by Clayton Messerle, WPU Communications
PORTLAND | Headed to the undefeated column in conference play is the Warner Pacific University Women’s Basketball team (2-2, 1-0), as they began the chase toward the Cascade Collegiate Conference crown Tuesday night, taking down conference crosstown rival Multnomah University (0-7, 0-1) by a final score of 73-66.
Credit is due to a feisty Multnomah team, as they battled against the Knights for a solid 35 minutes before Warner Pacific was able to pull just out of reach. Leading the game going into the 4th quarter, the Lions’ offense became stone cold, unable to find any consistency on the east side of Jim Skagen Court.
The Lions led this contest on multiple occasions, but were unable to sustain their lead thanks to some late-game lockdown defense from the Knights, holding Multnomah to just 7 points in the final eight minutes of the game.
Senior guard Courtney Jackson led the Knights both offensively and in crunch-time, scoring 19 points and having 3 steals, the last of which came with under a minute to play, right when WPU needed to find that final dagger to seal away the win.
An absolute force to be reckoned with in the post, senior forward Hannah Myers came within inches of her first double-double of the season, while also coming close to a triple-double for the Knights, tallying 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 steals over 27 minutes played. Myers also added 2 assists to the mix for WPU, before she fouled out with less than three minutes remaining.
Senior guards Anna Farner and Lynden Harry (Warm Springs/Yuchi) added 13 points apiece for Warner Pacific, with Farner trailing Myers for the team lead in rebounds at 7 boards. Harry distributed 5 assists over her 30 minutes played, setting a season-high in the category.
Multnomah was led by guard Katie Skramstad, who led all scorers with 21 points, pulled down 4 rebounds along the way before fouling out in the 4th quarter. Her 26 minutes off the bench proved to be crucial for MU, but just couldn’t find the offense they needed once she left the court.
Guards Maddie Hill and Dalila Rincan dropped 14 points each in Multnomah’s loss, culminating to 49 of the 66 team points scored when you factor in Skramstad’s efforts.
