COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. — A slow start by the Walla Walla Women's Basketball team doomed the Wolves in an 88-54 loss to No. 20 Oregon Tech on Friday at Windemuth Court.

The Owls (8-5, 4-1) scored the first eight six points and led by 15 after the opening quarter. Walla Walla outscored the visitors in the second quarter, but a tough start to the third pushed the game out of reach. WWU dropped to 2-9 overall and 0-5 in Cascade Conference play.

Jaylo Bello led Walla Walla with 20 points and five assists. Allison Haslam had 11 points with three 3-pointers. Brooklyn Coe and Meghan Rasmussen finished with 10 points each.

Despite the strong second quarter where the Wolves shot 61.5% from the floor, Walla Walla finished the game going 20-of-53 (37.7%). WWU struggled against the size of Oregon Tech and were outrebounded 51-20. The Wolves played pesky defense and forced 17 turnovers, but were only able to capitalize for five points off those turnovers.

Tatum Schmerbach shot 11-of-17 from the field and led OIT with 24 points. Jozie Ramos had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Olivia Sprague added 14 points, eight boards and five assists.

Oregon Tech had 21 offensive rebounds and converted them to 26 second chance points and scored 58 points in the paint.

UP NEXT

Walla Walla will look to bounce back against (RV) Southern Oregon at 6 p.m. on Saturday in a CCC game at Windemuth Court.

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