The third-place Pioneer women extended their winning streak to seven on Saturday night as they defeated the Willamette Bearcats with a score of 65-59. (Box Score)

The Pioneers opened the game with a 13-0 run and would keep their lead throughout the entire game. It took Willamette nearly ten minutes to score, when Vic Swigart hit a jumper with 10:08 on the clock. The Pioneers' highest lead of the half came after a jumper by Crystal Castle (senior, Rocklin, CA) and gave them a 16 point margin over the Bearcats. The Bearcats were able to cut the lead down to 9 at the half off of a pair of free throws by Molly Fillion and a 3-point shot by Jenny Fillion. 

 The Pioneers started the second half with a 10-2 run, extending their lead to 17 after a layup by Christina Herring (freshman, San Dimas, CA) with 14:20 left to play. The Bearcats rallied to within 5 points at the 7:52 mark after Jenny Fillion hit her sixth three-pointer of the night. The Pioneers led by 11 after Heather Jones (freshman, Ceres, CA) sank a pair of free throws with just 1:04 left on the clock. A pair of late three pointers from Laura Payne and Alex Zennan would not be enough for the Bearcats who ended the game on a 6-1 run. 

Allison Farr (senior, Lakeport, CA) had a team high 18 points for the Pioneers. Crystal Castle (senior, Rocklin, CA) ended the game just one rebound short of a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Castle moved up to fourth on the Pioneer all-time scoring list with 1,223 career points. She also moved up to fourth on the all-time rebounding list with 598 career rebounds.

With the win the Pioneers improve to 14-9, 10-4 NWC . The Willamette Bearcats fall to 5-18, 3-11 NWC.

In other important games in the NWC, the Whitman Missionaries lost to Pacific Lutheran, giving the Pioneers' a two-game advantage in the fight for third place.  If the Pioneers hold on to third place, they will earn a spot in the NWC Post Season Tournament and will play on the road Wednesday, February 27, at 7pm at the second-place team's location. The Conference tournament final is Friday, February 29th at 7pm at the first-place team's court.

The Pioneers close out the regular season at Puget Sound on Friday, Feb. 22, and at Linfield on Saturday.