Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. -- The early second half was a pivotal moment in the Lewis & Clark Pioneers 67-60 loss to the Willamette Bearcats on Tuesday night. In the game that marked the beginning of the Northwest Conference season's second half, Willamette made eight of its first nine shots after halftime to swing the game.
Lewis & Clark's leading scorers on the season, Delsie Johnson and Hannah Martin, were limited to 13 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble and didn't score. Coco Shafer scored a career-high nine points, seven of which were in the first half. Jessica Cerne also had nine first-half points.
Martin scored 12 and Johnson had 11 in the second half. The Pios outscored Willamette 20-15 in the fourth quarter.
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Key Moments
Trailing by 10 early in the second quarter, Lewis & Clark chipped away at the Willamette lead. Laurel Marchant buried a 3-pointer from the corner to end an 0 for 10 start for the Pioneers from deep. Logan Kelly took a steal all the way for a layup before Cerne nailed a three to bring the Pios within one possession, 26-23, with 2:37 left in the half. Back-to-back scores by Shafer evened the game a minute later. Willamette led 31-27 at halftime.
Willamette scored 11 of the first 13 points in the second half and eventually pushed the edge to 13 with 7:20 remaining in the game. Ava Kitchin had 12 of her game-high 16 points in the second half.
With 43 second remaining in the game, Johnson scored to bring the Pios within six, a margin they'd reach again with 19 seconds remaining. Lewis & Clark didn't score again.
Deeper Look
- While her streak of three straight games with multiple 3-pointers ended on Tuesday, Peyton Romo finished with a career-high five assists to go with nine points and nine rebounds
- Her rebound total was one shy of her career best
- The Pioneers had a 12-4 edge in second-chance points thanks, in part, to Shafer's career-best four offensive rebounds
- Lewis & Clark's 5 for 22 performance from three was its lowest percentage in its last 10 games
- Julia Barsocchini and Gabby Beltran each had a career-best four assists, and Beltran hit the second 3-pointer of her career, one of five Pios to hit from deep
- Sami Riggs, the NWC leader in 3-point percentage, had her worst shooting performance from deep (1 for 4) since Nov. 22 when she went 0 for 5 against Cal Lutheran; Riggs still finished with 14 points and four steals
- Willamette (11-7, 5-4 NWC) outshot the Pios 69 to 29 percent in the third quarter
Looking Ahead
The Pioneers (2-15, 1-8 NWC) head to Forest Grove on Friday to play Pacific at 6 p.m.