Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – A brilliant first half of play by Multnomah University flew out the window in the second half as the Pacific Union College Pioneers overcame a 19-point deficit and stunned the host Lions 62-59 in a non-conference women's basketball game Friday afternoon here at Lytle Gym.
The Lions came out of the blocks clicking on all cylinders, eventually building a lead of 34-17 on a three-pointer by
Tiara Chinn midway through the second quarter. Multnomah's halftime lead was 43-27 as the Lions shot .531 (17-32) over the first 20 minutes while holding the Pioneers to only .333 (10-30). Chinn led the Lions with nine points at the break, while
Faith Kraatz and
Paris Sanders had eight apiece. Imari Clinton had nine points in the half for Pacific Union.
Two free throws by Chinn with 6:45 left in the third period gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 50-31. Multnomah was still up 54-39 following a
Rachelle Tau jumper with 38 seconds left in the quarter – and then the Pioneers caught fire. After scoring the final three points of the period, the visitors got back in the game by reeling off eight straight points to open the final quarter, cutting the Lions' lead to 54-50 with 5:06 to go.
Bethany George momentarily stopped the Multnomah slide with a three, but PUC scored four more unanswered points to knot the game 57-57 on a trey by Kylie Beal with 2:34 left. A driving layup by
Valerie Wakefield gave Multnomah its final lead of 59-57 with 1:28 remaining, but the Pioneers tied it again with two free throws by Karla McCommas, then went ahead 61-59 on a layup by Clinton with 38 seconds left. After a missed jumper by Tau with 16 seconds left, the Lions were forced to foul quickly four times in a row to get PUC to the line, where Molly Hargon made one of two with six ticks left.
Marquel Greene's potential tying three from the right baseline was just short and time ran out.
--- By the Numbers: Three Lions scored in double figures – Tau with 12, Chinn 11, and Wakefield 10 – but a second-half shooting percentage of .143 (4-28) proved costly. Sanders and Kraatz had six rebounds each as Multnomah held a 42-39 edge on the glass. Wakefield passed out five assists and George had four.
Clinton led Pacific Union with 21 points and seven boards, while McCommas chipped in with 11 points. Hargon and Clinton handed out three assists apiece.
Multnomah is now 0-6 on the season, while Pacific Union is 1-2.
--- Quoting coach Tim Bieri: "Hats off to the young women from Pacific Union. They showed some tremendous grit coming back the way they did. This is a tough one to swallow, but humility always is. We had a lot of positive things in the first half with everyone contributing. The second half was simply bad for us, on both sides of the floor. We'll continue to work toward putting together a complete game offensively and defensively."
--- Next: Multnomah visits Concordia University-Portland Tuesday for a 5:00 p.m. non-conference game … Pacific Union continues its swing through the Pacific Northwest Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. game Saturday at Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Ore.
