MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—With a strong defensive effort that shut down Linfield in the final seven minutes of action, the Puget Sound women's basketball squad prevailed 71-54 over the Wildcats Friday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium in McMinnville, Ore.

The visiting Loggers never trailed in the game, taking a lead seventeen seconds in and reaching a 10 point advantage five minutes later. Amanda Forshay kicked off the game's scoring with a layup, and the Loggers responded to a Linfield layup with a 10 point run. From 18:27 to 15:20, the Loggers scored 10 unanswered to take a 12-2 lead with six of those points coming from a pair of Emily Sheldon three-pointers. Sheldon scored 12 points in the first half.

Linfield cut into the Puget Sound lead over the next 10 minutes, pulling within four three times and ultimately within three at the 4:32 mark in the first half. Up 28-25, the Loggers rattled off eight straight points, three each coming from Allie Wyszynski and Alexis Noren, and Sheldon topped the run with a layup with 1:10 left in the half. Linfield scored the final five points of the first half, but the Loggers kept the lead going into the break 36-30.

The Wildcats' Kaely Maltman, who tallied 17 points and 18 rebounds in the first meeting between the two teams, led off the second half with a layup, but the Loggers kicked off a 4-minute, 12-2 run with three-pointers from Taylor Jones and Forshay. That run gave Puget Sound a 14-point advantage with 14:09 remaining in regulation.

Over the next seven minutes, Linfield came within seven, but Olivia Roberts drained a three-pointer with 6:43 left in the game to return the Logger advantage to 10. The Logger defense turned up the pressure for the rest of the game, holding Linfield to just two layups and a free throw for the final 6:43. The Loggers grabbed 10 rebounds over that period while allowing the Wildcats to collect three.

While that Logger defense shutdown the Wildcats to closed the game, the Loggers scored 12 points, with Katy Ainslie tallying six of those. Puget Sound won the game by 17 with a score of 71-54.

Sheldon led all scorers by netting 20 points on the night, her second-highest point total all season. Wyszynski saw another strong game by contributing 15 off the bench, just one point off her season-high from Jan. 17 against Willamette. Finally, Ainslie finished with 12 points in the contest, her fourth-straight game with at least 10 points.

Noren saw another strong game against the Wildcats, leading the Loggers with 10 rebounds and three assists. The 10 rebounds doubled her previous career high, and adding three steals. Noren's three steals weren't the team high, however, as Sheldon tallied five steals to equal her career-best mark as well.  

As a team, the Loggers grabbed 46 rebounds, their third-most of the season and highest amount since Nov. 16. They also tallied 12 steals and four blocks on the night, with the blocks total matching a season-high mark they've hit three other times. Logger defenders also held Linfield to a 37.3% mark from the floor, including 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.

The Loggers (12-6, 5-4 NWC) wrap up their current four-game road trip Saturday, Feb. 1, with a contest at Lewis & Clark. They tip off against the Pioneers at 6:00 p.m. at the Pamplin Sports Center in Portland, Ore.