 advantage in rebounding.
Whitworth will try to break out of the current skid on Saturday with a game at Pacific Lutheran.