FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – December 14th, 2024
McMinnville, Ore.| The Warner Pacific Knights took on NCAA Division Three, Linfield University tonight and just didn't have enough fire power to stay with the now 8-0 Wildcats. The Knights lost by a final of 75-38.
The game started with Alex Saunders doing it all accounting for the first bucket of the game followed by a steal and an offensive rebound helping the Knights to come out with solid energy. Amalya Sales started the game off hot in the first quarter accounting for 11 of the Knights first 16 points which included three shots from distance. The Knights ended the first quarter all knotted up with the Wildcats at 16 apiece.
The second quarter had some mistakes with both teams turning the ball over a few times. About halfway through the quarter, Linfield started to figure some stuff out getting in the passing lanes and got some easy fast break baskets. They started to build a gap between them and the Knights with a 12-point lead going in to the intermission.
Right out of the break, the Knights had turnovers on three of their first four possessions resulting in a timeout only a minute into the half. After a couple of threes in transition by the Wildcats, Knights head coach, Jimmy Smith, called another timeout to try and stop the bleeding with Linfield having built a 22-point lead. The rest of the quarter didn't improve for the Knights who were only able to earn five points compared to 25 for the Wildcats.
The fourth quarter saw some different players in the game with both the Knights and Linfield subbing in their bench. Emily Fortin had a solid quarter with a couple of threes. The game ended with the Knights falling by a final score of 75-38.
"We started out well in the first quarter," Jimmy Smith said. "It's now about finding some consistency and building forward."
The Knights were led in scoring tonight by Sales with her 11-point first quarter output followed by Saunders and Fortin who both had eight on the night. Skylar Groesbeck had 6 and Blake Barbee had 5 to round out the scoring for the Knights.
Next Up
The Knights will have an exhibition on Monday evening in Cheney, Washington against NCAA Division One, Eastern Washington at 6pm. Then, they will finish out 2025 with games against Evergreen on the 20th and Northwest on the 21st.
