Bearcats Fall to Lutes in Women's Basketball, 50-49, in Overtime

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University rallied from an eight-point deficit with 3:31 left in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but Pacific Lutheran University held off the Bearcats in the extra session to grab a 50-49 win at Cone Field House on Friday, Feb. 1. The game was tied 47-47 at the end of regulation after Drew Farmer (Jr., PG, Brookings, OR/Brookings-Harbor HS) scored the tying points on a driving layup with 15 seconds to go.

In overtime, Anna Hurd of PLU made a layup with 3:49 remaining, and Kristin Sturdivan hit the first of two free throws with 1:00 on the clock, as the Lutes took a 50-47 lead. Farmer cut the margin to one point when she scored on a jumper with 35 seconds left. Farmer then stole the ball from Hurd at the 21-second mark. A 12-foot jumper by Morgan Yamane (Fr., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake HS) of WU bounced of the rim with three seconds to play, and a contested layup by Amanda Carpenter (So., G, Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS) missed as time expired.

Pacific Lutheran improved to 12-7 overall and to 5-6 in the Northwest Conference. Willamette slipped to 8-12 on the season, 3-8 in the NWC.

The Lutes held a 39-34 lead after three quarters, and extended the margin to seven points at 41-34 on a layup by Megan Drake with 9:27 to go in regulation. Elizabeth Logsdon (Jr., F, McMinnville, OR/McMinnville HS) connected on 1 of 2 free throws for Willamette to reduce the lead to 41-35 with 5:26 remaining. Katie Taylor of PLU sank two jump shots, with a jumper by Kali Vickery (Sr., G, Glide, OR/Glide HS) of WU in between, leaving the Lutes with a 45-37 lead at the 3:31 mark.

Logsdon started Willamette's rally with a jumper -- assisted by Farmer -- with 3:17 on the clock. Farmer tacked on a jumper of her own with 2:38 left, and Britanny Kochenderfer reduced the Lutes' lead to 45-43 on a jumper with 58 seconds to play.

Madison Salisbury of PLU gave the Lutes a 47-43 advantage when she put through a layup with 41 seconds left. Kassin Hopkins (Jr., Connell, WA/Connell HS/Bellevue College) of Willamette scored next on a jump shot with 25 seconds to play. Farmer fouled Emma Janousek from Pacific Lutheran on the in-bounds pass. Janousek missed both free throws. Kochenderfer hauled down the second rebound for WU, and then assisted Farmer on a layup to tie the game at 47-47 with 15 second remaining.

After a timeout by PLU, Janousek shot a jumper that missed with four seconds left. Vickery grabbed the rebound and WU called a timeout with one second left. Hurd stole the in-bounds pass and the game moved into overtime.

Willamette was led by Kochenderfer with 12 points and 12 rebounds, plus two blocked shots, two steals and an assist. Hopkins added eight points and six boards, while Logsdon earned seven points, three rebounds and three blocked shots. Farmer led all players with eight assists. She also contributed six points, four rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.

Salisbury scored 13 points and hauled down 12 rebounds for the Lutes. Sturdivan chipped in 12 points, while Hurd and Janousek each finished with eight points. Hurd also grabbed nine boards. Janousek was credited with seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.

In the first quarter, Willamette trailed 4-3, but scored the next six points to take a 10-4 advantage on a jumper by Kochenderfer at the 4:31 mark. The mini-run also included a layup by Vickery and a traditional three-point play by Carpenter. The Bearcats owned a 12-6 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Lutes recorded the next 15 points to move in front 21-12 with 2:07 remaining in the half. The lead was only a single point for PLU at 13-12 before Sturdivan hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Hurd completed the run on a layup. Pacific Lutheran held a 23-16 margin at halftime.

With 6:37 left in the third quarter, Kochenderfer sank a 3-point shot to pull WU within 27-24. At the 4:30 mark, Hopkins connected on a 3-pointer to get WU as close as 32-29. With 45 seconds on the clock, Carpenter made a 3-pointer to drop the lead to 37-34. Salisbury scored the final points of the quarter on a layup for PLU with 20 seconds to go.

Each team struggled against the opposing defense. Willamette shot 31.7% for the game (20 of 63). The Lutes converted 30.6% of their field goals (19 of 62). Willamette was 6 of 18 on 3-pointers for 33.3%, while PLU went 4 for 15 (26.7%) from long range. PLU sank 8 of 15 free throws (53.3%). Willamette was 3 for 7 at the line (42.9%). The Bearcats gained a 45-44 rebounding margin.

Willamette will play again on Saturday, Feb. 2 when they travel to McMinnville, Oregon, to take on Linfield College. Tipoff for the NWC match-up is set for 4 p.m. (PST).

Big Moment of the Game for Willamette

Drew Farmer provided the Big Moment by scoring the
tying basket with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter
to create a 47-47 tie and force the game into overtime.
Farmer scored four points in the fourth quarter and two
points in overtime. She led all players with eight assists.