The third-place Pioneer women extended their winning streak to
seven on Saturday night as they defeated the Willamette Bearcats
with a score of 65-59. (Box Score)
The Pioneers opened the game with a 13-0 run and would keep
their lead throughout the entire game. It took Willamette nearly
ten minutes to score, when Vic Swigart hit a jumper with 10:08 on
the clock. The Pioneers' highest lead of the half came after a
jumper by Crystal Castle (senior, Rocklin, CA) and gave them a 16
point margin over the Bearcats. The Bearcats were able to cut the
lead down to 9 at the half off of a pair of free throws by Molly
Fillion and a 3-point shot by Jenny Fillion.
The Pioneers started the second half with a 10-2 run,
extending their lead to 17 after a layup by Christina Herring
(freshman, San Dimas, CA) with 14:20 left to play. The Bearcats
rallied to within 5 points at the 7:52 mark after Jenny Fillion hit
her sixth three-pointer of the night. The Pioneers led by 11 after
Heather Jones (freshman, Ceres, CA) sank a pair of free throws with
just 1:04 left on the clock. A pair of late three pointers from
Laura Payne and Alex Zennan would not be enough for the Bearcats
who ended the game on a 6-1 run.
Allison Farr (senior, Lakeport, CA) had a team high 18 points
for the Pioneers. Crystal Castle (senior, Rocklin, CA) ended the
game just one rebound short of a double-double with 14 points and 9
rebounds. Castle moved up to fourth on the Pioneer all-time scoring
list with 1,223 career points. She also moved up to fourth on the
all-time rebounding list with 598 career rebounds.
With the win the Pioneers improve to 14-9, 10-4 NWC . The
Willamette Bearcats fall to 5-18, 3-11 NWC.
In other important games in the NWC, the Whitman Missionaries
lost to Pacific Lutheran, giving the Pioneers' a two-game advantage
in the fight for third place. If the Pioneers hold on to
third place, they will earn a spot in the NWC Post Season
Tournament and will play on the road Wednesday, February 27, at 7pm
at the second-place team's location. The Conference tournament
final is Friday, February 29th at 7pm at the first-place team's
court.
The Pioneers close out the regular season at Puget Sound on
Friday, Feb. 22, and at Linfield on Saturday.
