The Puget Sound Women’s basketball team remains undefeated after its win against Concordia on Sept. 29.
The team’s record improves to 5-0.
Last Saturday the Loggers won 69-56 on the road against Concordia.
No team has scored more than 57 points against the loggers this season.
Senior forward Katy Ainslie (Redmond, Wash.) recorded her first double-double of the season.
A double-double is when a player has double digit statistics in two statistical categories.
Ainslie finished the game with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Emily Sheldon (Portland, Ore.) scored 15 points for the loggers.
Senior Forward Amanda Forshay (Moraga, Calif.) had eight points and eight rebounds for the loggers.
The Logger’s went into half-time with a dominating 36-18 lead.
The Logger defense was stifling holding Concordia to 18.5 percent from the field.
Concordia finished shooting 31.7 percent from the field.
“Defense has always been the main focus of our program. But this year I feel like all 15 of us are really bought in to the concept that defense is what is going to win us games this year,” Ainslie said.
The Loggers finished with a season-best 54 rebounds in their game against Concordia.
In the team’s first five games of the season, Puget Sound averaged 71.8 points per a game while shooting 40.4 percent from the field.
They have also averaged 15.2 assists per a game.
“I think we’ve really limited our turnovers, which allows for more opportunities to score. Our team has really developed an offensive flow where we remain calm and look for the best option rather than the first option to score,” Sheldon said.
Ainslie leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game.
Sheldon and Forshay are averaging 12 and 11.6 points per game respectively.
Sophomore guard Alexis Noren (Milwaukee, Wisc.) leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per a game.
Forshay and Ainslie are averaging 8 and 6.2 rebounds per a game respectively.
The Loggers has started their season with an impressive streak, but it will only get harder as the season progresses.
Two teams in the North West Conference are ranked in the D3Hoops.com top 25.
Whitworth is ranked 18 in the country and George-Fox is ranked 16 in the country according to the website. Whitman was previously ranked number 7, but fell out of the top 25 over the previous weekend.
Puget Sound received four votes and should make an appearance in the top 25 if they continue their winning ways.
“I think from here on out, we need to keep working on the things that have gotten us this far, and also keep fixing the small mistakes. I think our mindset is going to be the biggest thing that will lead to success,” Sheldon said.
The Loggers next game is at the North Pacific Tournament hosted by Pacific Lutheran.
Their first game is Friday Dec. 5 against University of California at Santa Cruz. Tip-off time is 5 p.m.
Puget Sound opens conference play against 16 ranked George-Fox at George-Fox on Jan. 3 at 4 p.m.
There was a strong belief within the team that they could accomplish a lot coming into the season.
Now with the undefeated start the lady’s hard work during the off-season has translated into success on the court.
“As long as we continue to hold each other accountable to reach our full potential, the sky is the limit with this group of girls,” Ainslie said.
The Puget Sound Women’s basketball team’s next home game is Dec. 10 against Evergreen State.
Evergreen State’s athletics compete in the NAIA, an athletic organization that exists separate from the NCAA.
It will be interesting to see how the Loggers continue. Will they be able to continue their undefeated streak?
