PORTLAND, Ore. – The Multnomah University Lions and Walla Walla University Wolves faced off for the second time in two nights on Saturday at Jim Skagen Court, and after 4 quarters it was the Lions who claimed their first conference win of the year.
The Lions (4-15, 1-11 CCC) got their first points of the night from a running right-handed layup from
Payton Wangler, and Multnomah started the game hot on a 13-0 run. Carolina Montes scored Walla Walla's (3-18, 1-11 CCC) first points at the 5:28 mark, and the Lions led the Wolves 24-10 after one quarter of play.
Walla Walla came out aggressive to start the second quarter with a 5-0 burst before
Payton Wangler knocked down a running shot at the 6:45 mark. However, Multnomah struggled to stay out of foul trouble, committing 7 fouls in the second quarter and sending Walla Walla to the line often, allowing the Wolves to climb back into the game. After two quarters of play
Dalila Rincan's had scored a team high 13 points and helped the Lions to a 34-28 lead.
The Lions played their best quarter of the season in the third quarter, starting the second half on a 17-0 run and led the Wolves 58-38 going into the forth.
Walla Walla showed to have one more run in them, and if
Alaygza Portis didn't score back-to-back baskets on assists from
Dalila Rincan the Lions lead may have been at stake. The Wolves outscored the Lions 30-17 in the fourth, but MU claimed the 75-68 victory.
The Lions were led by Alaygza Portis who scored 24 points and grabbed 9 boards. Dalila Rincan added 21 points, and Erykah Campbell had a solid double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
For the Wolves, Carolina Montes ended the night with 30 points, while Paulina Quintana added 13.
"The team played well tonight. We keep talking about staying together and playing hard no matter what, and they did that. We had some great performances from Alaygza and Dalila, and everyone else contributed in important ways in order to make this a great team win." -Head Coach
Tim Bieri
The Lions will have a chance to defend their home court next Friday night at 5:30 PM against the Yotes from the College of Idaho.