TACOMA, Washington – After winning its first conference title in six years, the No. 20/12 Puget Sound women's basketball team begins its postseason run in Walla Walla, Washington for the Northwest Conference Tournament, Feb. 24-25. The Loggers taken on Pacific Friday at 3 p.m.
 
NWC Champions
The Loggers (21-4, 14-2 NWC) clinched a share of the Northwest Conference title (Whitman; 19-5, 14-2 NWC) when they beat Lewis & Clark, 91-57 (Feb. 18). It's the program's first banner year since 2016-17, when the Loggers went 16-0 in conference play. By virtue of a sixth-tier tiebreaker, the Blues host the 2023 conference tournament. The tournament champion earns the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. Whitman is the #1 seed, followed by #2 Puget Sound, #3 Pacific, and #4 Willamette.
 
Conference leaders
The 2022-23 regular season ended with Puget Sound leading the NWC in: points per game (74.4), turnover margin (+16.9), 3-point shooting (32.5-percent), made 3-pointers (218), and steals (15.8). Grace Pytynia-Hillier leads the NWC in 3-point shooting (40.9-percent), and Katie Minnehan is stops in steals per game (3.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4).
 
Turned a new page
Paige Gerhart scored a career-high 22 points during the Loggers' regular-season finale at Lewis & Clark (Feb. 18). She shot 6-for-12 from the floor, and 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
 
Familiar territory
Puget Sound is in the NWC Tournament for the fourth consecutive time that it was offered (there was no tournament in 2020-21). However, the Loggers were eliminated in the NWC semifinal round in each of their previous three postseason trips.
 
Formidable fight from the Boxers
Pacific has been a tough opponent for the Loggers in recent seasons. The Boxers beat Puget Sound, 67-65, during the NWC Semifinals in Memorial Fieldhouse last year. This season, Pacific beat the Loggers, 73-62, in Oregon (Feb. 11).
 
Scouting Pacific (18-7, 11-5 NWC)
The Boxers have noteworthy wins over Whitman and Puget Sound this season, but they lost twice to George Fox, and also lost to Willamette in conference play. Pacific has the best defense in the NWC after Whitman, allowing just 52.7 points per game. The team ranks behind only Puget Sound in 3-point shooting (32.0-percent). Brillie Kovaloff is the conference's second-leading scorer with 15.2 points per game.