SALEM, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College women's basketball rallied from 12 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but host Willamette University earned a 76-62 overtime win in both teams' 2024-25 Northwest Conference opener. 
 
THE BASICS
 
Willamette 76, Lewis & Clark 72 (OT) 
(Lewis & Clark 1-7, NWC 0-1) 
(Willamette 2-4, NWC 1-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Lewis & Clark opened the fourth quarter trailing 54-42 but outscored the hosts 23-11 in the final 10 minutes. The Pioneers took their first lead of the game after a Madilyn Palosi steal and layup with 32 seconds to play. With the Pioneers leading 64-62 with nine seconds left, the Bearcats seemingly won the game on a Gio Horner 3-pointer that hit the rim and backboard a combined six times, before falling with 0.7 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play, Lauryn Frederickson was held and she hit one of two free throws to push the game to overtime tied 65-65. 
 
Frederickson gave Lewis & Clark a pair of one-point leads early in OT, before Horner connected on another 3-pointer to give the hosts the lead for good (71-69). Willamette would hit five of their eight free throws down the stretch to clinch the win. 
 
Frederickson put together one of, if not the, best game of her collegiate career. She posted a game-high 27 points on 9-19 shooting and 9-11 shooting from the charity stripe. The sophomore added 16 rebounds to tie her season-high, including five offensive boards. Frederickson tacked on an assist and two steals in 36 minutes of action. 
 
Palosi finished second on the Pioneers with 14 points. She went 4-13 from distance and chipped in three rebounds, two assists and three steals. Madelyn Sanchez added nine points on 3-8 shooting from distance and four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. 
 
First year Kaitlen Carns posted eight points and five rebounds in her first collegiate conference game. Divinity Singleton chipped in seven points off the bench and Tatiana Rebanal led all players with a game-high eight assists in her return from an injury. 
 
Willamette jumped out to a 5-0 lead and pushed their advantage to 14-4 after just over five minutes of action. The hosts led 16-11 after the first quarter and extended their lead to 11 (38-29) at the break. 
 
The Bearcats grabbed their largest lead of the game, 45-30, with 6:09 to go in the third quarter. Lewis & Clark would answer with a 10-2 run to cut the lead to seven (47-40), only for the Bearcats to push it back to 14 late in the quarter. Frederickson started the Pioneers fourth quarter surge early with a layup to end the third quarter and make it a 54-42 game after three. 
 
Lewis & Clark outscored the Bearcats 23-11 in the final stanza and dominated every part of play. The Pioneers posted a 12-5 edge in bench points, 8-2 lead in points in the paint and 6-2 lead in points off turnovers and 5-1 advantage on second-chance points. Lewis & Clark shot 47.1 percent (8-17) in the quarter, while holding Willamette to 26.7 percent (4-15). 
 
Frederickson and Palosi (3-pointer) opened the quarter on a 5-0 run to shave the deficit to single-digits. After a Bearcats three, Lewis & Clark posted the next six points. Carns hit a layup, Sanchez drained a 3-pointer and Singleton knocked down a free throw to make it 57-53 with six minutes to play. 
 
The Pioneers still trailed by four with under two minutes to play. Palosi ended a Lewis & Clark scoring drought of nearly three minutes with a 3-pointer and then came up with a steal and a layup to make it 63-62 Pioneers with 32 seconds left. Frederickson added a steal of her own and hit a free throw to make it 64-62 with nine seconds left. Horner responded for the hosts but Frederickson tied the score to force overtime. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Lewis & Clark held a 28-22 lead in points in the paint, 8-3 edge in second-chance points and 23-21 advantage in bench points. 
• Frederickson finished just two points and two rebounds away from tying her career-high in both categories. She is averaging career-highs with 14.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. She leads the NWC in rebounding and is third in the conference in scoring average this season. 
• Rebanal's eight assists are a new career-high and the most by a Pioneer since Natalie Elstone recorded eight against Northwest Indian on January 9, 2024. Rebanal leads the team with 24 assists (3.24 per game). 
• DJ Kendrick posted five points and five rebounds in 32 minutes of play. 
• Lewis & Clark has outscored their opponents 156-128 in fourth quarters this season. The Pioneers have won the fourth quarter in four straight games and five of their eight contests thus far. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will have a long break over Finals Period before hosting UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, December 21 at 2 p.m.