TACOMA, Wash. - Freshman Jocelyn Riordan (Lake Forest Park,
Wash./Shorecrest) played like anything but a freshman as the Puget
Sound Loggers defeated the Pacific Boxers, 71-53, in a Northwest
Conference women's basketball tournament semifinal on Thursday
night at Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma, Wash.
The Loggers took the lead early in the contest but the upstart
Boxers didn't let them build too big of an advantage. Puget
Sound was able to push the lead into double-digits at the 8:48 mark
when Chelsi Shaw (Metaline Falls, Wash./Wenatchee Valley CC) hit a
three-pointer to give the Loggers a 26-15 lead. The lead grew
to 16 on a jumper by Karen Chase (Yakima, Wash./West Valley) with
just over two minutes left in the half but Pacific basket by
Christine Kim with 50 seconds to play cut the Logger halftime
advantage to 39-25.
In the second half, the Loggers just kept playing tough and the
Boxers couldn't find a way back into the game. The Puget
Sound lead grew to 20 points with 4:40 left to go when Shaw hit a
jumper in the paint and the Loggers cruised the rest of the way to
collect the 71-53 victory. With the win, the Loggers advance
to the NWC Tournament Final for the fourth consecutive year.
The Loggers were led by a career-high 31 points from Riordan,
who also added five rebounds in the win. Chase finished with
15 points while Claire Ely (Walnut Creek, Calif./Northgate) added
12 points. Shaw finished with 11 off the bench as the Loggers
shot 45.0% from the field.
The Boxers were led by 12 points from Rochelle Reeves and 10
points from Erica Schultz. Pacific turned the ball over 16
times, compared with just 10 for the Loggers.
Puget Sound will now travel down Newberg, Ore. on Saturday night
for the NWC Championship game against George Fox and the automatic
qualifier for the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball
Tournament. Tip-off with the Bruins is set for 7:00 p.m.
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