Sheldon, Jackson lead Puget Sound women into NWC championship game

Fast hands and a lightning-quick trigger.

That is what University of Puget Sound women’s basketball coach Loree Payne and the Loggers have to look forward to the next three seasons with point guard Samone Jackson.

Turnover-prone, missing free throws and getting badly beaten on the glass — the second-seeded Loggers were in battle-for-your-season, nail-biting mode Thursday in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference postseason tournament against No. 3 seed Whitman.

But long — near-midcourt long — 3-pointers by Jackson and two big 3-pointers by NWC player of the year Emily Sheldon helped UPS fight back for an 84-79 overtime victory at Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma.

UPS (19-7) will meet top-seeded George Fox in the conference championship game Saturday night in Newberg, Oregon – with the winner earning the automatic berth to the NCAA Division III championships.

Sheldon, a senior from Portland, finished with a game-high 23 points. Her two free throws with 21.8 seconds remaining gave the Loggers an 82-79 lead.

Whitman’s Chelsi Brewer missed a game-tying 3-point attempt on the visitors’ end, and Allie Wyszynski iced it for UPS with two free throws with 5.4 seconds to go.

Those four free throws Payne could not watch.

“I knew they were going in,” she said with a smile. “With a big crowd, you can hear the reaction (and know).”

Whitman (17-8) gave up 80 combined points to Sheldon and Jackson in the two regular-season meetings — both UPS victories.

But the Loggers’ two best scoring threats had eight points between them at half, and the Missionaries led at halftime (36-31) for the third consecutive time.

“We knew having played them on Saturday, both teams were going to go home … and tweak some things,” Payne said. “We were wound a little tight. Once we finally got into our flow and rhythm, we started to play the way we’ve been playing. That was what we were trying to get to.”

Indeed they did. The Loggers went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter to grab a 50-42 lead.

But Whitman scored on six of its first seven trips of the fourth quarter, and the game was a dogfight the rest of the way.

That is about the time Jackson started showing off her shooting range. Her first 3-pointer was from 3 feet past the top of the arc — and it hit nothing but net.

“Loree Payne range,” said the coach and former University of Washington shooting guard.

And Jackson’s final one with 1:52 to go was from even further back — approximately 30 feet out.

“They are crazy shots,” Sheldon said. “But I trust her.”

Casey Poe sent the game into overtime for the Missionaries with her runner with 5.4 seconds remaining, tying it at 70.

Whitman held a 79-78 lead with less than a minute remaining in the extra session. And that is when Jackson made the play of the game.

Seeing a pass coming back to Whitman’s Hailey McDonald near midcourt, Jackson, who finished with 19 points, took off, tipped it away and sped the length of the court for a layin and an 80-79 lead with 40.4 seconds remaining.

“I knew I had to cut the gaps,” Jackson said. “And they were totally staring at her.”

The Missionaries turned it over with 14 seconds later, and UPS iced it at the free throw line.

“George Fox (is) a really good team,” Sheldon said of Saturday’s opponent. “It is always a hard place to play, but I think we are ready.”

Men’s basketball

At Whitworth 75, Puget Sound 58: The third-ranked Pirates went on a 10-0 run over a 1:47 span midway through the first half to seize control of this NWC semifinal and cruise to a win in Spokane.

George Valle’s three-point play capped the spurt to give Whitworth (25-1) a 21-8 lead.

Drew Sears led the Pirates with 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting. He was one of five Whitworth players in double figures.

Carlos Mancasola led UPS (13-13) with 11 points.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Sheldon, Jackson lead Puget Sound women into NWC championship game."