PORTLAND, Ore. – In their first home game of the season, the Multnomah University women's basketball team fell to the University of California – Merced 71-49 on Jim Skagen Court on Friday night.
Merced is coming off a perfect season in the Cal-Pac Conference, 8-0 last season, and begin this year with a win in their first game. This game sends Lions to a 0-3 mark against Cal Pac schools this season.
The Bobcats jumped out on top early in the opening quarter, working a 12-2 advantage. Christiana Castro led the Bobcats with 20 points while Brittany Martinez and Aubrey Hayes added 15 and 13 points respectively.
The Lions found some life in the second quarter, outscoring the visitors 19-15, cutting the lead to 10 points, 37-27, heading into the break.
"In each of our first three games we've been able to put together two great quarters, but basketball is a four quarter game so we will continue to work to play a complete game," said head coach
Tim Bieri. "We have a lot of depth, and we are thankful for this pre-season time to be able to find some combinations that work well together. Merced is a very solid team, so we give a lot of respect to their effort and skill as they are the team to beat in the Cal Pac."
Miranda Schmillen picked up where she left off last game, leading the Lions in points with 13 and rebounds with seven.
Bethany George added 10 points with two 3-pointers while
Milan Woods and
Lacie Kamper each had six points.
The Lions cut the lead to three points after Schmillen opened the third quarter with five straight points and
Erin Estabrook added a layup to make the score 37-34.
Merced jumped back ahead after going on a 10-0 run through the end of the third and the start of the fourth quarter, lifting them past MU for a season opening win.
The Lions will play an exhibition game next Saturday as they travel to play the University of Idaho on Saturday, Nov. 5.
