EUGENE, Ore. – Senior Lindsey Shearer and picked up right where she left off after her record-setting junior season, guiding the Beacons to a 92-46 victory over Walla Walla University in the season opener on Friday afternoon. Shearer scored a game-high 15 points, adding seven steals.
After jumping out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, the NCU victory was never in doubt, building a 24-point lead at the intermission, 45-21. Shearer had eleven of her game-high 15 in the first half as the Beacons shot 47% from the field.
NCU (1-0) finished the night shooting 45.8% percent while forcing the Wolves into 37 turnovers. The Beacons collected 27 total steals in the game, the most recorded by a Northwest Christian University team since 2007 when they set the school record with 38 against Walla Walla.
Katie Collins started her senior season off on a strong note, scoring 13 points and Andrea Gloss made her NCU debut with ten points. Kelsey Atkins just missed a double-double, scoring nine points with five steals, four assists, and a career-high eleven rebounds. Haley VandenHazel opened her career with five points and ten rebounds while Sami Pitts scored eight and Makenzie Endresen added nine points and five steals in their first games as Beacons.
Walla Walla (0-1) was led by Johanna Uribe, scoring eleven points. Giselle Schmitz added eight points and six rebounds while Nicolette Neel led the team with seven boards.
After the earliest played game in school history, NCU is now idle until November 2 when they open up the Southern Oregon University tournament against New Hope Christian College. The Beacons will first play their annual alumni game on October 27th at 11:00 am.