TACOMA, Washington – The No. 16/13 Puget Sound women's basketball team celebrates its senior this weekend when the Loggers host Linfield and Pacific (Feb. 10-11) for the final home games of the regular season.
 
Senior superheroes
Prior to Saturday's tipoff against Pacific, the Loggers will honor seniors Rebeka Dasalla, Amanda Ferguson, Katie Minnehan, Grace Pytynia-Hillier, and Samantha Swartout.
 
The final 20 minutes
The Loggers beat Willamette and George Fox at home last week, and both victories were second-half comebacks. The Bearcats and Bruins both held 10-point leads in the first half, and the Loggers trailed both games at halftime.
 
Kennedy got her groove back
Kennedy Brown is Puget Sound's leading scorer this season, averaging 13.6 points per game. She hit a 3-point shooting slump starting in mid-January, shooting 7-for-33 (21.2-percent). In her last three games, however, Brown is 8-for-17 (47.0-percent) from distance. Overall, her 37.5 3-point percentage ranks third in the Northwest Conference.
 
Gracefully draining 3s
Grace Pytynia-Hilier is shooting a conference-best 41.9-percent from 3-point range. In her last seven games, Pytynia-Hillier is 15-for-33 (45.5-percent) from beyond the arc.
 
Nilsson gets physical
Sophie Nilsson is the team's third-leading rebounder this season with a 4.9 average. However, she has stepped it up in NWC games, and averages a team-leading 5.1 rebounds against NWC foes. Nilsson is averages 7.5 rebounds in her last four games.
 
A deeper look
Katie Minnehan can score at will, but she doesn't need to in order to lead the Loggers to victory. She has many steals as total points (8) the past two games. Over the past six games, Minnehan is averaging 5.8 rebounds. 3.0 assists, and 3.7 steals. She has only two turnovers during that stretch. She ranks sixth in all of NCAA D-III for total steals (82).
 
Scouting Linfield (9-12, 5-7 NWC)
The Wildcats recently snapped a six-game losing streak with a 56-35 win at Pacific Lutheran (Feb. 4). Linfield ranks second-to-last in both 3-point shooting (25.9-percent) and turnover margin (-5.55). Nobody on the team averages double-digits in scoring, but Gillyan Landis is close with a 9.9 scoring average. She also averages a team-best 7.4 rebounds. The Loggers beat Linfield, 76-44, in Oregon earlier this season (Jan. 14).
 
Scouting Pacific (15-6, 8-4 NWC)
The Boxers are in third place in the NWC. They gave Puget Sound a real challenge earlier this season (Jan. 13), but the Loggers held on for a 63-51 win. Pacific has the best scoring defense in the NWC, allowing just 52.8 points per game. Offensively, the Boxers trail only the Loggers in 3-point shooting (31.2-percent). Brillie Kovaloff is the NWC's second-leading scorer with 15.8 points per game. Danica Schmidt ranks seventh in the NWC for rebounding (6.9).