It was a team effort on both ends of the court, as all ten players who played for Seattle University scored at least two points and nine of them grabbed at least one rebound as the women’s basketball team earned a 56-51 victory over the University of Portland Sunday afternoon at the Chiles Center.
Coming off her worst game of the young season, Breanna Salley (, ) led with 12 points despite dealing with foul trouble, while Chelsie Morrison () finished with ten points and eight rebounds. Cassidy Murillo (, ) continued her solid all-around play with eight points, six rebounds, and five assists, Alysse Carlson (, ) stepped into the starting lineup and contributed five points, four rebounds, and three assists, and Maggie McCarthy () came off the bench and added seven points, three rebounds, and two steals.
Back-to-back three pointers by Salley and Carlson gave an early 12-6 lead, but scored the next six points to pull into a 12-12 tie seven minutes into the game. After the seventh tie of the first half (21-21) and three minutes of scoreless action, Murillo and Julee Christianson (Missoula, Mont.) hit three-pointers in the final 1:28 of the first half to help the Redhawks earn a 27-25 advantage at halftime.
(3-5) tied the game two more times early in the second half, but a layup by Tatiana Heck (, ) and a three-pointer from Murillo allowed to take the lead for good. The Pilots continually threatened to take the lead from the Redhawks, but SeattleU was able to hold off the home team thanks in part to four made free throws by Bianca Williams () in the final 1:43 of regulation.
Besides her four free throws, Williams pulled down five rebounds, four of them on the offensive end, while Heck earned six rebounds to go along with her second-half basket. shot 34.5 percent from the field, including 7-of-19 from the three-point line, and 11-of-16 (68.8%) from the free throw line while committing only 14 turnovers.
The Pilots were led by Lauren Angel, who scored 12 points, and Allyson Sievers, who earned ten points and eight rebounds in the contest. shot only 30.6 percent from the field, including 4-of-18 from the three-point line, and 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the free throw line. The Pilots held a slight rebounding edge, 43-41, and committed only 13 turnovers, but only held the lead after scoring the first basket of the game.
Seattle University (3-4) concludes a stretch of six games in 12 days Tuesday evening, hosting Montana Tech at the Connolly Center beginning at 5:30 p.m. The team will then have a week off to complete finals before heading to for games at Saint Mary’s (Dec. 18) and Pacific (Dec. 20).