Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – Guards Marquel Greene and Valerie Wakefield combined for 31 points and shot .722 from the field, but a deficit of 28 turnovers to only eight for the University of California-Merced plagued the Multnomah University Lions in a 71-49 loss to the NAIA's 25^th-ranked Bobcats in a non-conference women's basketball game Friday afternoon here at Lytle Gym.
 
Multnomah jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the game on two layups and a jumper by an inspired Wakefield and never trailed until Mia Belvin's two free throws with 1:51 left in the first quarter gave Merced its first lead at 14-12.  The Lions trailed 16-14 at the end of the period after holding the Bobcats to a .250 shooting percentage (4-16). 
 
Greene opened the second period with a three-pointer to put 'Nomah back in front 17-16, but then the Bobcats caught fire, ripping off 15 unanswered points to go ahead 31-17.  A short jumper by Rachelle Tau ended the run, but the 'Cats built the margin to 20 at 39-19 on a three by Kylee Scheib and led 45-27 at the half.  The Bobcats scored 14 points of their 29 points in the quarter off MU turnovers.
 
UC-Merced stretched its lead to 61-33 by out-scoring the Lions 16-6 in the third period.  The Lions settled down and had their best shooting quarter of the game in the final 10 minutes, connecting on 7-of-13 from the field (.538) and holding a 16-10 scoring advantage in the period.
 
--- By the Numbers: Greene scored a game-high 20 points for Multnomah, hitting 8-of-9 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, and Wakefield finished with 11 on 5-of-9 shooting.  The Lions shot .420 (21-50) from the field, .400 (6-15) on threes.  Faith Kraatz led the Lions to a 41-32 edge on the glass with a game-high 13 rebounds and blocked four shots.  Kraatz, Wakefield, and Tiara Chinn passed out three assists apiece. 
 
Four Bobcats scored in double figures: Belvin with 18, Mia Shannon with 14, and Scheib and Zakiya Williams 11 each.  UCM was 27-of-67 (.403) from the field, but only 3-of-18 (.167) from downtown.  The Bobcats also held a decided advantage at the free throw line, making 14-of-18 to only 1-of-4 for the Lions.  Belvin had a team-high seven rebounds, and Christina Castro passed out eight assists while making seven steals. 
 
Multnomah is now 0-2 on the season, while UC-Merced won its regular season opener.
 
--- Quoting coach Tim Bieri:  "I'm very happy with the improvements we've made over this past week.  I thought we had much better intensity and overall energy.  As we continue to learn, we'll take all of the good things and we'll do our best to fix the things that need improvement."
 
--- Next: Multnomah is off until Saturday, Nov. 4, when the Lions will host Westmont College at 2:00 p.m. … California-Merced visits Warner Pacific College Saturday at 2:00 p.m.