TACOMA, Wash. – A nationally-ranked battle in Memorial Fieldhouse on Thursday ended with 85-61 loss for the University of Puget Sound women's basketball team. The No. 18 Loggers (9-2, 2-0) played a tough first half but No. 9 UW-Stevens Point pulled away in the second half to come away with the victory.

"I think that some of our youth showed through a little bit tonight and we just have to fight through that," said head coach Loree Payne. "We have to keep getting experiences and take this game as it is, learn from it and move forward into conference play."

The Pointers (10-2) shot 57.8 percent from the floor to pace the victory, continually pounding the ball inside. The Loggers shot 51.9 percent in the first half to keep but didn't keep pace in the second half as the Pointers pulled away.

A basket by Sarah Stewart pulled the Loggers with in one point at 36-35 late in the first half, but the Pointers scored the last seven points of the half to take a 43-35 lead into halftime. Taylor Jones hit a pair of three-pointers on the Loggers first two possessions of the second half to pull them back within two points.

However, the Pointers responded with a run of their over the next four minutes to pull away. Ashley Avercamp sparked the run with a basket inside that pushed the lead to 45-41. The Pointers then caught fire with a 16-4 run over the next six minutes. That run stretched the lead to 16 points and the Pointers held a double digit lead the rest of the way.

Jocelyn Riordan finished with a game-high 21 points, including 13 points in the first half. Jones added 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three-point range.

Avercamp finished with 18 points while Britta Petersen finished with a team-high 20 points for the Pointers.

"We're going to break down the film, look at our defensive breakdowns and clean them up in practice," added Payne. "We have a week to prepare to head over across the state. We're going to go back to the fundamentals. That's going to be our key."

The Loggers get back into their NWC schedule next week when they travel to Whitman on Jan. 7 and Whitworth on Jan. 8.