FOREST GROVE – It seemed that everything Paige Jensen (So., Bemidji, Minn.) touched was golden Saturday as the forward put together a career night to lead Pacific past by Pacific Lutheran, 78-57, in Northwest Conference women's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
Jensen was nothing short of dominant, finishing with a career high 31 points to go with a season high 17 rebounds. Jensen connected on 11 of 14 from the field, including a rare three-pointer, and went 8 of 9 from the free throw line to become the first Boxer to score more than 30 since Rochelle Reeves-Howe netted 33 against Puget Sound back on Feb. 20, 2009. Jensen finished her line with three assists and three steals.
Jensen fueled the best shooting performance of the NWC season for the Boxers (6-13, 2-8 NWC), who snapped a seven-game losing streak with the victory. Pacific finished shooting 54.4 percent from the field (31-57), 6 of 16 from three-point range and 10 of 15 from the charity stripe. The Boxers out-rebounded the Lutes 45-26.
Erica Schultz (Jr., Medford, Ore.) also put together a solid night with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Brittney Anderson (Jr., Missoula, Mont.) added eight points on 4 of 6 from the field.
Shelly Kilcup and Jordan Westering each scored 15 points to lead the Lutes (4-14, 2-8 NWC). Sara Backstrom added 11 points. For the game, PLU shot 31.1 percent from the field (19-61).
It was the Lutes, though, that started out with the hot hand as they scored 12 of their first 17 points on three-pointers and took a 17-12 lead on a trey by Backstrom six minutes into the contest. Jensen came right back with a short jumper that started a 24-8 run over the next nine minutes. Kandice McArthur (Jr., Post Falls, Idaho) capped the run with a three-pointer at the 5:22 mark that put Pacific up 36-25.
The Boxers went cold over the remaining five minutes, hitting just one shot from the field as the Lutes rallied to come within seven at halftime, 39-32. Jensen finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in the half, most of those coming in the first 10 minutes.
Jensen seemed to put it into overdrive in the second half, scoring five of the Boxers first 10 points of the stanza to extend the Pacific lead to 51-38.The Lutes came back to within eight on two occasions and were within 11 points at the 11:41 mark when a McArthur three-pointer and five unanswered points from Jensen gave the Boxers a 63-44 advantage midway through the period.
PLU came no closer than 14 points the rest of the way, with the Boxers building their biggest lead of 22 points on a Kristen Corrales (So., Waimanalo, Hawaii) bucket with 1:36 left in the game.
The Boxers finish off their three-game home stand next Friday when they host defending NWC champion George Fox. Pacific Lutheran returns home and will host Whitman on Friday. Both games will tip-off at 6 p.m.