Box Score SANTA CRUZ, Calif.—The University of Puget Sound women's basketball squad suffered its first defeat of the season Sunday, falling to host UC Santa Cruz on the final day of the Hampton Inn Classic held at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif.
An early run by the Banana Slugs put the Loggers behind quickly. Ashley Agcaoili scored the contest's first points with a layup a minute and a half in, but Santa Cruz responded with 17 of the next 21 points, taking a double-digit lead with under 12 minutes left in the first half.
The Loggers trimmed their deficit to five over the next there minutes. Allie Wyszynski made two field goals, Olivia Roberts netted two free throws, and Katy Ainslie scored a jumper between 11:45 and 9:36 to narrow the score to 19-14 in favor of the home team.
During the rest of the first half, however, Puget Sound scored just six points. The Banana Slugs went on a 19-6 run in the final 7:37 of the first to take a 38-10 lead into halftime. The Loggers shot 25.8% from the field in the first period, missing all six of their three point attempts. UC Santa Cruz, on the other hand, tallied a 43.3 shooting percentage and made four of their six three-point attempts. Two Banana Slugs scored in double digits in the first half as Leah Parrish tallied 11 points and Sarah Mackey put up 10 to begin the game.
The teams essentially traded points for most of the second half. Whenever the Loggers would trim the lead to 15 or 14, the Banana Slugs would extend it back out, taking a 20 point at a point with five and a half minutes left in the contest.
From that point, the Loggers buckled down to trim the margin. Emily Sheldon scored eight of her 11 points in the final 3:35, sparking the Loggers to a 12-4 run to end the contest. Their play in the final minutes trimmed the deficit to ten as the Loggers fell 66-56 to UC Santa Cruz.
Wyszynski led the Loggers with 13 points in 23 minutes off the bench while Ainslie led the team with seven rebounds. Puget Sound shot 36.1% from the field over the entire contest, but only 16.7% from beyond the arc, making two three-pointers on 12 attempts. The Loggers tallied 20 personal fouls in the game, sending UC Santa Cruz to the line 27 times. The Banana Slugs made 20 of their freebies, compared to just 10 made free throws for the Loggers.
After her strong performances at the Hampton Inn Classic all weekend, Ainslie was named to the All-Tournament team. She joins Ashley Genie of Whittier, Leah Parrish of UC Santa Cruz, and Gabby Zehref of St. Catherine. Sarah Mackey of the host Banana Slugs was voted tournament MVP.
The Loggers (2-1, 0-0 NWC) play their first home contest of the 2013-14 season Saturday, November 23rd. They take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 1:00 p.m. at Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma, Wash.
