PORTLAND, Ore. – Warner Pacific women's basketball moved back to .500 in the CCC standings after a 79-68 win over Multnomah University on Tuesday night.
The Lions spotted the Knights a 9-0 lead, then went toe-to-toe with their crosstown rivals in their best offensive performance of the season. Multnomah got on the board with a layup by Faith Kraatz at the 4:35 mark, and Tiara Chinn added a three-pointer to trim the Warner Pacific lead to four, but the Knights pulled away again and led 17-10 at the end of the first quarter. In the second period, the Lions twice cut their deficit to two points but could never completely catch up. A layup by Rachelle Tau made it 24-22 with 3:11 left, but the Knights closed out the period with a 10-3 run and led 34-25 at the break.
Warner built its largest lead of the game to 15 in the third quarter,
Kendyl Cone's three making it 53-38 with 2:15 left. Tau then hit two buckets and a free throw and Bethany George canned a three in an 8-2 Lions' run that brought the period to an end with the home team down 55-46. Wakefield's driving basket to open the fourth quarter cut the margin to seven, but the Knights answered with threes by
Emily Peters and
Shasta Lofgren to extend the gap to 13 at 61-48, and teams essentially swapped baskets for the remainder of the game.
Bailey Allen led Warner Pacific with 17 points, followed by
Deepika Kapil with 13, Cone and Peters with 12, and Lofgren and
Darbi Pink with 10 each. Kapil had eight rebounds as the Knights out-boarded the Lions 40-35.
Mady Hanna and
Katelyn Rossback had three assists each, while Allen and
Maryah Tipping picked up four steals apiece.
--- Notes: Multnomah wore pink uniforms on "Pink Out" night in honor of Isabel Bieri, the daughter of Lions' head coach Tim Bieri and his wife Sara, who passed away on Jan. 27 three years ago after only five days of life due to hydrocephalus. The Lions will also wear the pink uniforms at their next home games on Jan. 26-27 … Warner Pacific joined in by wearing pink trim on their road uniforms.
