Women's Basketball | 10/28/2010 9:26:30 PM

[Box score]

PORTLAND - Rylee Peterson and Sara Zahler both put up double-doubles in the Wolves' 94-83 exhibition loss at Portland State, Thursday (Oct. 28).

The senior Zahler scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to keep the Wolves within striking distance throughout the game. She went 6-of-16 from the field and converted on 10-of-12 on her free throw attempts. Zahler also added four steals. Peterson matched Zahler's 23 points with a 7-of-15 effort from the field and an 8-of-9 mark at the charity stripe. This was the first game for Peterson in a Wolves' uniform.

"Both Rylee and Sara attacked the basket hard and were able to get to the line," said Western Oregon assistant coach Katie Torland. "We got great performances out of both tonight and we hope that this will continue."

However, despite the headlining performances from Peterson and Zahler, Western Oregon also received outstanding effort from the rest of the team. Lorrie Clifford came through with 15 points and four assists. Hannah Whitsett was also in double figures with 11 points, as she converted on 3-of-7 shots from long range.

The Wolves also had a team effort on the glass, where they matched the Vikings with 45 boards apiece.

The game was played very closely in the first half. Portland State held the lead at 27-19, but the Wolves quickly answered with a 5-0 spurt. This was the same way for much of the game, as the Vikings would gain a little cushion with a short run before Western Oregon would answer right back with one of its own. WOU trailed by 12 (47-35) with a minute and a half left in the first half, but Peterson sunk a three-pointer and a layup just before the end of the first period to make it 47-40 at halftime.

In the second half, Portland State added on to its lead but WOU was resilient and continued to fight back and keep the game from slipping out of reach.

"You can't coach effort and we got a lot of it from everyone tonight," Torland explained. "Everyone came to play and we could not have played better given the circumstances.

"It will be tough for teams to stay with us if we can continue to score 83 points," concluded Torland.

Lexi Bishop led PSU with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

Western Oregon will now return to practice before taking on Gonzaga in its next exhibition game on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 2:00 p.m.