PORTLAND, Ore. – Lewis & Clark College women's basketball hosted No. 20 Whitman College on Saturday afternoon in Pamplin Sports Center and played a solid first half against the defending Northwest Conference Tournament Champions, but the Blues were too much in the final twenty minutes and held the Pioneers to their lowest point total of the season with the 86-41 victory.
 
THE BASICS
 
#20 Whitman 86, Lewis & Clark 41
(Lewis & Clark 1-10, 0-4 NWC)
(Whitman 11-2, 3-1 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Senior Jamison Richards and freshman Lauryn Frederickson scored 29 of the Pioneer's 41 points against the Blues. Richards finished 4-for-8 from beyond the arc, hit both of their free throws and added three assists to lead the Pioneers with 18 points. Frederickson finished with 11 points, five boards, three assists and three steals.
 
Senior Karli Mukai (five points), sophomores Madelyn Sanchez (three points) and Emily Newton (two points), and freshman Kaela Guidry (two points) rounded out the scoring for the Pioneers.
 
Whitman jumped out to a 10-2 lead less than four minutes into the game, but Richards hit their first three of the night and made both free throws two plays later to pull Lewis & Clark within 12-7. Mukai hit her only three-pointer of the night with 4:11 left in the first to keep the deficit in single digits, 17-10. The Blues held a 23-13 lead after the first quarter.
 
The Pioneers were able not to allow the game to get away with them in the second quarter as they pulled within nine points three separate times. Sanchez hit a long ball from straight away to make it 28-19 with 6:01 left. Richards then hit a jumper for their 10^th point of the game, making it 30-21 right before the second-quarter media timeout. The senior guard then found Frederickson late in the quarter for a 32-23 score with less than a minute before halftime.
 
Whitman hit the gas in the third quarter and extended their lead out to 30 points by shooting 60% (3-5) from three-point range and hitting nine of 11 free throws. The Blues took their largest lead of the night (84-35) with just under two minutes left in the game. Three-pointers by Richards and Frederickson in the final 36 seconds pushed the Pioneers over the 40-point threshold.
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Senior Natalie Elstone joined Frederickson, Guidry, and freshman Divinity Singleton with a team-high five rebounds in the game.
• Frederickson was held below 10 rebounds in a game for the first time this season against NWC opponents. The freshman had 12 against George Fox and Linfield while recording 10 boards versus Whitworth last night.
• Richards' 18 points is a season-high for the senior and the second most points scored by a Pioneer this season. They are leading the team with 10.2 points per game and have recorded 11+ points in six of the team's ten contests.

WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark has a quick turnaround for a rare non-conference game in January when they host Northwest Indian College on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two squads.