UPS Hands Northwest First Loss
KIRKLAND, Wash. - The University of Puget Sound defeated NU 70-45 Monday night in a non-conference contest in the Pavilion.
The Loggers jumped out to a 10-8 lead with 13:37 left in the first half and increased their lead to 21-10 by the 10:20 mark. With the score 23-12, the Eagles would go on a 5-0 run to close the gap to 6 points (23-17) with 7:32 remaining until intermission capped off by Kailee Oliver's jumper. UPS would go on a 5-0 run of their own to increase their lead to 11 once again (28-17) on Joycelyn Riordan 3-pointer with 5:36 remaining. Two free throws by the Loggers' Val Middleton would put UPS up by 15, 37-22 as the half ended.
In the second half, UPS would slowly pull away from NU and would lead by 20 points (61-41) with 5:59 to go in the game. The Loggers would out score the Eagles 9-2 the rest of the way to post their first victory of the season (1-0). For NU, it was their first loss giving them a 1-1 record in the young season.
Senior Jessica Wilkerson led NU with 11 points and 6 rebounds and Marielle McKean dropped in 10 points. McKenzie McKean added 9 points and 4 rebounds for the Eagles who shot 37% from 2-point FG range. NU only managed 12 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc going 1 for 8.
Claire Ely led UPS with 29 points and 8 rebounds while teammate Joycelyn Riordan scored 19 and Natasha Ludwig contributed 10 points and 8 rebounds. The Loggers had the edge in rebounding with a 40-37 margin. UPS managed to shoot 36% from 2-point range and 32% from the 3-point line.
Next up for the Eagles is a road trip to Linfield, Oregon to take on Linfield College of the Northwest League in another non-conference game on Nov. 20.